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| Believe me, It's Unbelievabe |
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| rkhan |
| 05/06/04 at 02:04:54 |
| The editor of a newsmag asked readers to come up with cliches that they love to hate...and he was inundated...here's a sample: You Won’t Believe Me, Believe Me, It’s Unbelievable You said it, sir, with the item "Killing Cliches" in your Delhi Diary (Apr 19). People who cheerfully dip into cliches day in and day out can be a pain in the neck (that’s my favourite cliche!). These no-brainers should be banned from the language. The one that really takes the cake (sic) and should be banned forthwith is the ‘feelgood factor’. For the rest, this limerick should say it all: An able old teacher of mine Said it’s all very fine But your words which abound With cliches all-round Deserve to be pickled in brine. Asha Vombatkere, Mysore My vote goes to "hotting up". If this phrase is indeed correct and should be used instead of "heating up", will we soon hear of "colding down"? Norman Sequeira, on e-mail I always read a new Outlook issue from the back, and hence am responding to Vinod Mehta’s ‘call’ in his Delhi Diary. ‘Believe you me’, is my absolute favourite, most loved especially by the Punjabis (I am one too.) Gayatri Ghadiok, New Delhi Topping my list is "Without further ado". Once regarded as the able anchor’s amiable wrap-up line, this phrase has been transformed into an annoyingly banal, fallback phrase of wannabe pompous speakers. Prashanth Pappu, St Louis, US "whether you like it or not..." V.K. Mohan, Chennai "Having said that...". Everybody (ab)uses this phrase to say something and then say its converse. Good way to hedge your bets, but lousy way to endear yourself to your audience. Mala Ashok, Chennai "Off the beaten track", abused for almost anything beyond home-cooked ‘dal-roti’. Also, "Memories of a bygone era", for anything that happened between 2003 BC and 2003 AD. Amit Banerjee, on e-mail "Basically"—the staple fodder for a person who’s totally lost on a particular subject but is asked for his comments. Extensively used in interviews and talk shows. Leon Ittiachen, Thrissur "It is not rocket science." T. Krishnan, Bangalore Nothing unkindlier than "For your kind information". Anil Thota, on e-mail "The fact of the matter is..." Kurien Thomas, on e-mail "Believe you me." It is very irritating, makes no sense, is grammatically incorrect and is my pet hate phrase. Nikhil Mehta, New Delhi "Believe you me." Rajat, New Delhi Pet phrases used in the corporate world are quite different from everyday cliches. mncs adopt jargon which you might hear commonly in the United States, but not here. A few years back, "downsizing" became "rightsizing" and then, rather sinisterly, "value capture". It’s now popular in the United States to "speak to" or "talk to" something when what’s actually meant is speak about or talk about, which inevitably leads to some comic misunderstandings among us Indians. What’s annoying is not the phrases themselves but the fact that we Indians feel it necessary to go out of our way to avoid phrases we are familiar with, only to use new ones. Priya Suryanarayanan, Bangalore "Preponed" may not be a cliche but is hateful, besides being bad English, widely used even by journalists who should know better. E.R.C. Davidar, Padappai "To cut a long story short..." Gasbag fave. Vinod Dhawan, on e-mail "Shit," a great one to mutter in the presence of your beer buddies. Also, "Cool", when you mean hot. P.S. Rao, Hyderabad Most repeated and hackneyed in my book, "don’t tell me..." That’s right, don’t tell me again. Naresh Dhingra, Agra "For necessary action." R. Narayana Rao, Bangalore "Happening" is the word that irritates me the most. They’re such a "happening couple", Goa is so "happening", Thai cuisine is "happening". Sometimes I wonder if I, with two children and a marriage intact, am "happening"? I guess not. Anjuli Bhargava, New Delhi Most useless introductory gambit, "It is my proud privilege to...." Ashok Dilwali, New Delhi My current pet hate is "INDIA shining". Every time I come across the phrase, within 10 minutes there is a power outage in our colony. Brajendra Singh, New Delhi One most irritating expression I hear day in and day out on television, "AT this point in time". M. Chib, Bangalore "He is not in his seat at the moment". Kanta Advani, New Delhi The rain in the plains and hills of North India are a sublime sight. I cannot stand it therefore when someone says, "It’s Raining cats and dogs". M.L. Pandit, New Delhi Wonder who invented "Blah, Blah" or "etc, etc", "So on and so forth"? All they make one sound like is a bleating sheep. G.D. Coyaji, Pune "To tell you the truth", it stinks. George John, Adoor A blatant lie with a "to tell you frankly." Nargis Dordi, Mumbai The Bushism, "Make no mistake." M.K. Jain, New Delhi Isn’t "AWFULLY SWEET" awfully contradictory? Or "Terribly Beautiful", for that matter? Rani Bedi, Jodhpur Something I find in your magazine, "Highly placed sources". R. Raghavan, Chennai And last but not the least, "Last but not the least." Pinak Pani Pandey, Etawah source:www.outlookindia.com My personal peeve: [i] "I hate to say this, but..."[/i] If one hates to say it , it's probably a hateful thing to say, so why say it? |
| Re: Believe me, It's Unbelievabe |
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| Trustworthy |
| 05/06/04 at 14:09:28 |
| [slm]... “Good grief!” “Someone pass me a tissue….” even though I’m not crying. Or how about the word “beyond” used in…”It’s so real, it’s beyond real.” Or It’s so good, it’s beyond good. And then…”What’s up with that?” “Breaking news.” “You’re pulling my leg.” “Don’t make me laugh. Ha!” ”Take my breath away.” “You make my heart beat.” But this is most confusing….”I am one with the earth. I am the flower and the flower is me. For those who know Buddha, there is no Buddha. For those who don’t know Buddha, there is no Buddha.” Quoted from a Buddhist priest. Someone explain that to me for World Religion! ??? ::) Ma-assalamah... |
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