I'm sure you've heard at least some of these, usually from the TV. For some reason redundancy makes something more impressive, does it?

1. A new discovery! - As opposed to an old discovery, or as opposed to a new same-old-thing? Why new and discovery? Perhaps it's "more complete" that way?

2. More complete! - Ah yes, of course. I used to think of "complete" like being pregnant. You either are or you are not. There is no "little bit pregnant." I could continue, but some might think my long windedness might be more complete, and we can't have that.

3. The more you spend the more you save! - The first time I heard this I couldn't believe someone even put these words together in this manner. The instant response was "Really? So I'll be rich when I'm broke?" I suppose using a credit card may make me "more broke?" Or should that be "more rich?" Sounds too much like more complete to me.

Add your own gems and we can make the list most complete.

Some of these can actually make sense...I suppose so. This discovery wasn't made decades ago, but recently!

Exactly! More complete is useful when laying a jigsaw puzzle. After finishing 20% of it it's a little complete. With 40% of the pieces in place it's more complete. Not until all pieces are in place it's just "complete".


Now to some of my pet peeves:

LCD display - The D in LCD stands for "display"!
... and in the same manner...
PC computer

Cheers
Olle

Well I hate when people say "I could care less", if you could care less then it implies that you do care some. The saying is "I couldn't care less", as the care jar is completely empty and I don't give a F$%#.

"Touching base" may not confuse me, but it sure does send a shiver up my back when it's suggested to me.

The last person I corrected that mistake was an elementary grade english teacher. Go figure.

Oh you know when I need to communicate with someone I call or email or just talk. I don't "reach out".

Of course there are people who say "That's what I'm talking about....", even when they weren't talking to begin with.

And just for clarity, when one is smacked upside the head, that's the top right? And I'm curious, what's the middle part called these days?

"Sounds like a plan." Sorry no, just a passing thought. Going for ice cream doesn't require planning, unless you been hit upside the head too many times. That's what I'm talking about.

omg... i hate that one. and all the other corporate doublespeak people throw around the office... here are some other office catch phrases that might sap away your faith in humanity...

going forward - i caught myself using this the other day... barf...
as per - apparently is also grammatically incorrect as well as annoying
knowledge transfer - the idiocy of this is beyond words...

i can't think of any more right now, but i KNOW i'll hear at least a dozen more at my departmental meeting tomorrow... hey, i'll make a point to take notes on corporate jargon that annoys me.. maybe it'll help me stay awake.

May I suggest a game of Bullshit Bingo to make things a bit livelier?

HAHAHA.. that is awesome!!! i wish i had seen this post before the productivity-sapping meeting i sat through for 6 hours today...

one word that i heard at LEAST 10x today just vaulted itself to the top on my list of most hated corporate weasel words...
actionable... what a silly bit of tripe...

ow Ow OW OW! That's awful.

But now I am curious. If I place on a target on someone's head does he become actionable? You never did say what the action should be.

FAIL, or EPIC FAIL - What's so funny about it? Please tell me... I'm not living in a english speaking country, but to me it seems like the word fail is like a hundred times more common now than only a few years ago.

u dunno wut iz fail? lol EPIC FAIL

Yeah, funny. You don't even know yourself what's so funny about it, otherwise you'd tell me.

There's WIN and there's FAIL. Occasionally, one of those is EPIC.

You seem to know just as much as I do.

I'm guessing that fail came from the general laziness that created leet and epic is just gross hyperbole.

I think going forward isn't always bad, just when it is horribly used in the corporate world. There are legitimate times to use going forward.

With more complete, what if you had something that was complete at the time, but you found more things to add to it? The new version would also be complete, but it would have more stuff in it. Or... what if you had a collection of the Beetles #1 hits...

Complete: All of the songs that were #1 in the US
More complete: All of the songs that were #1 anywhere
Most complete: All of the songs that were #1 anywhere with live and foreign language versions.

I don't know, I am really digging on this one...

Ch0z3n WIN

One we have on the wall at where I work (Hungry Jacks aka Aussie Burger King);

"We place a premium on speed and quality of service."
Sheesh.

With how much a meal costs these days, I would expect a gold-frickin-platter and a waiter.

EDIT: typos

This one is Dutch; but it does annoy the living daylights out of me..

'Naar de bevolking toe"

Which means 'moving to the population'. Now, given the geographical spread of any population, it's a very odd phrase to use correctly. Belgium does not have an 'air force one' that can move towards the population.

Politicians use this however to render some sort of vague 'cloud' of responsibilities and dependances, which translates somewhat as "in response to the demands expressed by the poopulation."

'We have responsabilities moving to the population'
'..supposes no protective action moving to the population'
'it's not fair to remain silent about this moving to the population'
'it's a service moving to the population'
...

Aaaaargh!

At the end of the day, when all is said and done, it's... basically... you know... well, it's obvious innit.

