words that make you grit your teeth

[7rider]

How about starting with... "can I ask you a question?" then ask the actual question. What if I say NO to question #1?

Sure. You "can." But you MAY not!

[emily_in_nc]

Can I ask you a question....?

I have a co-worker who, if you ask him that, always replies:

"You already did."

I love it.

I try to remember never to approach him with that question...!

[Geonz]

I think it's pretty awful, too, and I can probably count the number of times I've said it on one hand without using my thumb.

Once was directed towards a woman in an Escalade that nearly hit me with her mirror while I was in the bike lane (and put her passenger-side tires over the line to do so!), then swerved towards me again when I began to pull up next to her at a stoplight. I had to ride into the the gutter to get around her, and I let the c-word fly right into her open window

When I was teaching reading in tutorials, we would end each session with paired read-aloud (taking turns reading) from a book of the student's choice. This ninth grade girl chose Cujo. When she'd come to a 'bad word,' she would simply skip it, so I did the same.

When the c-word came up and I skipped it, she called me on it... "You skipped that word!" - and she was concerned that I'd skipped it because she'd never heard of it before. I told her what it meant and that she probably hadn't heard of it because it was considered even more 'inappropriate' and rude than other 'bad words.'

I did suggest that she not announce at the dinner table that she'd learned a new word...

[Geonz]

(snip)
I can never keep up with what's PC or what isn't and sometimes things change from one to the other and back again. I suppose I could go through it all and pare down words that I use and swap some to other words but that seems like an awful amount of work and I prefer my friends to just be who they are and I'd like to think they feel the same about me.

My junior high kiddos would play the "but I was just kidding" when they'd tease and try to get reactions from people. They'd use the "it's what it means to me" argument.
I would ask them how they felt when somebody called them ignorant. At least in that part of the planet, "Ignorant" was used for stupid, ugly and otherwise unpopular. Then I'd show 'em the dictionary definition and ask if they thought it was okay for me to call them ignorant, since "all it means" is you don't know about something.
They actually kinda sorta "got it" - that words from the giver can hurt even if it's not intended (and some of 'em that if you offered Miss Geonz your 'reasons,' she would bore you to *death* with her explanations, so don't bother...)

I *am* bothered at the sensory and intellectual when words are mispronounced ('expresso') in ways that mangle their meaning. If I wanted to start a flame war on educational discussions, I'd say "It's that whole language attitude" and get on my phonemic awareness soap box

[Crankin]

Please don't start that battle...

I also had several kids who would stop when we were doing any kind of read aloud and they came to a "bad word." Since the YA lit I chose rarely had anything worse than h*ll or da*n, I had to tell them it was really OK with me to say those words. And these were kids who would think nothing of saying the f word or others when not around an adult. I mean, I was happy that they sort of knew about the "context" of swearing, but it seemed to really make them fearful to say those words in front of me.

[NoNo]

Outside the South, I don't want to hear the "word" y'all. Especially if you're addressing a single person. Just bugs me.

"Clicks" when refering to kilometers. I think that was due to overuse on a trip to Canada I took a few years back.

I know there are more, they escape me at the moment...

[Zen]

How about starting with... "can I ask you a question?" then ask the actual question. What if I say NO to question #1?

If you need my attention, and have a question, how about starting with Excuse Me, where/what/how .....?

"Quick question" really bugs me.
It's obviously a question and usually not quick.

[OakLeaf]

"Clicks" when refering to kilometers.

I hate that word too, but not as much as I hate using four syllables every time I'm trying to say how far away something is (outside the USA). I've started just saying "K," but I'm pretty sure that's non-standard and no one but DH would understand it automatically without having to think about it.

[SouthernBelle]

Y'all should never be addressed to a single person. It's plural.

[emily_in_nc]

Y'all should never be addressed to a single person. It's plural.

Exactly...

[SadieKate]

And here’s my soapbox rant about mispronunciations. Is it obvious ignorance on the person’s part (nuclear vs nuculer) or just subtle mispronunciation (espresso vs expresso). You ever think about speech problems?

My MS may not be apparent to you, but my intermittent swollen cotton tongue is VERY noticeable to me. So, rant on . . . .

I’m painfully aware of my phonic challenges.

[Pax]

Whatever.

Drives me nuts when it is used during a conversation, or disagreement, especially during a "heated conversation". It conveys such a lack of concern or caring.

Along that same line, I grit my teeth whenever someone uses "anyway" to resume speaking in conversation. It's dismissing whatever the previous speaker said so you can get on with what you want to say. Very rude.

[Grog]

It should be mentioned that in some countries "expresso" is a fully accepted pronounciation.

In France for example one who orders a small coffee ("un petit café") is very likely to hear the server call out loud "un express!" to the bar tender. "Espresso" is really the Italian spelling of the word, some countries where this preparation mode is equally popular have "translated" the word.

So it always makes me smirk a little when someone corrects another person who said "expresso..."

[kelownagirl]

Exactly...

I thought "y'all" was singular and "all y'all" was plural?

[emily_in_nc]

I thought "y'all" was singular and "all y'all" was plural?

Nope. Y'all is a conjunction of "you" and "all". No way it can be singular. It's like "You guys" is up north.

"Y'all all" is just plain wrong.

Emily, born and bred in the south...