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Verbal Tics

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Clarissa

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At this point, anybody who says “to save lives,” “stay safe,” or “the new normal” is a certifiable idiot. Not for any ideological reason but because you’ve got to be able to notice when a widespread verbal tic has turned into a cliche that makes everybody cringe.

Also, nobody says “Karen” anymore. Or “OK, Boomer.” Everybody has moved on. And please stop saying “at least there are no mean tweets.” It was very funny at first but 7 months in, honestly, that joke has become so old it’s ready to die from COVID.

I’m sure I’m forgetting some recently popular verbal tics that now date one as a hopeless old fart. Please list them if anything comes to mind.

8 responses to “Verbal Tics”

  1. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    “At this point”

    You should have begun “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but….”

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      God, that one. Brrrrr. Also, “that’s it, that’s the tweet.” Don’t people notice when a thing gets old?

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  2. Maria Avatar
    Maria

    My boss still ends his emails with “Stay safe”. Makes me want to scream. Another one that needs to completely die out is the stupid “That’s it, that’s the tweet”.

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  3. Just George Avatar
    Just George

    If something very bad happened to whoever first said “we’re all in this together!”, I wouldn’t be upset.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      God, I hate that one. Especially seeing what it turned into.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. methylethyl Avatar
    methylethyl

    This is making me feel so great about my sporadic and unreliable internet access these last few months. I haven’t seen these around much. I need to figure out how to keep my access sporadic and unreliable…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
    Post Alley Crackpot

    I dare to create ridiculous clichés to save lives because in order to stay safe, we need to ensure that the new normal acts as a profound shock and awe device for the people who think at least there are no mean tweets.

    And so I propose to win over Karens by telling them that yes, it’s OK, Boomer, to be afraid of the cognitive hazards employed by professional wordsmiths who are not the least bit afraid of hopeless old farts, but someone has to have the keys to the nukes.

    So yes, I am that guy, and besides, most of what these people do that they think passes for politics is so pointless and banal that they’re almost self-trolling.

    Did I win this week’s Bingo? 🙂

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  6. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    “friendly reminder”

    followed by an absurd rant
    “Being denied service for something you CAN change is called a rule. It is a standard that goes against your sense of convenience…”

    Thank you for letting me share my frustration this morning. I have ‘friends’ who keep posting this nonsense. It usually demoralizes me for a few minutes, until I can use my much needed logic and say to myself ‘let them go. Kiss’m an send’m to Jesus…goodbye friend #99’

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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