There's a guy in my office that says "with that being said" so much I have nicknamed him WTBS.

Yesterday he said it 17 times in 2 minutes to a client on the phone. Seventeen times, why!!!! Can you not not find any other transitional words in your vocabulary to express what a conversational dolt you are?

Work would be great if it wasn't for the people.

I've complained about people using that phrase here.

you had nothing better to do but count the number of times he repeated a phrase? at least phrase repeater was accomplishing something

You call what you do here an accomplishment, douchebag?

Wouldn't it? The highways would be a lot more pleasant as well.

Verbal tics. My sister got "Mother of God" stuck in her processor. For years. She'd say it if somebody cut her off in traffic, if the toast was perfectly brown, if the cat sneezed, when Walmart was having a sale. It drove me to drink in her presence. Bourbon. Neat.

Oh, and at work: "at the end of the day." Stop it. Mother of God, please stop it.

My sister constantly says "I get that...". But she doesnt, she doesn't....

WTBS is redundant anyhow. Do you really need a transitional word/phrase? Just move on to the next thing. Gah.

I feel your pain. There are 2 brokers who sit behind me. One in particular HAS NO INDOOR VOICE AT ALL. NONE. When you hear him across the office (he had great projection, I'll give him that) you'd think he's about 6'2" with massive lung capacity. Nope. He's around 5'5" and very unassuming. Add to this that he speaks almost entirely in cliches and you have the recipe for annoyance. There are times when I can actually hear the caller on the other end of his land line, and s/he is not on speakerphone.

I wonder if the people on the other end of his phone are talking loudly just because he is.

Good point - maybe some "mirroring" going on there.

It is what it is.

I've got a lady that speaks in an accent if she's talking to someone with an accent. It's charming. She also gets into pronouncing French cities. I think she took French in high school 1,000 years ago and has been looking for an opportunity to use it ever since. Next time she has to say Neuilly, I'm going to run up and high five her.

Ed, of course it is what it is!! what are you even talking about?!?

Is Caps' name Ed?

Yeah, Appy! You don't even know who you're talking to!

That being said, it's a mistake anyone could make.

I tend to mirror people's accents too. I catch myself doing it and feel very embarrassed. It's partly because I'm something of a natural mimic, and it's partly a habit which grew out of a childhood desire to fit in. Even now that I feel much more comfortable in my own skin, I still find myself doing it. I think I've forgotten what my original accent actually is.

Well to you too Ed incase you were going to mimic Caps.

I know it's common to mirror someone that's speaking to you. It's unfortunate for the person being mimicked. What do you say? Stop that! You!

Maybe I just hate this lady. That's probably it.

8 or 9 years ago I, out of the blue, started saying "evidently" a lot. As in, "Evidently I'm saying 'evidently' way too much."

Like enough that I started getting on my own nerves. I purposefully stopped saying it but not before Mrs. Smirk picked it up. So now she says it sometimes, not a lot, but sometimes and it just grates me.

I do the accent thing. My (northern) college roomates sat and looked at me in amazement when I talked on the phone to my friend from Mississippi.

I've started saying "you would think" because my coworker says it a lot.

"We worked through lunch. Shouldn't we get paid for it?"

"you would think"

Like that. It's starting to bug me.

Good lord, people. Apparently I am very open to the power of suggestion. I can almost guarantee I will be spouting all of these in a South-East London accent by day's end.

Are you taking afternoon tea with a cockney gentleman?

I work with a guy who uses "and so forth" and "whatchamacallit" in every conversation. Every.Conversation.
This is the same guy who calls to say he sent me an email the moment he hits send.
Lately I've been hanging up on him the second he says "Hey Red, I just sent you an emai..."
click

Good god, those are the worst. I have one that runs out of his office to tell me and he gets here before it hits my inbox. I'd like to hide a pitbull under my desk and sic him at just the right moment.

These are so funny! Especially the ones where your own verbal tics are annoying you!

