Doublespeak Terms that Turn Your Stomach

earllogjam

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These popularized terms make me cringe each time I hear them.

1. In Harm's Way
2. Break Bread (meaning to eat together - way too eurocentric and biblical for me, excudes rice, tortilla, cous cous and poi eaters)
3. Family Friendly
4. Erectile Disfunction
5. Insurance Adjuster
6. Protective Custody
7. Climate Change (vs. Global Warming)
 

B_big dirigible

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Cheer up, things are improving - at least every news hack no longer tries to work the phrase "a river runs through it" into every story mentioning some town's name.

"Climate change" may be for us slightly older types who remember when we were all supposed to be quaking in our boots about "global cooling". But of course that wasn't really happening, either. So excitable types worried about either can all join in one big hysterical crowd. It's all rather inclusive, really. (Do I hear a verse of Kumbaya somewhere?)
 

madame_zora

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Homeland security

Plausible deniability (fucking hate that one)

Bad intelligence

War on Terror (drugs).
Wars can only happen against other human beings, not ideologies.

Unamerican. Our country was founded on dissent, it's as American as it gets.
 

dannymawg

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Werd. I'm in corporate recovery myself.
Hook me up with your therapist, would ya? I just did 5 years in telecom.

Example: It was my responsibility as a member of the management community to sustain shareholder value and ensure the course of business during a union strike a few years ago. Read: it was mandatory for me to attend training so my ass could warm a union call center chair for four days (I received no calls - ha ha). No compliance meant I lose my job.

Read again: I was forced to be a scab. That's what I call bullshit.

And they wouldn't even pay for a rental car for the 6 hour drive to my strike I mean work stoppage duty, nor for a flight because it involved a commuter hop into the dumbass podunk town I was assigned to. Lo and behold the alternator fried in my beater commuter car a week later.



Bullshit, I tell you. I'm never working for CorporateAmerica™ again.
 

earllogjam

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Bullshit, I tell you. I'm never working for CorporateAmerica™ again.

I can relate to your pain.

At least your boss never said "irregardless" and "enthused" every fucking day of the week even after you told him in a round about nicey nice corporate way that it was not correct grammar and that he was dumber than dirt.

If I had a sucker for every brain numbing management meeting I had to endure I'd be an octopus - if I only had Bullshit Bingo in my hours of desperation.
 

madame_zora

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I can relate to your pain.

At least your boss never said "irregardless" and "enthused" every fucking day of the week even after you told him in a round about nicey nice corporate way that it was not correct grammar and that he was dumber than dirt.

If I had a sucker for every brain numbing management meeting I had to endure I'd be an octopus. Thank god for humor.


Humor, and a lifelong commitment to non-violence, without which many, many people would be dead.:tongue:

I love it when people lift that eyebrow that lets me know they're about to say something important, then say "irregardless". However, I must admit that once my belly laughing subsides, the desire to kick them in the groin is nearly overwhelming. As DMW likes to say "pretend you're Van Gogh and cut off the "ir"!"

Dannymawg, all I can say is that it's a self-therapeutic position, and if you escaped with any portion of your sanity intact, you're a winner. The only way to beat the system is to refuse to play. I live on FAR less money now, and I have no health insurance, but interestingly enough, I rarely find myself sick enough to need a doctor anymore. No more ulcers, stomach cramps (except female-related), headaches, hair loss, and even my insomnia is significantly less. When I think about what it did to my body to eat shit everyday, I'm glad I went on a reduced-shit diet.
 

SpeedoGuy

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* "dumb down" That's truly a self-fulfilling phrase.

* "efficiencies" A euphemism that warns of pending corporate outsourcing.

* "Gitmo" How hard is it to just say the place's proper name: Guantanamo?

* "Total Quality Management" A faddish phrase managers were obsessed with for a while in the '80s. Nothing ever changed, though.
 

earllogjam

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Hate to break it to ya...but irregardless is a word, despite.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source
irregardless
an erroneous word that, etymologically, means the exact opposite of what it is used to express, attested in non-standard writing from 1912, probably a blend of irrespective and regardless. Perhaps inspired by the double negative used as an emphatic.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper


It is considered non-standard English. Sorry guy.
 

madame_zora

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source
irregardless
an erroneous word that, etymologically, means the exact opposite of what it is used to express, attested in non-standard writing from 1912, probably a blend of irrespective and regardless. Perhaps inspired by the double negative used as an emphatic.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper


It is considered non-standard English. Sorry guy.


Webter's II agrees, non-standard word=mistake made by many.:rolleyes:
 

madame_zora

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How does a brazen, free thinking Madam Defarge type like yourself wind up in corporate America? Do you still have all the hair on your head?


It's actually a funny story. I'm a recovering alcoholic (haven't had a drink in 14 years now) and as a result of that, I never finished my degree- I quit college two semesters shy and never went back.

About a year sober, I decided I wanted to "do something meaningful" with my life, which meant a career rather than just a job. I asked a friend for advice, and laid it all out like this, "I don't have a degree or any worthwhile work experience, I don't feel like lifting heavy things, don't want to work hard and I want to make a lot of money."

He replied by saying "Oh, then you're a salesman!"

Honestly, I have mostly good memories of it, but then I have a selective memory.
 

Principessa

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I dislike:
  1. Quality Time :confused:
  2. No offense but... it always means I am about to be majorly offended
  3. African-American: Makes it sound like my grandparents came through Ellis Island, they did not.


These popularized terms make me cringe each time I hear them.

1. In Harm's Way why does this bother you?
2. Break Bread (meaning to eat together - way too eurocentric and biblical for me, excudes rice, tortilla, cous cous and poi eaters)
3. Family Friendly
4. Erectile Disfunction why does this bother you?
5. Insurance Adjuster why does this bother you?
6. Protective Custody
7. Climate Change (vs. Global Warming)
 

earllogjam

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So what now Madam Zora? I went into a deep funk after I knew that the corporate route was just not for me. Took my about a year to get my bearings find out what was important to me, what I really liked doing and go back to school and switch careers.

Why not get that degree if you only have 2 semesters left? It will open doors for you. It may not matter much to you but unfortunately it matters to a lot of employers.

I have good memories of my corporate life too. The perks were great and fortunately I had a lot of kindered spirits who felt as I did at work and subsequently got out and doing other things - they're just not as sarcastic now - well maybe not. Switching careers felt like the earth was crumbling under me, especially the financial part.
 

HazelGod

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Family Values

Homeland security

Plausible deniability (fucking hate that one)

Bad intelligence

War on Terror (drugs).
Wars can only happen against other human beings, not ideologies.

Unamerican. Our country was founded on dissent, it's as American as it gets.

I think I love you.


I dislike:
  1. African-American: Makes it sound like my grandparents came through Ellis Island, they did not.
I've always wondered why black folks tolerate this one, too. It makes two completely unfounded assumptions about a person in one remark. Newsflash, PC morons: black people come from continents other than Africa and live on continents other than the Americas.