Additional words that really wind me up

[PumpkinSpiceGirl]

Swap it ‘out’
Fry it ‘off’

And also ‘works do’ - surely it’s just work do?

Tell me I’m not the only one (and I bet there are more).

And anyone on any kind of 'journey', unless they are actually travelling.

I always thought “works do” was related to the slightly old fashioned description of a place of employment as “the works” eg gas works, steel works, motor works etc.

@MrsFin

MrsFin Pre-order, pre-book: you can't post-order or post-book, you can only order or book something in advance

I know what you mean but I think this one’s useful. If I order the new Stuart MacBride book I expect to get it straight away, whereas a pre-order is a signal that the book isn’t released yet and what I've done is put my name down for it.

You've still just ordered it though, or "put your name down for it".

The "pre" is superfluous.

Not superfluous. Putting in an order for a book which hasn't yet been published is a fundamentally different thing to ordering a copy of a published book which Amazon will immediately pick off their shelf and send you.

You could say "pre-publication-order" or "pre-release-order" but that would be more words not fewer.

Likewise ordering what you'd like to eat the day before you go to the restaurant is a qualitatively different experience from sitting down, looking at the menu and saying "I'll have the veal please". Ditto pre-booking/pre-ordering your interval drinks. I'm not sure there's any other phrase to describe those actions other than pre-order.

@TheGirlCat

I was stood at I am sat at I am sat here crying

Does the word sitting no longer exist in English usage? I have only seen this on Mumsnet, not on any other (American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand) site. It seems to be a UK thing. For one thing, SAY IT OUT LOUD. "I was stood at" does not make any grammatical sense, it actually sounds like broken English. The was is redundant.
"I stood at" (or "I am standing at")
"I am sitting (present tense) at"
"I am sitting (present tense) here crying"

These are the correct sentence structures. In the case of stood, was as a prefix is redundant. You either stood at (past tense) or ARE standing at (present tense).
With 'I am sat at', am is the present tense. Sat, is the past tense. You can't currently be doing something in the past. It makes no sense.

With 'I am sat here crying', am is the present tense. Sat, is the past tense. Here is the present tense. You can't currently be doing something here in the past. It makes no sense.

As I said I have NEVER seen this anywhere except on here, so I presume it must be a UK oddity, but it doesn't work if you say it in your head or out loud, so what possesses people to write such nonsensical broken English? Has 'sitting' and 'standing' become obsolete in the UK?

I disagree that it doesn't make sense if you say it out loud. That's not strictly true. I agree that it doesn't, but I know it's incorrect. I can't think how to phrase what I want to say.

All the people I know who would write "I am sat here" would also say it out loud because they don't know its incorrect. So even if they say it out loud they think it makes sense.

@biggirlknickers

Out out

This is actually useful with reference to damned spots.

But why do people say they work out of Leeds when they usually means the exact fucking opposite - they work in Leeds?

Frying off wine? No you can’t do that. You can reduce wine by boiling it. Boiling it off, perhaps. It can’t reach frying temperatures.

In death notices. We miss him very dearly.

Out out

This is actually useful with reference to damned spots.

@ForensicAccountant

Frying off wine? No you can’t do that. You can reduce wine by boiling it. Boiling it off, perhaps. It can’t reach frying temperatures.

Yeah, fry off is used to mean evaporate. My point is that it's a distinct usage, different from just 'fry'. You might also fry off excess water- basically evaporate through means of a frying pan.

But why do people say they work out of Leeds when they usually means the exact fucking opposite - they work in Leeds?

I'd presume that they're based in Leeds but their work takes them out into the surrounding areas most days. Like a contractor who travels to a different place every day, but their business address is in Leeds.

@ThirdElephant

But why do people say they work out of Leeds when they usually means the exact fucking opposite - they work in Leeds?

I'd presume that they're based in Leeds but their work takes them out into the surrounding areas most days. Like a contractor who travels to a different place every day, but their business address is in Leeds.

