Words and phrases to cancel

[padraig (u.s.)]

Something is problematic. No, fuck off, just say it's a problem.

Have to disagree here

Problematic, as I general hear it used, doesn't just refer to a problem, but more specifically to problematic elements of a thing or person that should nominally be and/or otherwise is an ally. I.e. a classic example is RuPaul, for a long time one of the most visible representations of queerness but who has a long history of issues with anti-trans discrimination and racism (yup) in addition to owning a bunch of fracking wells on his ranch in Wyoming, and so on.

You can argue there's a better word for that than problematic, which undoubtedly sounds like a clunky academic term in everyday speech, but idk what that alternate word would be.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Something's always rubbed me the wrong way about referring to things as 'spaces'.

This is another one exists probably for lack of anyone coming up with a better term to describe something specific, as in a space created by and for some marginalized group to have free of [x marginalization].

Admittedly has probably been largely coopted ("recuperated" to use the fancy term) as a marketing buzzword

 

[william_kent]

at my workplace we don't have "problems", we have "challenges", but then some manager will fuck that up by saying "don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions"

anyway, from my youtube feed I gather it is the parkour lads have the real challenges, like "standing pre to double kong to stick on rail"

 

[IdleRich]

I almost posted a complaint about advance tipping deliveroo riders who, sometimes, don't deserve a tip in another thread and almost typed "first world problems" but then I came to my senses and I have cancelled myself...

One of the best uses I ever saw of this phrase was in the comments section of The Guardian in a review of the (semi-autobiographical) Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St Aubyn. Someone dismissed them out of hand saying "Who cares about the first world problems of a bunch of rich people?".

Regardless of what you thought of the novels, or whether or not you cared about the protagonist's troubles, it seemed a little harsh to dismiss as utterly trivial the plight of the young boy being beaten and sexually abused by his violent and alcoholic father while his distant mother was too tranquilized to notice or care - at the time the fact that those same parents had money probably didn't insulate him as much as the commenter assumed.

 

[william_kent]

One of the best uses I ever saw of this phrase was in the comments section of The Guardian in a review of the (semi-autobiographical) Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St Aubyn. Someone dismissed them out of hand saying "Who cares about the first world problems of a bunch of rich people?".

Regardless of what you thought of the novels, or whether or not you cared about the protagonist's troubles, it seemed a little harsh to dismiss as utterly trivial the plight of the young boy being beaten and sexually abused by his violent and alcoholic father while his distant mother was too tranquilized to notice or care - at the time the fact that those same parents had money probably didn't insulate him as much as the commenter assumed.

yeah, addiction and abuse don't recognise class distictions

 

[woops]

Have to disagree here

cancelled

 

[version]

Admittedly has probably been largely coopted ("recuperated" to use the fancy term) as a marketing buzzword

This is the crux of it, really. The initial usage is obliterated once it hits the general public.

When I hear terms like 'spaces' and 'problematic', it often comes off as though the person using them doesn't really have much to say and has just learned the correct terms to fake it, like padding out a CV by making everything you've done sound as formal and technical as possible.

 

[IdleRich]

When we were in Dusseldorf I ended up at someone's house after we DJ- talking to, really being talked at, by this guy who was into all this theory stuff and who was involved in a kind of sociologicalor experiment that involved he and his friends reopening an old anarchist spot and putting on events that seemed appropriate. Anyway he was saying all this stuff that I didn't understand and quoting all these people I'd never heard of to explain that it wasn't going as he wanted for various reasons, but one thing that stuck in my mind was this quirk of his language where I think he wanted to say problematic but he was making the - not unreasonable - substitution or mistake of saying troublesome instead. Which I suppose does have the same basic meaning in general language, but which as far as I know has not really been adopted by academia and pressed into use in this sense.

I found this quite interesting, I suppose it told me how usage can change how you perceive a word even though the meaning has remained the same.

I'm probably not explaining it well, cos I probably didn't understand it myself.

 

[wild greens]

"living his best life"

I get really offended by shit idioms. I know it is a problem.

Wanted Mafia Hitman Found Living His Best Life as a Pizza Chef in France

Police caught Calabrian mafia member Edgardo Greco, who killed two men and dissolved them in acid three decades ago, making pizzas near Lyon.

www.vice.com

Man 'living his best life' goes viral as he waits for bus

The man was captured on camera "living his best life"

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Mr. Tea]

"living his best life"

I get really offended by shit idioms. I know it is a problem.

Wanted Mafia Hitman Found Living His Best Life as a Pizza Chef in France

Police caught Calabrian mafia member Edgardo Greco, who killed two men and dissolved them in acid three decades ago, making pizzas near Lyon.

www.vice.com

Man 'living his best life' goes viral as he waits for bus

The man was captured on camera "living his best life"

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Excellent suggestion, that one's a real stinker.

 

[Mr. Tea]

'Experience', as in, 'We use cookies to craft the best possible experience for you while using our website'. Thanks, but I don't really want an 'experience', I want one small piece of information.

(OK, I just gratuitously threw 'craft' in there to make it extra annoying, but that's another obnoxiously overused word in itself.)

 

[Benny Bunter]

"lived experience" - combining the worst of the last two entries into one meaningless phrase

 

[Clinamenic]

Really staggering how complaining is such a bonding agent for people.

 

[Mr. Tea]

One of the best uses I ever saw of this phrase was in the comments section of The Guardian in a review of the (semi-autobiographical) Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St Aubyn. Someone dismissed them out of hand saying "Who cares about the first world problems of a bunch of rich people?".

Regardless of what you thought of the novels, or whether or not you cared about the protagonist's troubles, it seemed a little harsh to dismiss as utterly trivial the plight of the young boy being beaten and sexually abused by his violent and alcoholic father while his distant mother was too tranquilized to notice or care - at the time the fact that those same parents had money probably didn't insulate him as much as the commenter assumed.

I think this sort of thing results from people who believe that being a 'good person' is first and foremost (or solely) a matter of subscribing to the correct ideology, but who are so lacking in compassion that they're probably somewhere on the psychopath spectrum, and end up taking the position that people in certain categories can't possibly have experienced any real, actual problems or difficulties. So in economic or class terms, you have the example you've just given, while the equivalent in race discourse would be the sort of person who insists that Anne Frank had 'white privilege.'

 

[Benny Bunter]

Aside from the corporate-speak, the whiny narcissistic woke Twittery ones are definitely the most tedious and cringeworthy. Everything being a 'dogwhistle' is another I fucking hate.

That said, I quite like 'gaslighting' when properly applied, it's just been overused

 

[Mr. Tea]

Aside from the corporate-speak, the whiny narcissistic woke Twittery ones are definitely the most tedious and cringeworthy. Everything being a 'dogwhistle' is another I fucking hate.

That said, I quite like 'gaslighting' when properly applied, it's just been overused

Have we had 'toxic' yet?

 

[Benny Bunter]

British people saying 'dumpster fire'

 

[Benny Bunter]

Also Americans saying 'dumpster fire' but that's slightly more forgivable

 

[Benny Bunter]

Accusing someone of 'cognitive dissonance' when it's probably better to just call them plain thick

 

[Leo]

Also Americans saying 'dumpster fire' but that's slightly more forgivable

some phrases -- like this one -- are kind of clever the first time you hear them, but they literally have a one-use expiration. when you hear it again, it just become a bad cliche.

Also, can we cancel "literally"?