Andy, the only time I can think when I’d use upon would be when describing a situation like ‘I happened upon Fiend sweating profusely beneath the Moon Board’. Would you edit me?
I've been doing even more editing than normal recently and there are two words that I've now come to detest. First. "indeed" - it is almost always pure padding.
Has there ever been a better time to be the phrase "Well look"? For months, maybe even years now, everybody who wants to make any point about literally anything always precedes their dialogue with "Well look". It's as common as breathing and it's starting to get on my tits!
Even more comedic if you replace ‘happened’ with ‘came’!
I am now going to ruin everyone by pointing out the extreme over use of two words:Stuff(s)Thing(s)... hopefully try to cut down if you yourself fall fowl to this 'dumbing down' of language.
In a similar vein, people are forever using "yourself" where "you" would do, normally to try and sound more formal. Get in the sea!
When did the ubiquitous "like" arrive? Kids can't complete a sentence with al least 2 unnecessary likes slipped it. Grates me when they do it, grates even more when I do.
Superfluous words at the start of sentences has pissed me off for what feels like four lifetimes. The one you mention is bad but I think 'Ok so....' or just 'So' are worse.
Quote from: SA Chris on July 04, 2022, 09:53:15 pmWhen did the ubiquitous "like" arrive? Kids can't complete a sentence with al least 2 unnecessary likes slipped it. Grates me when they do it, grates even more when I do.It is horribly hard to speak without using hesitation devices. They do change over time. Live with it.
Oh this is a fun thread - I am now going to ruin everyone by pointing out the extreme over use of two words:Stuff(s)Thing(s)Over the last year or so be it listening to a podcast, TV/radio reports or in person conversation it seems a rare occurrence for someone to string together a single coherent sentence without improperly or inaccurate use of the word stuff and/or thing. Rather than using the more exact and specific term they should challenge their brain to retrieve they instead fall back on the catch all word of choice. Now that anyone who is reading this is aware of this phenomenon I can promise you will catch other people doing it endlessly and hopefully try to cut down if you yourself fall fowl to this 'dumbing down' of language. I play a little game with myself where I actively force myself to not use either word, instead forcing my brain to work a fraction harder and retrieve the slightly more complex word that more precisely fits the given situation.I have a (surely un-original) theory that a combination of Covid (less face to face social speaking interactions) and ever increasing social media use has drastically impacted our collective vocabularies. Resulting in those two forbidden words starting with S+T words taking hold of our minds.
Quote from: jwi on July 04, 2022, 10:00:30 pmQuote from: SA Chris on July 04, 2022, 09:53:15 pmWhen did the ubiquitous "like" arrive? Kids can't complete a sentence with al least 2 unnecessary likes slipped it. Grates me when they do it, grates even more when I do.It is horribly hard to speak without using hesitation devices. They do change over time. Live with it.In the pre "like" era everyone seemed to cope?