Sunday, August 7, 2011

Phrases and Words that have Jumped The Shark 1. Jumped the Shark
Just read it yesterday in a story about the 2012 Oscars...come on! At least use it correctly when you
use it...they kept saying "the shark jumped the tank..."  If you are going to be hackneyed, don't add
insult to injury and mix your metaphors.
2. Nestled
PLEASE PEOPLE, there IS another word you can use to describe Humboldt and Mendocino
Counties. "Nestled among the ancient, majestic redwoods along the pristine...blah, blah, blah.  Don't believe us when we say IT MUST STOP?  Look up any tourism webpage or
brochure and there WILL be "nestled". Surely we are more creative than that!
3. Tirelessly
As overused by the PR folks as "worked around the clock"...it's so 2007.
4.  That Being Said
That being said, Spence thinks INTERVIEWERS say it too much, I think SPEECHifiers say it too
5.  "Uh" and "Um"
See first posting on Above The Fold Click Here
6.  Adding Insult To Injury
See #1.

These are just a few of our literary pet peeves...what are yours?
Posted by The Editors at 8:37 AM Derral said...

"Frankly.." Sounds like they're lying for sure.

August 7, 2011 at 10:10 AM "Could care less", backwards.

August 7, 2011 at 11:22 AM The Editors said...

Derral, that reminds us of starting a sentence with..."To be honest..." What, you weren't being honest before?

August 7, 2011 at 11:30 AM "Wods"? um, er HUH?

August 7, 2011 at 11:35 AM Not fair! ;-{ You correct your misspelling of 'Words" (wods) after all your dis-ing about "working around the clock" and such. I think you just "nestled" in the corrected spelling without so much as even an um or er.

August 7, 2011 at 12:54 PM Dave Stancliff said...

How about;

"Having said that..." and then the writer goes on to repudiate everything he said.

August 7, 2011 at 2:16 PM Ernie Branscomb said...

Yes, "having said that" always tunes me out for about five seconds, while I roll around in my head all the reasons that they shouldn't be using such and trite superfluous phase, then I realize that hadn't paid attention to what the speaker said after that. Then I get annoyed and change the film.

Having said that, why do the commercials on TV always have to say “But wait” then “Order, now and we will double the offer”. If they pay for commercial air-time by the second, it would seem that they would want to give you more content, But nooooo.

Nestled along the South fork of the Eel River in Garberville, this is South Fork Ernie, saying so-long.

August 8, 2011 at 1:06 PM What about "First Annual"....there is NO SUCH THING...the Times-Standard had it in a headline todayy...just because a press release says it doesn't mean it's correct.

August 8, 2011 at 1:51 PM Fred said...

More of a speaking issue but I think people that always say "I think" at the beginning of a sentence are being redundant most of the time. After all, I'd think that what you're saying is what you're thinking so there's no reason to say "I think" is a waste of words.

As far as writing, "furthermore" is one word that irks me when I see it.

August 9, 2011 at 7:50 AM Fred, I am guilty of starting a sentence with "I think" when I'm speaking...it's a tough habit to break..even when you're aware of it...I didn't think anyone else noticed!

August 9, 2011 at 9:27 PM I think I do it, too.

August 10, 2011 at 6:54 AM Above The Fold offers personal glances at life in Humboldt County. The editors will sometimes agree or disagree on the posted topic while keeping it always cordial and fun. The above illustration is the work of famed American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003)
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