Towards the end of the year, people publish their lists of what they don't want to see back in the next year. I'm coming in late in the game, but here is Curmudgeonly Mick's list of things I'd prefer not to see in 2007.
Awesome, especially as in "we have an awesome culture" and other corporate-speak.
The word "awesome" sounds perfectly natural and appropriate when used by a 10 year old to describe the latest Spiderman movie. A serious professional describing corporate culture? Not so much.
ASAP - a word I could really do without for a while. Someone telling me that they need something done 'ASAP!' doesn't motivate me to comply. Especially when verbally spelled out and left on voicemail. Anyway, this acronym is getting old and worn out. I vastly prefer PDQ.
Lazy tagging on flickr. I keep track of a number of flickr tags through my RSS reader. For example, I like looking at the day's photos tagged "Cape Town", because I enjoy seeing snapshots of my hometown. For some (mostly tourists), "Cape Town" just means "everywhere I went during my South African vacation."
Incorrect use of 'apostrophe s'. Not every word that ends in an 's' needs an apostrophe. For some strange reason people have taken to putting an apostrophe everywhere, even in words that are plural. "The film's atmosphere was taut and dramatic" is correct. "I saw two film's this weekend" is not.
Likewise 'lose' (as in "I am beginning to lose it") is not spelled "loose."
eBay auctions: books described as 'rare'. A book ain't rare if I can just go to Amazon and order it there and then. Likewise putting 'L@@K!' in the auction title will probably not make me drop everything and look.
Portland hipsters that drink Pabst Blue Ribbon. Why does PBR have such hipster chic in Portland? It tastes like Budweiser or Coors or any other damn crappy beer that you would care to name. Portland has so many excellent Microbrews, why drink PBR? I guess I just don't get it.
Awesome, especially as in "we have an awesome culture" and other corporate-speak.
The word "awesome" sounds perfectly natural and appropriate when used by a 10 year old to describe the latest Spiderman movie. A serious professional describing corporate culture? Not so much.
ASAP - a word I could really do without for a while. Someone telling me that they need something done 'ASAP!' doesn't motivate me to comply. Especially when verbally spelled out and left on voicemail. Anyway, this acronym is getting old and worn out. I vastly prefer PDQ.
Lazy tagging on flickr. I keep track of a number of flickr tags through my RSS reader. For example, I like looking at the day's photos tagged "Cape Town", because I enjoy seeing snapshots of my hometown. For some (mostly tourists), "Cape Town" just means "everywhere I went during my South African vacation."
Incorrect use of 'apostrophe s'. Not every word that ends in an 's' needs an apostrophe. For some strange reason people have taken to putting an apostrophe everywhere, even in words that are plural. "The film's atmosphere was taut and dramatic" is correct. "I saw two film's this weekend" is not.
Likewise 'lose' (as in "I am beginning to lose it") is not spelled "loose."
eBay auctions: books described as 'rare'. A book ain't rare if I can just go to Amazon and order it there and then. Likewise putting 'L@@K!' in the auction title will probably not make me drop everything and look.
Portland hipsters that drink Pabst Blue Ribbon. Why does PBR have such hipster chic in Portland? It tastes like Budweiser or Coors or any other damn crappy beer that you would care to name. Portland has so many excellent Microbrews, why drink PBR? I guess I just don't get it.
[edit 12/11/2020: Most of those are still valid, though now Portland 2020 has given me nostalgia for hipsters.]
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