How about "went missing," a current pet peeve of mine. These days some rotten little brat does not simply "disappear," he "goes missing." UGH. I wish the reporters and news people that use this would simply disappear. Preferably in the most painful manner possible.

Being "Proactive." A business-school invented catch phrase (there are literally hundreds of these, they all irritate me) for simply anticipating something and acting accordingly.

"The next level," see business-school catch phrase rant, above. An exceptionally vague and asinine phrase. Usually only serves to identify the speaker or writer as an idiot and manipulator of colossal magnitude.

How exactly do you propose we say we don't know where someone or something has gone since the last time we had seen them?

Disappeared doesn't work because they more than likely still exist and didn't vanish while you were watching them.

Lost doesn't work because you don't have to be lost to be missing; you could have simply decided to leave.

I guess the best you could really do is "...has been missing since..." instead of "...went missing..."

just like lcd display...

ATM Machine

So its an Automatic Teller Machine Machine?

Duck Tape

Its for freaking Ducts not Ducks!

I believe there is a brand of duct tape called Duck Tape

Perhaps a more accurate description of what happened. Example: "The little, screaming brat was not where his mother left him when she returned for him at 3:00pm."

This whole "went (has gone, etc.) missing" nonsense is fairly new. I don't recall hearing it prior to, say, 2000. Certainly, for most of my 53 years, reporters were quite content to use the term "disappeared." Example: "When his mother returned at 3:00pm, the little brat had disappeared. The neighbors rejoyced."

The first definition of "disappear," in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition, is "To pass out of sight, vanish." Further, to quote from the "Synonyms" section for "disappear:" The central meaning of these words is "to pass out of sight or existance."" An example the editors give is "A skyscraper disappearing in the fog." A skyscraper vanishing in the fog certainly does not cease to exist, and there seems to be no requirement for an observer from which it disappears. There is an implication that IF an observer was present that observer would notice the skyscraper disappearing from view.

What I am saying is that "disappear" works very well, and it is a much cleaner way of stating it than the horribly awkward "gone (went, etc.) missing."

And, for what it is worth, the phrase "went missing" is grammatically correct. The verb "go," of which "went" is the past tense can be used to describe a change of state: "My hair went grey several years ago." Really, it did. Started to go grey when I was in my mid-twenties. See how well it works. And "missing" is a change of state, so it can be used with "go." But it is awkward and sounds stilted. The stilted sound or construction of "go missing," is emphasized by the, usually, very casual style of writing for news reporting in which the phrase is set. In that context, "disappeared" simply flows better, is not inaccurate, and sounds much better.

No, the skyscraper isn't going out of existence, just sight; they are two different definitions.

It seems to me it would be more correct to use disappeared if the little brat is the one that left and went missing if you left and when you came back the little brat wasn't there anymore.

Just because you can't see them anymore doesn't mean they've gone anywhere. If they are still where they were they aren't missing; though you might have lost them.

"Missing" means "can not be found".
That seems to me to be an acceptable word to use when a brat (otherwise known as someones child, that they probably love more than anything else in the world) cannot be found.
Disappeared means that something goes out of view - the opposite to appear.
Vanished means that something goes away, permanently - like washing out a stain on your shirt.
The English language is wonderful in that it has so many words that describe very similar things, but those words have subtly different meanings and are often misused. People generally understand what you mean, given the context, and it's really not worth making a fuss about it.

Exactly, Judge, exactly.

What gets me riled up is the way that "gone missing," issuing breathlessly and enthusiastically from the mouths of reporters, has become a way of their showing off how trendy and cool they are. Or some social strutting thing like that. At least over here, "gone missing" became a trend in the last five years or so. Kind of like "Look at me, I can use the latest, coolest phrases, and I'm so cool." thing from the usually hyperactive, overexcited (about themselves and their meaningless and annoying reporting) reporters.

Several years ago, the same sort of trend started with the phrase "A decision has been taken." Note that it is passive, and the, at the time, unusual (for the US) use of "taken" instead of "made." The spokesman for President Bush Sr. (1989-1993) used it, then everyone else had to get in on the Oh, SOooo Cool action. Before that, a simple "He has made a decision," or better yet, "He has made up his mind" would have done.

Well if we're going to address improper words there are:

Base - The base from my subwoofer is awesome. Really? How's the rest of it's physical structure?

Quite - I want a pc that's quite. Uh, quite what?

I believe these mistakes have devloped from that english teacher I mentioned before; the one who could care less, and seems to work really hard at that very aspect.

No, meaning an overindulged little piece of excrement that likely needs the living daylights slapped -- Oh, my, I seem to be in an unusually cranky mood today. Well, most kids, at least here in the US, certainly DO fit my description and opinion, as expressed above.

But, the gripe with the phrase "gone [went, etc.] missing" remains whether applied to brats, adults (physically big brats, usually), or objects.

Agreed, your mood doesn't alter the accuracy of your statement.

And one of these brats will one day be president.