Terms I Don't Use

[Félix]

Say it. Don't spray it.

[Jonathan]

I said that last line using the voice of Daffy Duck.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I loathe the term "think" used as an imperative. You see it often in bad journalism.

[Félix]

[Michael]

I don't like "robust" when used to describe a machine or software.

[Félix]

I like the way Daffy says robust.

[Kevin]

i like robust when it is used to describe a chick

[~Geektastic~]

I thought of using the word robust to describe a woman, and now "Brick House" is stuck in my head.

[Kevin]

ughhhh. hmmm hmmm hmmm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBx6m...

[Charlotte]

Jammies wrote: "Jim wrote: "Well I guess your opinion is what it is Charlotte :-)

::stands back to watch Charlotte run screaming down the hall::"

Funny, that phrase makes me run screaming toward the person ..."

:) Glad I'm not alone here.

[Charlotte]

Jonathan wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "I loathe it when people say "out of pocket" to mean unreachable, unavailable, rather than in a financial sense."

I don't think I've ever heard anyone use "out of pocket" that w..."

I have a co-worker that uses "Out of pocket" that way. She also uses the phrases "yay verily," "spell me," and "tender hooks" on a regular basis. I sometimes wonder if she is involved in time travel.

[Rebecca]

I get the problem with "tenterhooks" and "yea, verily," but what is it with "spell me?" What's it supposed to be? Hell, what does it even MEAN?!

[Jonathan]

I think "spell me" is just a regional expression meaning "take my place for a while."

"Yea, verily" is archaic and probably a silly thing to say out loud unless you're a waiter at Medieval Times.

"On tenterhooks" is not an expression I use much in conversation, but I do see it written from time to time, and I wouldn't necessarily avoid using it in writing myself if I had a suitable reason for it (beyond writing about the expression itself, like here). It just seems a little hackneyed--"A nail-biter of a movie--kept me on the edge of my seat. I was on tenterhooks right up to the closing credits," etc.

[Charlotte]

Spell me, she uses when someone has to take over a task for her, like, "Can you spell me in the computer lab while I attend a meeting?" And yes, tenterhooks, is correct, but she says and writes "tender hooks." She also says "boo goo" for beaucoup and "ag nauseum" instead of "ad nauseum."

[Rebecca]

I guess I've never heard "spell me." I used to work with a guy whose wife worked with somebody who had some other great malaprops, but I can't remember them.

[Jonathan]

Charlotte wrote: "She also says 'boo goo' for beaucoup..."

I once used a product called Shoe Goo to fix a pair of sneakers. Boo goo, I don't know. Ag nauseum is that queasy feeling a farmer gets at the end of a hard day's work in the fields.

[Charlotte]

I like it!

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

When I was in fourth grade one of my best friends, who clearly had never seen it in print, called soap operas "show boppers."

[Janice]

I've heard "spell me". It's a common phrase here. "Can you spell me for a bit so I can grab a cup of coffee?" I used to use "tender hooks" too until I was corrected here on TC.

[Charlotte]

My husband thought the phrase "suit yourself" was "shoot yourself" and was telling people, quite regularly, to shoot themselves. I corrected him, but prompty adopted "shoot yourself" as a phrase I use instead of "suit yourself." Just seems to pack a little bit more of a punch.

[[deleted user]]

Actually.