What would you ban and why? (Definitely tearoom!)

[Clive IndiaParticipant @cliveindia]

At least one of the phrases aligns with some parts of model engineering – "maintaining traction."

[Colin WhittakerParticipant @colinwhittaker20544]

Problems I like; I trained as a problem solving engineer. One of the reasons for retiring was the replacement of problems with challenges.

And going off on a slight tangent, management, some 30 years ago, used to proceed along the lines of, "It's a challenge." "It's a chance to develop yourself." and in a very strong french accent, "You 'ave to do eet!" Can you guess who I was working for?

Colin

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Crikey. I don't know about a Tea Room, but I think we need a Therapy Room for sad old gits. I'll be in that queue, I need to get my blood pressure down. There's so much I want to ban.

Steve

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

I'd ban 'organic food'.. until such time as someone creates inorganic food….

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

We made a joke only this very morning about using management speak in interviews (rather topical here at the moment seeing as we are all out of a job soon). Ducks in a row, low hanging fruit and comfort breaks to name just a few!!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Temperatures above 25 centigrade.

Neil

[MikeParticipant @mike89748]

No, Neil: temperatures BELOW 25 Centigrade.

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by fizzy on 24/08/2016 14:10:36:

We made a joke only this very morning about using management speak in interviews (rather topical here at the moment seeing as we are all out of a job soon). Ducks in a row, low hanging fruit and comfort breaks to name just a few!!

There are worse: don't ever work for a company that feels the need for each department to have a mission statement. Astonishingly my Out on time for the stores was approved, even though it had nothing to do with the stock.

Being empowered by a manager means he's getting you to the job he's too lazy/incompetent/inept/ignorant/playing golf to do himself.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Perhaps we should agree to ban diachronic linguistics. That way 'organic' would remain pure and agricultural workers could be called villains without causing offence.

When it comes to the problem versus issue we may have been guilty of preferring opinion and personal experience to checking the evidence. Whilst visiting me mum today I looked "issue" up in her copy of the Shorter OED. The meaning Michael objects to dates from the 16th century. If it's re-emerged recently as a corporate americanism they got it from us!

Next question: what sort of word is 'flea-bay'. I'll open the bidding by suggesting it's a calque.

No wonder we find the simple pleasures of machining metal so compelling…

Cheers,

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 24/08/2016 19:12:28

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 24/08/2016 19:11:23

Next question: what sort of word is 'flea-bay'. I'll open the bidding by suggesting it's a calque.

Contemptuous

[BrevaParticipant @breva]

I'd ban the latest Americanism that seems to have crept in where in interviews every reply has to begin with "So…".

[DodParticipant @dod]

I just came on this thread and read the lot to see if there was a consensus on what to ban.

I would ban half of the drivel posted on dirty great big threads, oh and like we have regularly on our menu, Salmon Fish Cakes – just try making a salmon cake without a bit of fish – and it is pan fried in a sodding frying pan.

Ps, my offspring reckon I wrote the Grumpy Old men series of books.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Give me a forum to moan about the things that cannot be changed,

A forum to suggest to others how to change the things they can,

And the wisdom to log off before any replies appear.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

"No wonder we find the simple pleasures of machining metal so compelling…"

. . . . . . yes but do we 'hog it out', r'eap it off', 'chew it out of solid', 'whistle a tap through' all according to the 'words and music'.

Martin

So . .

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 24/08/2016 19:11:23:

Next question: what sort of word is 'flea-bay'. I'll open the bidding by suggesting it's a calque.

I don't think it's a calque (a word or expression in a language that is a translation of a word or expression in another language – OED) More likely a combination of "flea market" and "eBay".

I would ban posts from pedants like myself!

Russell

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Russell Eberhardt on 25/08/2016 10:21:37:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 24/08/2016 19:11:23:

Next question: what sort of word is 'flea-bay'. I'll open the bidding by suggesting it's a calque.

I don't think it's a calque (a word or expression in a language that is a translation of a word or expression in another language – OED) More likely a combination of "flea market" and "eBay".

I would ban posts from pedants like myself!

Russell

I hope no-one thinks I don't just get this stuff from Wikipedia but the joke is that:

"The common English phrase, "flea market", is a phraseological calque of the French "marché aux puces" ("market with fleas&quot,^[6] as are the Czech "bleší trh", the Dutch "vlooienmarkt", the Finnish "kirpputori", the German "Flohmarkt", the Hungarian "bolhapiac", the Italian "mercatino delle pulci", the Polish "pchli targ", the Serbian "buvlja pijaca", the Spanish "mercado de pulgas", the Turkish "bit pazarı", and so on."

ebay probably loath the people who've dissed their trademark. I used to have a local bus company called 'Badger Line', a name carefully chosen by the promoters to project a cuddly image. Unfortunately ungrateful passengers soon talked of nothing but 'Bodger Line'

I too would ban posts from pedants like myself.

Dave

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

So, it's not a calque (today's new word – thank you) but surely the English language does have a word to describe two phrases concatenated together in an amusing and slightly derogatory manner?

Pedantry rules,

Rod

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 25/08/2016 17:24:37:

… surely the English language does have a word to describe two phrases concatenated together in an amusing and slightly derogatory manner?

.

I think that would be "a double-barrelled pun", Rod.

[Yes, I know it's not 'a word']

MichaelG.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 25/08/2016 19:21:12:

Posted by Roderick Jenkins on 25/08/2016 17:24:37:

… surely the English language does have a word to describe two phrases concatenated together in an amusing and slightly derogatory manner?

.

I think that would be "a double-barrelled pun", Rod.

[Yes, I know it's not 'a word']

MichaelG.

Surely we pedants would have to insist on that being "a double-barrelled paronomasia"?

I'm a little depressed to find that linguistics is yet another subject about which I know nothing.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

..a compound contradiction? An oxymoron?

Amongst the general illiterate public one should be careful of calling anyone a pedant….

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 25/08/2016 19:33:36:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 25/08/2016 19:21:12:

Surely we pedants would have to insist on that being "a double-barrelled paronomasia"?

.

Yeah-but … then I would have lost the pun on 'gun'

MichaelG.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 25/08/2016 19:46:48:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 25/08/2016 19:33:36:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 25/08/2016 19:21:12:

Surely we pedants would have to insist on that being "a double-barrelled paronomasia"?

.

Yeah-but … then I would have lost the pun on 'gun'

MichaelG.

"I'm a dum dum" the duffer admitted coltishly…

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 25/08/2016 22:17:12:

"I'm a dum dum" the duffer admitted coltishly…

.

Boom-Boom !!

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 25/08/2016 19:33:36:

I'm a little depressed to find that linguistics is yet another subject about which I know nothing.

Dont feel bad. I took several years of it at uni in a previous life and I still know nothing, including whatever paronomasia is.

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 25/08/2016 08:53:48:

Give me a forum to moan about the things that cannot be changed,

A forum to suggest to others how to change the things they can,

And the wisdom to log off before any replies appear.

Sounds like what We have here.

[Author]

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