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Minor Annoyances (Vol 2)


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12 minutes ago, Tommy! said:

I get "basically" a lot, mainly when repeating something with no less detail than the originally pitched basic information. 

One of my best friends growing up couldn’t stop saying basically but not in explanation, just as filler. “I didn’t buy milk because basically there was none.” Or just start a sentence with it for no reason, e.g. “Basically, England won 1-0.” The kind of thing you might not even notice if he didn’t do it constantly. We gave him friendly interruptions to try and get him to stop.

him : “Basically…”

me (interrupting) “…. Fundamentally…”

…. stuff like that. He found the funny side but was never quite able to stop, basically.

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My "obviously" or "basically" is saying "if that makes sense" after I've explained something. I know I do it, can't stop it. I had a colleague who did, "if you know what I mean" at the end of almost every sentence. My other half's is, "from that perspective", especially when she's at work. 

I did a podcast a few years ago, and hearing back all the repetition of the same few words when others would do was the most mortifying part of it all. But that's just how normal speech works.

Written communication, you'll be surprised to hear, I just pad out unnecessarily. So I'm guilty of all the bad habits of email - "just", "would you mind", all those weaselly little extra turns of phrase. But I always worry that if I only say what I mean it would just be one line, and that it would come across as too blunt, so I go too far in the other direction.

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2 hours ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I have to catch myself for using obviously too much sometimes. It can be hard changing these speech patterns. I eliminated the worst "just" from all work communication written and verbal a little while ago. It serves no purpose other than to trivialise whatever you're talking about.

I'm very forgiving of these sort of crutch words in explanation or presentations because I'm aware of how much I hate doing presentations etc myself and being 100% concise is never above just getting through it in my priorities. 

Edited by gmoney
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I'll occasionally have to have a conversation about written communication at work because I don't like lots of flannel, and people assume there's a problem because of it. Most recent example was on teams "do you know who updates AD groups?" "no". 

I get pulled in asked if everything is alright at home based on my reply on teams, because I "just said no". After some discussion it's established what they want is "hello, no unfortunately I do not know who updates AD groups". 

When I ask what that does besides making me type more, them read more and complicate the message they agree my home life is fine but I am a cunt. 

 

There was someone who couldn't email less than 500 words on any topic, so I'd just not read it and reply asking for bullet point 1 sentence summary and it was never more than 3 basic points. 

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1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

My "obviously" or "basically" is saying "if that makes sense" after I've explained something. I know I do it, can't stop it. I had a colleague who did, "if you know what I mean" at the end of almost every sentence. My other half's is, "from that perspective", especially when she's at work. 

I did a podcast a few years ago, and hearing back all the repetition of the same few words when others would do was the most mortifying part of it all. But that's just how normal speech works.

Written communication, you'll be surprised to hear, I just pad out unnecessarily. So I'm guilty of all the bad habits of email - "just", "would you mind", all those weaselly little extra turns of phrase. But I always worry that if I only say what I mean it would just be one line, and that it would come across as too blunt, so I go too far in the other direction.

Mine was "sort of". I'd sort of, use sort of, as a sort of filler, just sort of sitting there in the sort of sentence, sort of.

My English teacher pointed it out to me once and I had to actively train myself to stop doing it. I think I did, but I'll still notice whenever I say it even now.

Having recently started editing a podcast, the big-big thing I've I've noticed, is is when people will-will repeat a a word as as they're gath-gathering their their thoughts. You don't pick up on it at all in conversation but it really stands out when you're combing through things in minute detail.

Edited by HarmonicGenerator
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57 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

People who berate nervous people using filler words invariably start every sentence with “So”, and I don’t mean the Peter Gabriel album. 

I'm not sure if it's a culture or language thing or just in our office but starting sentences with a "so" with a long "ooh" sound seems to be the equivalent of going "erm" for evey German person I work with. 

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4 minutes ago, Tommy! said:

I'm not sure if it's a culture or language thing or just in our office but starting sentences with a "so" with a long "ooh" sound seems to be the equivalent of going "erm" for evey German person I work with. 

It's not just your office, it's definitely a culture/language thing. I hear it all the time.

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1 hour ago, Tommy! said:

I'm not sure if it's a culture or language thing or just in our office but starting sentences with a "so" with a long "ooh" sound seems to be the equivalent of going "erm" for evey German person I work with. 

Yeah, it’s really common. “Achso” is also something you might hear as a sort of “yeah” or “exactly” or something else that indicates they agree with or at least follow what you’re saying. 

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22 minutes ago, stumobir said:

Yeah, it’s really common. “Achso” is also something you might hear as a sort of “yeah” or “exactly” or something else that indicates they agree with or at least follow what you’re saying. 

You sure it's not them mispronouncing "arsehole"? That'll be my excuse, going forward (another exespeak phrase, sorry).

Starting a sentence with "So" and a big hurrumph of the shoulders is usually code for "I've not queried or understood any of the information I'm about to give you, SO please hold my hand through this so I don't get sacked." 

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