Marmite

Marquis · February 2011

A couple of phrasal peeves: marketing literature that starts sentences with "At x, we...", as in "At our small west country whisky distillery , we take pride in ...", suggesting some kind of corporation is in fact a small, tightly knit community, with flat hierarchies and easy communication. Early culprits were innocent smoothies and pret a manger (I think), but it quickly spread to high street banks etc. All my last three employers used it in their marketing material. Another one is 'think x, think y', not so much because it annoys me that much but because it's only moderately original and still spread like mad until there wasn't a day when I was told to think of y when thinking of x somewhere. That's both not from the very recent past but mid/late noughties (which I find acceptable), and is still around. ...that plus 'structural', 'socioeconomic', 'synergies', 'leverage (verb)' etc.

ben · February 2011

'At this moment in time'. As opposed to space?

'Rightly or wrongly'.

One thing I notice is that football pundits all seem to latch onto certain words or phrases at the same time. So suddenly everyone starts using the term 'instrumental' - correctly, but excessively.

krappyrubsnif · February 2011

'Hammocked'

ShaunG · February 2011

@Marquis - quite right. Andy and David have managed brilliantly to convey the impression that Sg.org is a folksy local independent site, when of course the truth is they're both in the pay of a multinational corporation that is gathering our valuable opinions for nefarious purposes I haven't worked out yet.

andy · February 2011

@marquis - YES! I also hate, in the context of a competition designed to advertise a film or similar, "to *celebrate* the launch of..." Celebrate? Advertise, yes. Promote, yes. In whose twisted imagination is the launch of Sex and the City 2 cause for celebration? @ShaunG - almost right. Your theory falls down on the 'valuable opinions' bit.

ADGS · February 2011

The use of 'marmite' dates back about a decade, I think, though it has become more common since morons on reality shows started describing themselves as such.
I find it particularly irksome because the original ad campaign wasn't even true. I think Marmite is OK, but I wouldn't buy it myself.

jandb · February 2011

This one from the Arsenal website struck me as odd ....

<a href="http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-behind-arsenalisation-of-the-emirates">Wenger behind Arsenalisation of the Emirates</a>

WillM · February 2011

@Roy - can't find an example of an English (vs a US or Indian) news source using gift as a verb in the context you've supplied...

topsfield · February 2011

<http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/1/3/>; -NSFW due to swearing

emine · February 2011

@ADGS I'm also annoyed by the Marmite concept. I don't love it or hate it. Sometimes I quite fancy it, sometimes I don't. Simples.

I also really hate it when people say "simples".

Not new, but I can't bear "going forward" which has now seeped from business-speak into common usage. I was on a train last month when the steward said the train "was going forward to King's Cross".

Also not new, but "solutions" never fails to enrage me. In SGR Tesco, they had a sign over the fresh pasta saying "Italian meal solutions" which made me even angrier than the 5 items or less/fewer thing.

andy · February 2011

I'm crossing that line from gently curmudgeonly to stalkerishly obsessed, but I've googled some examples of celebrations. Are our lives now so joyless that the things in life worth celebrating include the launch of a new Rymans website? "Win £150 of Ryman vouchers to celebrate the launch of their new website" <http://www.independent.co.uk/student/win-150-of-ryman-vouchers-to-celebrate-the-launch-of-their-new-website-with-125-off-for-ucas-amp-nus-extra-members-2068815.html>; "London to celebrate the launch of the LEGO Harry Potter on June 25th" <http://ghoststorm.co.uk/london-to-celebrate-the-launch-of-the-lego-harry-potter-on-june-25th/>; "To celebrate the launch of The Lancet Core Clinical Collection we are giving away two Seminars for FREE" <

http://twitter.com/#!/TheLancet/status/29072601023

I have another thing about the general emptiness of the words 'luxury' and 'exclusive', which can now be applied to anything at all with the meaning 'meeting a barely adequate standard'.

andy · February 2011

Just think about celebrating the launch of a Rymans website. I am of course assuming that you are neither the web developer nor the mid-ranking marketing executive within Rymans charged with launching the website. But even for them, it's unlikely to be a cause for celebration, more a relief that another minor potential hazard in their otherwise joyless careers has been successfully navigated.

ADGS · February 2011

I quite agree about 'exclusive', which is one of the words I always cut when editing event listings. Ditto 'unique' and 'fun'.

David · February 2011

Loving the grammar rage. Those Egyptians seem so petty now.

andy · February 2011

I can't pay attention to world-changing events in Egypt. I'm too busy celebrating the launch of the new Rymans website.

