Terms you're tired of hearing...

[Leonel]

Progressive - Sounds like something some snob came up to differentiate themselves make themselves feel superior from the 'backwards' 'unwashed masses.'

 

[Riffraff]

Progressive - Sounds like something some snob came up to differentiate themselves make themselves feel superior from the 'backwards' 'unwashed masses.'

that being said, progressive rock simply is the best

 

[CaptainF]

Like I said, "African-American" and "black" are, to me, different things. But "African-American" describes not individuals but culture. A person may be black and not African-American, or vise-versa.

And "abstinence" has a good use - how else do you describe the state of abstaining from something?

Well in America, especially in the schools, what is abstinence primarily shoved down our throats to describe?

 

[Veritass]

Well in America, especially in the schools, what is abstinence primarily shoved down our throats to describe?

Undeniably the #1 method of not getting pregnant and not catching a sexually-transmitted disease.

 

[Norseman2]

OK, this one's a nitpick: The number 152 is pronounced in correct speech as "one hundred fifty-two", not "one hundred and fifty-two."

It usually doesn't make a difference, but sometimes is does. Consider the following newscast: "There was a significant number of Texans at the rally. There were one hundred and fifty-two Californians as well." Now, were there 100 Texans and 52 Californians, or 152 Californians? In writing, we would probably have put in a comma, but in a spoken version, you would not necessarily be able to tell.

Usually if you mean Texans you would say "There were one hundred Texans and fifty-two Californians". Without Texans between the first number and the and, it refers to Californians. There's usually a vocal inflection that indicates this. "There were a hundred'n fifty-two Californians as well." is how you would actually pronounce it, but even without that it should be fairly clear that the reference is to Californians.

 

[CaptainF]

Undeniably the #1 method of not getting pregnant and not catching a sexually-transmitted disease.

Hah, then why are so many teenagers stuck with that predicament, even after going through said education?

Exactly. Adult Hyper Christian stiffs running rampant with their egomania.

 

[Veritass]

People know how not to get pregnant, and how not to get sexually-transmitted diseases. This information has very little impact on teenagers' actions and decision making, but that doesn't make the information wrong.

People also know how to lose weight: eat less and exercise more. This information also has very little impact on their actions and decision making, but that doesn't make this information wrong, either.

 

[CaptainF]

People know how not to get pregnant, and how not to get sexually-transmitted diseases. This information has very little impact on teenagers' actions and decision making, but that doesn't make the information wrong.

People also know how to lose weight: eat less and exercise more. This information also has very little impact on their actions and decision making, but that doesn't make this information wrong, either.

So what your saying is that teenagers will have sex no matter what?

In that case, give them condoms, and end the crappy sermoning once and for all.

 

[skadistic]

Bling
......

 

[Blazer6]

People also know how to lose weight: eat less and exercise more. This information also has very little impact on their actions and decision making, but that doesn't make this information wrong, either.

At what point does eating less and exercising more become dangerous and the body just collapses from lack of nutrition and overexertion? I agree with you in any case.

 

[Taliesin]

"Way, shape, or form."

The word "tragic," when it's used by politicians to describe anything bad that happens.

All those irritating and barbaric words that MTV imports from black street culture, or rap culture, or wherever they get them, and then spreads to the middle class. Most of it seems to be the enshrinement of meaningless vocalisation.

In general, the use of passive voice, dying metaphors, and Latinate babble to mask meaning. I'm with Orwell when it comes to political language.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I really doubt that being taught the value and effectiveness of abstinence is getting high schoolers pregnant. It is the fact that the ones who aren't going to stop having sex just because a teacher tells them, are not taught birth control, that leads to problems. Abstinence, like condoms, works when you use it but can't be blamed when you don't.

 

[CaptainF]

I really doubt that being taught the value and effectiveness of abstinence is getting high schoolers pregnant. It is the fact that the ones who aren't going to stop having sex just because a teacher tells them, are not taught birth control, that leads to problems. Abstinence, like condoms, works when you use it but can't be blamed when you don't.

I don't deny that Abstinence is the only failsafe method. Anyone with two braincells to rub together has got that straight.

The thing about abstinence education, or at least the sort that was shuffled out to me, is that it relys on three things:

-Scaremongering. Scaring the living crap out of the people and such with anecdotes, stories, pictures of STDs, etc.
-Denying the effectiveness of condoms, or just straight up refusing to talk about them at all.
-Making sexually active teenagers look like goons, degenerates, future criminals, jobless welfare leeches, etc.

They must think I'm stupid if they expect me to buy into that.

 

[skadistic]

They must think I'm stupid if they expect me to buy into that.

They most asuredly do thing your stupid.

 

[drkodos]

Meltdown is used too often and has little meaning.

 

[Brighteye]

OK, this one's a nitpick: The number 152 is pronounced in correct speech as "one hundred fifty-two", not "one hundred and fifty-two."

It usually doesn't make a difference, but sometimes is does. Consider the following newscast: "There was a significant number of Texans at the rally. There were one hundred and fifty-two Californians as well." Now, were there 100 Texans and 52 Californians, or 152 Californians? In writing, we would probably have put in a comma, but in a spoken version, you would not necessarily be able to tell.

OK, this one's a nitpick: the number 152, said correctly, is one-hundred and fifty-two, not one hundred fifty two.
The first is how it's said in England, and the second is how it's said in America, according to a book I read somewhere.

If I heard someone say '...There were one hundred, fifty-two Californians as well...' I would think that 'fifty-two Californians as well' was a subclause and that there were 100 Texans.

 

[downtown]

Compasionate Conservative, in the American political sense.

Also, Liberal and Terrorist get thrown around here willy nilly a lot

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

"willy nilly"

Sorry Matt, I've even used that term myself but it gives me the creeps.

 

[Raisin Bran]

I work as a salesmen.

I can't stand is when clients ask me :
''is this taxes in?''
''What's the best price?''
''that is too expensive!''
(all terms used by clients)

 

[Veritass]

Back to the OP, the use of archaic phrases that have no current meaning:

No one has "...gone to hell in a handbasket..." in a long time, and most people that use it don't own a handbasket.

With such a small percentage of farm types any more, nobody I know has gotten anything "...from the horse's mouth..." or bought "...a pig in a poke..." in a long time, nor have they "...put the cart before the horse."

Though some phrases, such as "Spare the rod and spoil the child." seem to have gone away, and we could use more people saying this one.