Bobby says is-is-that. Like this "the situation is is that we need to act". That doesn't bother me, I just think it's funny. But I have started to get on him for "really". EVERYTHING ends with REALLY? REALLY? I tell him he sounds like a 14 year old girl when he does it.

I had a bad case of "seriously" for awhile, but I think I have about broke the habit.

I guess if I had one it would be "Really?" But I can't describe how I do it. It's kind of a more dissapointed "seriously?"

I also hate "utilize". Only stupid people who want to pretend they are smart use that word.

Around work people abuse "notwithstanding".

LOL "a disappointed seriously". I think I know just what you mean!

At work lately the new thing is "let's not go down that rabbit hole".

The "really?" thing bugs the shit out of me. Really, Weekend Update? You really had to popularize that shit for weeks on end? Really?

Fuck you, Seth Myers.

The F-bomb? Really, Smirk? Really?

Else.

Let's do this crap, else that crap. So pretentious.

Has "The F-Bomb" been covered in this thread yet?

I know a couple of people that end every other sentence with "and whatnot". Gah.

One of my favorite podcasts is Slate's Culture Gabfest. It's always very smart and funny. I wanted to weep the other week when one of the hosts used "irregardless".

Let's talk some more about this off-line.

Listen, at the end of the day, nobody wants to know how the sausage is made.

I'm gonna circle back to what you said caps, so we can address it offline. It's (air quote) LITERALLY (air quote) a problem , at any rate.






Flibbertigibbet

Going on a slight tangent:

Oh BO I so agree with you but my phrase of choice is "Work would be great if it wasn't for the people and the computers" especially when I worked in tech support.

A guy here once gave a presentation and on the second slide he wrote "anyone using the phrase 'it is what it is' will be asked to leave the room." Awesome!

I am the only tech writer here and often refer to myself as "the single point of failure". Just for fun.

Oh gawd. I hear "it is what it is" at least 4 times a day.

I JUST heard that in the kitchen! NOT KIDDING!!!

Don't forget: we can true it up later.

I say we park that idea.

"I was like..." and "I can borrow you a dollar if you want."

"Ta Friggin da"

Shit. Nobody go to the movie board. I just used "it is what it is" a few days back over there. Oh wait, I guess I don't have to worry about that.

This seems like as good of a place as any to get this out...

GAAAAHHHH!!!! DO. NOT. CLIP. YOUR. NAILS. AT. WORK.
Eff you, disgusting coworker. Eff you in your stupid asshole sideways with a red swingline stapler. Also, if you're going to perform acts of personal hygiene that clearly don't belong in a workplace, could you be a little faster about it?

That is all. ~shudder~

I think it was The Boy who told me he saw someone clipping their toenails ON THE SUBWAY.

For some reason I'm a bit skeeved when women put their make-up on whilst riding the subway. On the one hand, I admire their dexterity, but on the other is just seems like something you'd want to do in private. (At least I do. I also have issues about putting on make-up in women's bathrooms, but I do it)

It's not that uncommon to see women putting on their makeup while driving... we're talking mascara and eyeliner that could take your eye out if you're in an accident, not lipstick. Is it really worth five extra minutes of sleep?

Um, can we share? I'd like to hear your thoughts on best practices.

The nail clipper thing. Ugggghhh. A girl used to work here that did clipped her nails at her desk and it drove me crazy. I swore that if I ever got hit with shrapnel, she was going down.

I am guilty of shaping my nails if I'm on hold. It seems like I never remember to do it at home so I keep a nail file in my office supply caddy.
Once I'm taken off hold I put it away.

I don't think shaping and cutting are the same offense.

It depends. If you have those big horse hoof nails and are all SCRAPE SCRAPE SCRAPE. No. Stop it.

If it's a few seconds of sst sst sst, I won't want to murder you.

Oh the big fake nails? UGH! right! Who on earth is still sporting those things? Please stop.

