To ask where this stupid phrase has come from?

[Bluesheep8]

"Swap out"
Why the addition of the word 'out' ?
I was in a restaurant last week and heard someone say "can I swap out the chips for new potatoes?"
The word swap says all that's needed surely? It just makes no sense

I'm quite happy to blame the Canadians. The folks that brought you Justin Bieber!!! (& isnt that German for beaver?? Appropriate!)

That’s Biber

'Rock up' can fuck right off.

I'll have no truck with it.

@IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere

"It's too big of an ask", "too long of a wait" - the addition of "of" makes me uncomfortable.!

Or 'big of a deal'.

Does my head in.

Isn't it "would've"?

Which can sound like would of so that is what is now being written?

It's not a recent thing, it's been happening since I was a child and I am in my 50s. I think it's just that people hear it contracted as would've could've etc., in casual conversation without seeing it written down for so many years that they mistakenly believe they are hearing would of, could of, so that's how they say it. Then children hear their parents teaching them to say would of/could of, and so it goes on.

Unless you are a big reader or have had the sort of education where this sort of thing is picked up and corrected early on, it just becomes an ingrained habit. I think once it's pointed out to someone why 'would of' makes no sense and what they really mean to say is 'would have' then they probably make an effort to self correct in future.

A much more recent example of people continually getting something wrong en masse is then. So many people use then in place of than these days.

I never heard that until fairly recently so I imagine it's a predictive text thing. The same as the misspelling of definite as defiant and replacing genuinely with generally. I think that as people who may have poor spelling tend to text more than they write, they see a predictive text suggestion pop up, assume that it's correct and in their heads it becomes 'He's defiantly better then him' forever more.

@Ameanstreakamilewide

'Rock up' can fuck right off.

I'll have no truck with it.

It reminds me of the motion of a Weebl wobbling or rocking around.

If you're weebl-shaped, it probably works.

I think, as a related point, social media and internet fora mean that we are all reading other adults’ informal writing on a scale never before seen. Not so long ago you would only regularly see letters and such from friends and family, in additional to written communications from colleagues in the workplace. It has exposed on a massive scale the gaps in literacy skills of the last sixty years or so. It was a shock to realise from emails and text messages that certain older members of DH’s family literally don’t know how to use punctuation and therefore just don’t. We would never have realised it if we were still in an era of only seeing the odd greetings card or postcard from them.

'My bad' makes me so angry
I don't know why!

I think, as a related point, social media and internet fora mean that we are all reading other adults’ informal writing on a scale never before seen. Not so long ago you would only regularly see letters and such from friends and family, in additional to written communications from colleagues in the workplace. It has exposed on a massive scale the gaps in literacy skills of the last sixty years or so. It was a shock to realise from emails and text messages that certain older members of DH’s family literally don’t know how to use punctuation and therefore just don’t. We would never have realised it if we were still in an era of only seeing the odd greetings card or postcard from them.

Couldn't agree more! It's no longer just a case of greengrocers' apostrophes...

Hate "hence why"

Also in work, signage and linkages. What happened to signs and links?

"Learnings" really irritates

One I hate is “I’m gonna go ahead and”

@dementedma

Hate "hence why"

Also in work, signage and linkages. What happened to signs and links?

"Learnings" really irritates

Don't get me started on "trainings" - which always gets corrected to "training sessions", "training courses" or just "training", depending on the context.

Never heard this. THANK GOD. If I doni could flip. Same with "cook up" some chips.

Not read the whole thread but 'it was so fun' - either 'it was fun' or 'it was so much fun' surely? Really annoys me!

Agree that Reach Out makes me want to kill someone

Not sure if anyone has added this one yet but "excited for" instead of "excited about".

@SickAndTiredAgain

The superiority and irritation that the British love to show when faced with American English is especially funny when you know the history of the differences.

I’d be interested to know if that’s actually a uniquely British trait. I’m sure all countries have people who don’t want words/phrases from other languages becoming common. The Académie Française has pushed back against some anglicisms in French, although I’ll admit I have no idea how in step they are with the opinion of the French public in general, or whether their views are seen as irrelevant.

I wondered about this - specifically about the French and Canadian French.

@simitra

Very unique is just as bad.

And over exaggerate.

Along with uplift and uptick

@Sagaris

Not read the whole thread but 'it was so fun' - either 'it was fun' or 'it was so much fun' surely? Really annoys me!

That’s what my teenage child keeps saying. It drives me potty and they get the hump if I try and correct them.

@Staffy1

And "needs sorted" is Scottish, NI and Pittsburgh English

That doesn’t make it any less annoying. It’s still butchered English.

American. I see it on renovation pages quite a bit

'Trainings' could be via (European) non-native use of English?

On 'fill in/out' - there's a bit in 'Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf' (written in the 50s, I think?) where Polly gets 'a form full of questions to be filled up.'

I do think a lot of these neologisms (and existing expressions in new contexts) express nuances of meaning that the plainer phrase wouldn't - 'rock up', for example, is (to me) to turn up somewhere with a bit of an attitude - perhaps uninvited or disobeying some point of etiquette or something. 'Change up' is I think a half-borrowing from 'mix up' perhaps - to create something new (and fresh/dynamic) by rearranging existing elements - 'change' alone doesn't carry that implication.

'Trainings' could be via (European) non-native use of English?

Yes, definitely - but I'm increasingly seeing it being used by native speakers, who are presumably coming across it so often that they assume it's the new "corporate speak" and so are only too happy to adopt it!

More and more recently I'm seeing 'infamous' used to mean 'very famous'. As in 'why not try our infamous coffee cake!'.

I also dislike historians using the present tense to describe past events. Often happens in popular history documentaries on TV and radio. I can see why they do it, but it sounds awkward and affected to me and it can be genuinely confusing sometimes.

@HarlanPepper

More and more recently I'm seeing 'infamous' used to mean 'very famous'. As in 'why not try our infamous coffee cake!'.

I also dislike historians using the present tense to describe past events. Often happens in popular history documentaries on TV and radio. I can see why they do it, but it sounds awkward and affected to me and it can be genuinely confusing sometimes.

Haha - a misunderstanding of the meaning of ‘infamous’ is a critical plot point in the 90s film The Three Amigos.