That's it, I think. They are based in Leeds but either they travel outside Leeds to actually do their work. It's like the aviation industry- cabin crew work out of Gatwick. Not in/at Gatwick.

"Rent out" a house or flat.

The correct term is "let".

A lot of these don't bother me at all but one that has come into usage with celebrities really irritates me.

"My lived experience"

Wtf - it's their experience - they can't have an experience when they're dead!

@Maskless

"Rent out" a house or flat.

The correct term is "let".

"rent out" is a synonym of "let" Both are perfectly correct.

I was taught at school that “I am writing…” in a letter is bad form, because it is already obvious that you are writing

This could have just been that particular teacher’s bugbear.

@onlyreadingneverposting8

A lot of these don't bother me at all but one that has come into usage with celebrities really irritates me.

"My lived experience"

Wtf - it's their experience - they can't have an experience when they're dead!

This expression is very popular with the same sort of people who have "issues around" things, instead of "problems with" them!

@ClaudiusTheGod

I was taught at school that “I am writing…” in a letter is bad form, because it is already obvious that you are writing

This could have just been that particular teacher’s bugbear.

How did he feel about "I am talking to you from the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing St ..."?

Not additional words, but missing words:"Needs gone" in relation to a for sale item. "So fun" in relation to enjoyment.
I also dislike "sadly died" in death notices. Generally, people aren't happy that they are bereaved.

@ClaudiusTheGod

I was taught at school that “I am writing…” in a letter is bad form, because it is already obvious that you are writing

This could have just been that particular teacher’s bugbear.

I agree. An introductory sentence to explain the reason for writing is fairly standard, IME.

I had a teacher whose bugbear was exclamation points. She said they should only be used when you're writing something that is to be exclaimed, or shouted.

The trouble is, now that day to day communication is largely text-based, people use exclamation points all the time to convey a light tone. I can't bring myself to do it, except when it would make my email or text look really dour, but I wince as I type.

When I see people's forum posts, emails or texts riddled with exclamations, I read them as shouting as much as if it were written in all caps. Worse still, multiple exclamation points (I'm frowning at my father-in-law from 1000 miles away).

I met up with an old school friend last year, and she said she's also perturbed by exclamation points because of this teacher, after twenty years.

@TheLeadbetterLife

I had a teacher whose bugbear was exclamation points. She said they should only be used when you're writing something that is to be exclaimed, or shouted.

The trouble is, now that day to day communication is largely text-based, people use exclamation points all the time to convey a light tone. I can't bring myself to do it, except when it would make my email or text look really dour, but I wince as I type.

When I see people's forum posts, emails or texts riddled with exclamations, I read them as shouting as much as if it were written in all caps. Worse still, multiple exclamation points (I'm frowning at my father-in-law from 1000 miles away).

I met up with an old school friend last year, and she said she's also perturbed by exclamation points because of this teacher, after twenty years.

I work in communications and before that I was a newspaper headline writer; screamers (or there was a coarser term we used) were banned unless the headline was the editor's idea They are just a lazy way of makign somethign sound exciting when in reality it is not. You don't need a screamer on Duke of Edinburgh dies! after all.

I very rarely use one now, tho I agree that texting and emails can sound dour without them. But I have never forgotten the headline ban.

Off of
I love my… whatever eg milk

And the phrases instead of eat by pp

Munch etc

I've also been getting very irritated by "up" used as a verb lately.

"I've upped my hours" or worse, "I've upped my veggies" ("veggies" also a crime).

I don't have a problem with language evolving, there's a lot of slang and new phrases that I really like, but sentences like the above sound awkward and inelegant to me.

Actually, there is a phenomenon of a sort of compound noun-verb that I see a lot of on Mumsnet, which irritates me beyond all reason:

I meal plan
I batch cook
I bulk buy

It just sounds a bit shit, doesn't it?

Revert back. The redundancy of the "back" makes me weep.

I wonder if, as their use becomes more and more widespread, the "new" compound verbs you mention will shift to form a one word verb. Probably, as that's what happened with others (babysit, proofread etc)