Like nails across a chalk board there are certain things that aggravate me. This is one that I've been noticing pop up in the use of the English language lately - and every time it's like a forgotten rusty nail sticking up out of the ground, a sharp prick of recognition and the the metal sliding in an explosion of pain. Perhaps it's one of those things that becomes a fad when there is a saturation level of usage that rubs off on people.
For me it's a natural reaction I have to these things - much like an involuntary gagging reflex. A cringe. A shiver up the spine!
What's the offense?
"Delicious" - used out of what I feel is it's proper context.
For me it's a natural reaction I have to these things - much like an involuntary gagging reflex. A cringe. A shiver up the spine!
What's the offense?
"Delicious" - used out of what I feel is it's proper context.
delicious
1. Highly pleasing or agreeable to the senses esp. of taste or smell 2. Very pleasant; delightful
So, here's the setup.
I'm working - streaming CSPAN2... [The IT fascists delight at not installing anything on my machine that I can use to stream radio on the weekends even though no one is in the building and there's plenty of bandwidth. I can't tune my radio into anything other then stations I despise.] and enjoying listening to a bloke speaking about language. It's not bad - fairly educational actually.
I'm working - streaming CSPAN2... [The IT fascists delight at not installing anything on my machine that I can use to stream radio on the weekends even though no one is in the building and there's plenty of bandwidth. I can't tune my radio into anything other then stations I despise.] and enjoying listening to a bloke speaking about language. It's not bad - fairly educational actually.
Ilan Stavans - Dictionary Days
Description: Ilan Stavans discusses his obsession with words in his new book, "Dictionary Days." The author provides a history of several languages including English, French, Spanish, and Latin. Mr. Stavans also compares different definitions of the same words and how they reflect the cultures of particular regions.
Author Bio: Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Publisher: GRAY WOLF PRESS 2402 University Avenue, Suite 203 Saint Paul, MN 55114
So, I'm having a good time, getting some work done and then this fellow refers to the pursuit of a word in the dictionary as a "delicious" - gives me the creeps just thinking about it now - endeavor.
Looking up a word in the dictionary is not "delicious"...
There is a fellow who posts to the Bob Dylan group at tribe.net - he refers to tracks on albums as "delicious"... [He also types "Beeb" instead of Bob as if that's some hip fucking thing he's only privy to - but that's a different irritant.] Fucking idiotic!
I honestly don't quite know why this usage makes me cringe. Maybe it's because cerebral pleasures have nothing to do with a word that I associate purely with food. It makes me think of some glutton stuffing themselves with sticky sweets and all the time getting off on it - think Mr. Joyboy and his mother in The Loved One and that's what I picture - some despicable slob salivating and licking their fingers as juices drip down their chin... Out of context this usage disgusts me.
Looking up a word in the dictionary is not "delicious"...
There is a fellow who posts to the Bob Dylan group at tribe.net - he refers to tracks on albums as "delicious"... [He also types "Beeb" instead of Bob as if that's some hip fucking thing he's only privy to - but that's a different irritant.] Fucking idiotic!
I honestly don't quite know why this usage makes me cringe. Maybe it's because cerebral pleasures have nothing to do with a word that I associate purely with food. It makes me think of some glutton stuffing themselves with sticky sweets and all the time getting off on it - think Mr. Joyboy and his mother in The Loved One and that's what I picture - some despicable slob salivating and licking their fingers as juices drip down their chin... Out of context this usage disgusts me.
