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

Just for the record, I was trying to be funny, not snotty, and I don't hate "I was sat." I am firmly in the descriptive, as opposed to the prescriptive, camp.

Oh, it's American. We've been murdering a perfectly lovely language forever, I think. Although I still maintain that we are correct in saying "Loo-tenant" rather than "Lef-tenant, as there is no "f" in "Lieutenant."

@SenecaFallsRedux

Just for the record, I was trying to be funny, not snotty, and I don't hate "I was sat." I am firmly in the descriptive, as opposed to the prescriptive, camp.

Oh I did realise that, lol.

(It's fun to fake-fulminate about specific phrases online, but I have definitely got more descriptivist with age. It's a joy going through grammar exercises to my little prescriptivist adolescent; she upbraids me for my equivocations.)

@SenecaFallsRedux

Tell you what. Y'all stop saying "I was sat" and we Americans will give up at least two of these things that piss you off. Fair trade.

Now that this thread has been moved to Pedants' Corner, can I thank you for correctly saying "we Americans" as the subject of the verb. "Us Brits" are always getting this wrong, and it's another thing about modernspeak that really grinds my gears!

@YouJustFoldItIn

Craving for. That's another one. You either crave it, or you have a craving for it. You don't crave for it.

And cringe seems to be used as an adjective. 'That's so cringe'

NO. STOP IT. Cringe is a verb. You cringe in reaction to something. The thing itself cannot 'be' cringe,

And bias. I keep reading 'I may be bias but...'

No. You may be biased. Bias-ED.

You can display bias. Someone can show bias. They cannot be bias. STOP IT.

I hate “cringe” as an adjective.

And the use of “waiting on” to mean “waiting for”. “To wait on someone” has a different meaning from “to wait for someone”. Why mix them up?

“Can I get…” I am liable to vomit in to whatever ur trying to order

'I am beginning to think that I have lost the battle on this one, but I actually cringe when I hear "exact same."'

Again, not necessarily American (although why it would matter if it were is beyond me). There's a bit in a Katie Morag book where she's at the Grand Concert and realises her friend is wearing the 'exact same dress' as her. I don't think you could accuse Mairi Hedderwick of writing in Americanisms.

'I was sat' is either a) regional or b) (when used by people who also use 'I was sitting') adds nuance (again, as do many of these bemoaned changes) - implies a degree of frustration and futility to whatever it was the speaker was doing to be 'sat' there. See the phrase 'I was sat there like a lemon'. Sounds odd using 'sitting'.

Why would 'yous' make you (or anyone) flinch?

@Blueink

“Can I get…” I am liable to vomit in to whatever ur trying to order

I'm really sorry - this isn't very descriptivist of me - but picking on 'can I get' while using 'ur' is a bit...

“Can I get…”

I wonder if anyone ever says 'No sir, that's my job, you are not allowed in the kitchen.'

@Bangolads

You're right, it was silly. I mistakenly thought it would come across as being tongue in cheek/ a joke.
I realise it doesn't read that way and I apologise.

oh! don't start me!
'gobsmacked'
what is wrong with 'speechless, stunned, bemused, silenced, surprised, amazed, awestruck, dumbfounded, etc.'
no, its always 'i woz gobsmacked'....

@NHRN

oh! don't start me! 'gobsmacked' what is wrong with 'speechless, stunned, bemused, silenced, surprised, amazed, awestruck, dumbfounded, etc.' no, its always 'i woz gobsmacked'....

I find lack of capital letters equally irksome.

@NHRN

oh! don't start me! 'gobsmacked' what is wrong with 'speechless, stunned, bemused, silenced, surprised, amazed, awestruck, dumbfounded, etc.' no, its always 'i woz gobsmacked'....

I agree - it makes me want to "smack 'em in the gob"

Oh don't get me started on language!

"For free" no, it's free. There is no for.
"Put it through the oven" erm unless there is someone there to catch it on the other side, you're putting it in the oven!

And what the heck does "imma" or "hella" mean???

Oh and people using words wrongly!

Mortified - you mean upset not embarrased
Seen as - you mean seeing as
Weary - you mean wary, cautious not tired.

I could go on

I would have went 😖😖😖
Will you borrow me. . .. 😖😖😖

I will stop, promise lol

Mortified - you mean upset not embarrased

You might want to check the dictionary.

Good job!!!!!

@Susiesoap7

Good job!!!!!

Way to go!!!!!!

@Angrywife

Oh don't get me started on language!

"For free" no, it's free. There is no for.
"Put it through the oven" erm unless there is someone there to catch it on the other side, you're putting it in the oven!

And what the heck does "imma" or "hella" mean???

“Imma” and “hella” are AAVE (African-American vernacular English) dialect terms.

'Put it through the oven' means put it through the process of being in the oven and cooking. Similarly to how I might say 'I'll just put those towels through the washing machine'. Or to my soap-dodging children 'I want you lot through the shower by 9pm tonight, please.'

And the use of “waiting on” to mean “waiting for”. “To wait on someone” has a different meaning from “to wait for someone”. Why mix them up?

"Waiting on" as in "I'm waiting on Mary, and she's late" is very Southern US. I use it myself in casual speech, but I would write "waiting for."

And there is nothing wrong with "can I get" unless you want to quibble with the can/may distinction, which will probably be gone in a few years anyway. Get means "come to have or hold (something); receive." It does not have some sort of built in reflexive. To ask someone "can I get" can mean "can I receive".

@LoveFall

The first time I heard "needs must" from my English BIL I really didn't understand what he meant.

I have never heard a Canadian say it. To me it is a very odd combination of words.

Funny isn't it because I'm thinking (perhaps wrongly) that it's a self evident phrase.

Re ‘mortified’. I saw an advert recently for Gogglebox which said that the participants were ‘mortified’ by what they were watching in Squid Game. Pretty sure ‘horrified’ or ‘terrified’ would have been better choices.

And for many years now, the most mundane of things a frequently described as. The sight of The Grand Canyon, or the Northern Lights are awesome, a piece of pizza or a cup of coffee, may me many things, but they are not awesome 🙄