Brodiej · February 2011

All these words and phrases make me shudder. There's something about the general naffness of a training day that seems to make rather inoffensive phrases become serious barriers to my ongoing happiness. The ultimate killer phrase by a trainer usually within the opening 2 minutes involves him or her saying that they're going try and have a little "fun"...and then subsequently reveal a load of daft stress toys and a bowl of sweets. Well thats fun in a nutshell isn't it. To top it off, they might even say they're a bit Marmite.

"workshop", "flipchart", "break out groups", "lets take that offline", "lets park that"

other annoyances...
"its all good in the hood"
"everything's cool and and the gang"
"coolio"

............and that bloody meerkat..........he's got a lot to answer for.

David · February 2011

_@andy_ If it were Monocle you'd be cheering it along all the way.

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ShaunG · February 2011

maybe that's what he does mean, and he's always disappointed....

pie eater · February 2011

I personally detest it when people say 'I personally'.

I also know someone who says 'obviously sort of like...' when making any point whatsoever. It's annoying.

krappyrubsnif · February 2011

Absolutely. There was a woman on BBC news the other day who answered every single question from the anchorman with 'absolutely'.

Emma · February 2011

What is worse than overuse of "unique" is the use of "unique" with a qualifier such as "quite".

Speaking of qualifiers, it drives me nuts when advertising blurb hedges its bets - "one of the best", "amongst the top" etc. Quit being a wimp! It's either the best or it's not, and if it's not, why would we bother with it??

Emma · February 2011

Now I'm rueing using the word "qualifier" as I'm sure it's wrong in this context, but my brain is too tired to work it all out. I should get the sack for not knowing, really.

katiejane · February 2011

@ sparkyley - I totally agree on 'at the end of the day', especially when its callers on a Five Live phone-in of a morning.

@ Roy - did you mean to be ironic when you said apropro? I have a colleague who says apropro ALL THE BLOODY TIME, especially when he's interrupting a conversation.

ShaunG · February 2011

@Emma -relax, I think it's a perfectly appropriate word.

Philistine'sMonster · February 2011

Glad to see this thread's gaining some traction.

checkski · February 2011

Marquis, way back up there somewhere, you were sorry to have annoyed me, with 'blargh'. Very gracious of you, but you shouldn't take too much notice of us grumpy old men. We are amazed by the changes in the world, and wish we could put the clock back. Blargh.

Miss Annie, I am intrigued by your desire to take lessons in Oldspeak. Actually, and between you and me (block your ears, you others), and despite a rediscovered notebook full of the Newspeak I detest, I'm not sure I can remember much! Here's a little titbit, to start you off.

I expect you say 'cool', to signify agreement or approval. The Fifties would look at you with a puzzled expression on its face. What has temperature got to do with what we're talking about? Up there, I allowed myself a 'goodee'. Just listen to the phrase in full.

'11-year-old Checkski, you have just won a prize on the Premium Bonds [new, in about 1954]. Ernie will shortly be sending you a postal order for £1'

Checkski would not believe his good fortune. Just think of all the gobstoppers [@ a farthing each] and sherbet lemons he would be able to buy. 'Goodee!' he would exclaim. 'Goodee goodee gumdrops!'

There. From now on, if I hear that expression in SGR, I promise I shall reveal my identity, praise you for your diligent reading of an excellent forum, and reward you with a gobstopper - so to speak.

To finish, a few more infantilisms for you to avoid, Miss Annie. SCARY, YUMMY,SLIPPY, COMFY, SCRUMMY. Are you sure you are up for this? Goodee, if so.

ADGS · February 2011

A friend on Facebook was recently lamenting the absence of the phrase 'goodie gumdrops' from modern life.

miss annie · February 2011

Checkski, I am most unlikely to say 'cool' in that context, I like to use 'marvellous' and 'splendid' to signify agreement or approval. There are a few SG'ers that wouldn't be at all surprised to hear me say 'goodie gumdrops' to express delight. I am guilty of using 'yummy', I also shorten delicious to 'delish' on occasion(awful habit), but I prefer 'scrumptious' to both of those. I look forward to the next lesson in Oldspeak.

Marquis · February 2011

I'd love it if over time the Stroud Green area became known for its own peculiar vernacular, strangely saturated with 1950s vocabulary. So please continue, checkski. Been waiting for an opportunity to say goodie gumdrops all day yesterday, it just didn't make it over my lips.

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