h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I don't know the thread so please enlighten me - what on earth has being Catholic got to do with saying Haitch rather than aitch ? My mother went to a convent and was taught to speak good English.

wanderinjac: I don't object to Canadians being polite, it's just that every single Canadian uses the precise same phrase. Mind you, I did discover that saying "cheers" instead of "thanks" or "thank you" throws them and generally gets either a different reply or none at all.

Not an objection to your post, but you made me think of this: "As a ... " is often misused. I particularly dislike "As a Christian I believe ... " preceding a right-wing idea. I mean, I'm a Christian, but I don't think single mothers are the epitomy of evil.

TAD and Elly:

F19585?thread=100569&post=2055002#p2055002

Hope it works.

It does! I've finally worked out how to use the 'Search Conversation Forums' feature. Hurrah!

The problem with that is that you can't search for the thread titles (or the changed titles as they get changed through the thread) You actually have to remember what someone said and search for it. And it's no help if it's something like "London" or "marmalade" - it has to be real specific.

The results then seem to appear in chronological order. So you can click backwards if you know it was a conversation ages ago.

It would be really nice to limit the conversation search to "conversations I have taken part in" but I've given up making suggestions like that in feedback and other forums. They just get conveniently forgotten - especially each time a Ripley comes up.

Bagpuss,

How many civil ways can you say "you're welcome"? I use "no problem" even "think nothing of it" (wordy, I know). Your being exasperated by the Canadian uniformity of that phrase seems similar to my coming to England and being bothered by hearing "Ta"!

I agree with the "As a... My favorite is, "As a concerned citizen..."

"Some of my best friends are "(insert discriminated minority group here)

Although mind you, you get a real insight into the real motivations of a person who uses this phrase, so I might not bung it into room 101 just yet...

Well, you say yourself that you use alternatives. And "ta" is just one of several words you'll hear.

*not quite sure how he got into a debate on this subject*

Bagpuss,

*shaking her head, too* I know, I know.

Now back to the original topic. The phrase that drives bugs me most is "work ethic". Particularly when spouted by some over-paid athlete.

Who is taking doping.

'He'll be taking this opportunity to go away and re-group' with regards to sportsmen (usually Tim Henman when called off by rain)

Ah, yes, the work ethics of athlets are amazing, indeed... You need so much devotion and strength of mind and alll...
Thanks for the thread, btw.
And I still hate Ta.

I can't say I ever use ta either. I remember there was a section in a sociolinguistics lecture on US perceptions of English accents - Americans don't have the same prejudices as we have (Scouse sounds harsh, Brummie sounds miserable etc). But I guess some words, such as 'ta', are universally unpopular...

"Botek".

Some months ago, when I was quite busy, a friend arrived unannounced to get me to search the web for him to find a supplier of a Botek brand satellite receiver box he'd seen mentioned in a year-old magazine. I searched "Google" for "Botek" and got no relevant replies. Next, I tried searching on the model number alone, in case the company had changed its name in the preceding year. Every search I tried, he would say "It's a Botek. You forgot Botek. Botek.", his voice getting progressively louder as I tried hard to ignore him and come up with search terms which returned something of relevance. Eventually I told him to f**k off and stick his f**king Botek up his a*s.

I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet...

What irritates me more than possibly any other speech habit, is when people say something like

"an' ee' turned around to me and said .... and so I turned around to 'im and said".

What is it with these people? Whirling dervish disorder? Were they ballroom dancing at the time? Why can't people remain facing each other during a conversation?

Otto

I once heard that this comes from the time during the plague when people were encouraged to stand back to back when talking to each other to avoid infection. But when it came to making a point and if people were worked up, they would turn around and say it to their interlocuter's face.

This would explain the expression quite plausibly, but I am not sure whether people were really so aware of things like infection in those days - after all that's why there was so much illness and epidemics about.

They certainly knew something, as villages with the plague were quarantined. The story you tell is a little bizarre, though.

"I'm not a [insert minority] ist, but... "

which is often followed closely by

"Some of my best friends are [insert minority]... "

both of which are blatant lies as invariably the speaker is a bigot with no friends

Quality

So many adverts say "Quality ...." It is such a 'naff' word and do they mean Good Quality, Poor Quality, S**t Quality?

Naff - now there's a dreadful word, made famous by Princess Anne when she once told some journalists to "Naff Off!!" - and they say our Royal family isn't middle class!!!!

This may only be a growing menace in America, or maybe just in Southern California....the term "BOO-gee", referring to someone of the bourgeoise. A word which the person using the offending phrase is totally unable to spell correctly (or define!!!).

SC