words i dislike

[moonshake]

"What can I do you for?"

What makes people say this?

[Emily]

dyslexia?

at least, it took me a few reads to realize what you wrote.

if its not that, then maybe they're just trying to spice up their service job by switching some words around. sales can be pretty dull..

[moonshake]

at least, it took me a few reads to realize what you wrote.

I always thought this is what they call dyslexia.

I guess what I was asking is what makes people think that saying "What can I do you for?" is cool/funny/acceptable?

if it's not that, then maybe they're just trying to spice up their service job by switching some words around. sales can be pretty dull..

Funny that you mention that. The reason I posted this here is that I was recently reminded of this awfully clumsy expression when I saw Kurt Russell utter it in the movie "USED CARS".

[Eric]

Is it just me or is the term "politically correct" misused quite a bit?

I guess it depends on your perspective but I have had a few idiot friends in high school who insisted that I was "too politically correct" because I was offended by some pretty blatantly hateful stuff they'd say. I thought political correctness was saying "African Americans" instead of black people or "mentally ill" as opposed to retarded? Or just generally trying to avoid offending people/talking openly about taboos? I never really have had the term properly explained to me so maybe I'm the one who's off base but to me, they are racist and David Cross, for example, is politically incorrect.

And then some people just blatantly misuse it, like "Yea, it's not politically correct but I like reality shows." Like equating it with a guilty pleasure. Or even "Yea, I steal from Wal-Mart, I'm not exactly Mr. PC, dude." Something that isn't merely politically incorrect, but against the law. Anyone else know what I mean?

[Emily]

Is it just me or is the term "politically correct" misused quite a bit?

I guess it depends on your perspective but I have had a few idiot friends in high school who insisted that I was "too politically correct" because I was offended by some pretty blatantly hateful stuff they'd say. I thought political correctness was saying "African Americans" instead of black people or "mentally ill" as opposed to retarded? Or just generally trying to avoid offending people/talking openly about taboos? I never really have had the term properly explained to me so maybe I'm the one who's off base but to me, they are racist and David Cross, for example, is politically incorrect.

And then some people just blatantly misuse it, like "Yea, it's not politically correct but I like reality shows." Like equating it with a guilty pleasure. Or even "Yea, I steal from Wal-Mart, I'm not exactly Mr. PC, dude." Something that isn't merely politically incorrect, but against the law. Anyone else know what I mean?

that's hilarious. and i only had to read it once!

[Dorvid Barnas]

I get weird hearing, saying, and especially writing the words "could" and "should". Nails on a blackboard for me.  No clever reason - it's just a visceral thing. 
Words...

Those two need to go, though I mean no offense to whoever originated them. (Scotland?)

[Sarah]

Is it just me or is the term "politically correct" misused quite a bit?

It's not just you.

Here's my own story:  My sister and I started using "politically correct" jokingly in 1992 to refer to anything that we happened to agree with on the political front.  I was quite annoyed when the phrase was adopted generally (I'm aware it's been around since the seventies, but it wasn't widely used till considerably later), but even then it seemed to mean nothing more than reasonable attention to one's word choices.  Soon, though, it came to be used almost exclusively to dismiss anything even vaguely leftish that conservatives wished to discredit.   At this point, I became even more annoyed.

[John Junk]

Listen.  I beat my wife.  It's a part of our relationship.  I never claimed to be the most politically correct guy out there.

or...


Look, you can be all politically correct and claim that slavery is bad and that the Holocaust happened, but personally, I don't see it.

or...

Don't give me your politically correct bullshit about "litter".  If God wanted me to put this half-eaten Big Mac in the trash he wouldn't have invented gutters.

[Emerson]

"PC" is, like, the modern equivalent of slavery. Until I can get drunk and badmouth Puerto Ricans without upsetting Berkeley professors, none of us is truly free.

~EmD

[Josh Fenderman]

Being exposed to both the music industry and the corporate/advertising world, I come across words/phrases that I hate almost daily.

I hate when someone tells me they're going to "shoot" someone an email.

I hate when someone tells me they're going to "blow a call in" to someone.

I hate "best practices."

I hate uber-anything.

I hate "spins" and "adds" and "units".

I hate the whole concept of "phones" in the music business (as in "Top 10 phones"... if you don't know what this is consider yourself lucky)

I would add more but I'm getting angry just thinking about this stuff.

[Emily]

who says "blow a call in"?

i've never heard that before. the only image i come up with is someone using a conch shell.
please elaborate (if it won't anger you)
thanks!

[Laurie]

Yeah, "blow a call in" mystifies me. I guess some people may call a phone "the horn," but I've never heard that outside of a Twin Peaks episode. Who knows.

[Tim K in DC]

I've heard "get him/her on the blower" in place of "get him/her on the phone" but never "blow a call in."

[Eric]

It's not just you.

Here's my own story:  My sister and I started using "politically correct" jokingly in 1992 to refer to anything that we happened to agree with on the political front.  I was quite annoyed when the phrase was adopted generally (I'm aware it's been around since the seventies, but it wasn't widely used till considerably later), but even then it seemed to mean nothing more than reasonable attention to one's word choices.  Soon, though, it came to be used almost exclusively to dismiss anything even vaguely leftish that conservatives wished to discredit.   At this point, I became even more annoyed.

Listen.  I beat my wife.  It's a part of our relationship.  I never claimed to be the most politically correct guy out there.
or...
Look, you can be all politically correct and claim that slavery is bad and that the Holocaust happened, but personally, I don't see it.
or...
Don't give me your politically correct bullshit about "litter".  If God wanted me to put this half-eaten Big Mac in the trash he wouldn't have invented gutters.

"PC" is, like, the modern equivalent of slavery. Until I can get drunk and badmouth Puerto Ricans without upsetting Berkeley professors, none of us is truly free.

~EmD

Brilliant.

This sincerely put my mind at ease, guys, I thank you. 

And Emily - provided you weren't being sarcastic - thank you.

[Grimlock]

i dislike it when people talk about "dingleberries."