| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10] > | What cliches do you dislike the most? Thread poster: jyuan_us
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jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 04:10
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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TOPIC STARTER | Not cliche but frequently used in oral English | Jan 15, 2023 |
Very, very + adjective
Super to mean very, very.
This is great.
I'm excited.
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 04:10
Japanese to English
+ ...
"or what" = "estas loco o que?
Not forgetting "he's got a lot on his plate".
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 04:10
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Let me know if you have any questions | Jan 15, 2023 |
Look at this one: ”Let me know if you have any questions.“
I know it is a correct and idiomatic expression but I'm tempted to read it as "Let me know whether you have any questions or not, " for which I would only need to give a Yes/No answer. I don't really need to let you know what my question is.
I'm just kidding. Seriously.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 04:10
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
You know what I'm saying/what I mean?
[Edited at 2023-01-15 16:20 GMT]
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| Not very good English | Jan 15, 2023 |
jyuan_us wrote:
Very, very + adjective
Super to mean very, very.
I've been taught that using very, very + adjective is not good English.
As to "super", I get the impression that young people tend to use it more often than older people, as in "He's super cool".
BTW, this term "super" has been loaned to the German language, and it is used as the same meaning as "great", ("Das ist super" or simply "Super!") also often among youngsters.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 04:10
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Totally agreed | Jan 15, 2023 |
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
jyuan_us wrote:
Very, very + adjective
Super to mean very, very.
I've been taught that using very, very + adjective is not good English.
As to "super", I get the impression that young people tend to use it more often than older people, as in "He's super cool".
BTW, this term "super" has been loaned to the German language, and it is used as the same meaning as "great", ("Das ist super" or simply "Super!") also often among youngsters.
"Super" has also made its way into Chinese. The literal Chinese translation of "super" is becoming very, very trendy among youngsters in China, particularly in elementary schools.
[Edited at 2023-01-15 09:50 GMT]
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 09:10
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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| ¿Estás loco, o qué? | Jan 15, 2023 |
Michael Newton wrote:
"or what" = "estas loco o que?
Sorry, Michael, I don't intend to correct you, but it is something missing there... "Are you crazy, or what?"
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 04:10
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Rocket science, or not | Jan 16, 2023 |
This is not rocket science.
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| Now I start cringing (if to refer to another popular thread on this forum) | Jan 18, 2023 |
I've been suffering a few days (with a few more ahead) over several lengthy judgments (oh how many redundant words... what a variety of highly sophisticated ways to beat around the same bush) of one very honourable bla-bla justice from some recent proceedings in English courts. I winced on a few 'going forward's first, and then started to laugh out loud on the 'north of'... All of these and some other cliches came up on this thread above. But this text is 90% cliches, confidentiality alone preve... See more I've been suffering a few days (with a few more ahead) over several lengthy judgments (oh how many redundant words... what a variety of highly sophisticated ways to beat around the same bush) of one very honourable bla-bla justice from some recent proceedings in English courts. I winced on a few 'going forward's first, and then started to laugh out loud on the 'north of'... All of these and some other cliches came up on this thread above. But this text is 90% cliches, confidentiality alone prevents me from sharing this treasure with you [guys:] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Are these clichés? | Jan 18, 2023 |
It strikes me that almost all of the "clichés" in this thread are just phrases or new jargon that people don't happen to like.
For example, I would argue that "going forward" has its place in English, as there are times when "in the future" just doesn't work. "North of" is also a welcome new option for a Scandi translator having to deal with "drygt".
English has always been a colourful and rapidly evolving language full of metaphor and innovation. Sometimes these thing... See more It strikes me that almost all of the "clichés" in this thread are just phrases or new jargon that people don't happen to like.
For example, I would argue that "going forward" has its place in English, as there are times when "in the future" just doesn't work. "North of" is also a welcome new option for a Scandi translator having to deal with "drygt".
English has always been a colourful and rapidly evolving language full of metaphor and innovation. Sometimes these things get overused, for sure, but generally they do have a slightly different meaning and add to the language in some way; otherwise they wouldn't come about.
My partner speaks fluent corporatese at work. I hear her on Zoom calls and cringe. Outside work, she talks perfectly normally. But I'm not sure she could navigate the world of "narrative" and "traction" and so on without resorting to corporatese. The world has changed, and to extent the language has to go with it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Here's another one | Jan 20, 2023 |
One million vaccines, Covid booster and flu, delivered this winter, say public health officials
I HATE "DELIVERED".
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| More really annoying ones | Jan 21, 2023 |
On the helpline to my mobile phone provider:
1. "Can you help me with your date of birth?"
2. "Can you share your full address please?"
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 12:10
Member
English to Turkish
Another (old) annoying American expression... I don't see it used very often these days.
I remember reading a comment on an Iron Maiden video on Youtube more than 12 years ago, which said something along the lines of "Up the Irons! Maiden is the shit", and somebody replied to him saying "You are a shit" and receiving shit loads of upvotes (including mine). Served him right I thought...
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 04:10
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | "Accepted offer" | May 4, 2023 |
If you see a plate that reads "accepted offer" hanging in front of a property for sale, are you tempted to wonder why it is not written as "offer accepted?"
I guess not, because "offer accepted" could also mean "offer is now being accepted."
I also guess "accepted offer" should be the only feasible phrase for a real estate agent to express the meaning intended. But, is it natural and grammatically sound?
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Philip Lees wrote:
Isn't this airport-speak?
"Passengers are kindly requested to proceed to the departure gate"
And similar instructions. I've never heard the phrase "are kindly requested" in any other context, but it's a standard phrase in airport announcements. It's probably how airline management imagine that "proper" English speakers address each other when they're trying to be polite.
Maybe it's just spilled over into other areas.
This made me laugh so much.
This is said in airports AND on airplanes.
Most of these are just masked orders, really. These are things you have to do, otherwise there will be consequences.
"Passengers are kindly requested to proceed to gate 19 for immediate boarding" (see, the request may be kind, but the boarding has to be immediate), otherwise you will cause the flight to be late, or you will be cancelled from the flight.
"Passengers are kindly requested to return to their seat and fasten their seatbelt", for example in case of turbulence, because if you don't do it, and heaven forbid you get hurt, not only will you get hurt, but insurance won't even pay you, because you didn't follow the order you had been given.
So I would say that "kindly", in such instances, is just used to mitigate the tone of the order that follows.
Kevin Fulton wrote:
This may be an Americanism, a variant on "Have a nice day!", but I have to resist the temptation to ask "A good what?"
This was literally my answer the first time I heard this, many moons ago.
I genuinely didn't get it at the time, and I still dislike it to this day.
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