LOL! No, I don't have horse hooves. I keep them slightly longer than the tips of my fingers for work purposes.

I could be wrong about this, but it seems to me that filing one's nails is more offensive than clipping them. Essentially when you're filing them, you're turning your nails and whatever crud is under/on them into an airborne dust that is then scattered on the wind and onto whoever or whatever is within a 15-foot radius. It's also scattered INto whoever is nearby, as the particles are small enough to inhale.

I'd be much happier getting pinged by some nail shrapnel and breathing someones fingernail dust.

ET: more!

Oh no no no. Before filing I lay down a peice of paper and file my nails on top of that while my hands are semi-covered with a paper cup with a hole cut out of the side of it. I collect the nail debris on the paper and pour it into another cup I have reserved for nail dust.
I have about a 1/4 cup of nail dust waiting to be used on anyone who gives me a hard time. If they do, I pour the dust into my hand and blow it into their eyes.
Puts them into their place everytime.

Gah!

You should sell it to some hippy on the street as uncut blow. Make money and have a laugh.

Why would you need long nails for work, 'Neady?

Back-scratchin'. It shuts them up.

Ed, I don't consider the lenth of my fingernails long at all. I thought I was keeping them short.

This is how my nails looked before I cut them down

Oh right, sorry I got confused.

And does the scorpion accompany you to work?

In my back pocket.

So get this.
My former boss from another department who is also the heir to the company sent me a Facebook request so we can "share" music on Spotify. He's kinda cool. We do talk a lot about music and he's been really supportive with all of the hiccups in my life and with Liv's diagnoses and fundraisers and such. But he can also be unpredictable twat.
There is no WAY he's cracking through my Facebook. I was kind of in crisis mode the last hour figuring out how I can let him know I'm declining his request without sounding like I'm hiding stuff from him (I am ) or because he's the future owner in the next ten years or so (I am). This is what I sent. Don't tell me how you would have it differently because then I'll be paranoid it wasn't goof enough. Just...rate it on a scale from 1-5 or somethin.....

Every time I see Shane I always wonder what level of inebriation he is at. Have you seen his new teeth!?

Heres my Spotify link:http://open.spotify.com/user/'neady

Nothing personal, but I follow the social network rule #8- Do not add anyone from work. Its worked for me so far. Lol.



'neady




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Hipster Boss
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2012 8:51 AM
To: 'neady
Subject: Shane



Had to add this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRp8h4yv6qc



Sent you a FB request so we can share music on Spotify.



Hipster Boss

You just screwed any chance of advancement in that company once he is boss.

You screwed it right in the ass. Sideways. With a watermelon.

You just reminded a hipster that he's just the boss's kid. It will stick in his brain until it boils over and he snaps.

Hope your resume is up to date.


How's that for paranoia?

.

LOL!! I JUST received this response from him:

Perfect, that works better for me as well. Here is my link:http://open.spotify.com/user/blahblah

Whew!

Attempting to save face, clearly.

Congrats on navigating that!

He just sent that reasonable reply to draw suspicion away from himself. He's buying a tarp, shovel and duct tape right this moment.

Ha, PG! You're totally right

When the work person sends me a FB request, I just pretend like it didn't happen. No one has reproached me about it yet.

I will friend co-workers because I'll friend anybody.

If they choose not to accept, it's totally fine.

I don't have all of these dramatic rules for FaceBook. I don't clean it, I don't sort it, I don't block some people from some stuff and others from others. I'm just me there same as if I were me at a party with all of those people.


WITH ONE EXCEPTION! HA! I hide the fact that YOU people exist! HAHAHA! Don't call me Squid, refer to this board, or anything there please. The OT group is secret for a reason!

I friend pretty much anyone that asks, but the FB with my name on it is a total fabrication of a person that is only there as something for people that search for me on the internet to find.

He is the most average, non-offensive, run-of-the-mill type of guy you would ever come across.



.

Maybe that's just me in real life anyway?