Expressions You Hate!

[Jeff Wrangler]

Me too. Especially "white trash," because that's not only demeaning, it's also racist. People who use the term don't always seem to realize this.

Probably not when it's a white person using it about another white person, but I can see how it still is, even then.

[Kerry]

Another thing I do is stare at people if they refuse to look at me. I figure they deserve it.

An elderly nun gave me some good advice many years ago. This was in the days when nuns wore habits and traveled in pairs. The public persona of your average nun back then was expected to be demure, silent, eyes cast down. She told me about a trick of the trade that had been developed by nuns, for dealing with people who would stare at them in public. You stare right back. No, not into their eyes. You stare at their feet. She said they will soon start to shuffle their feet, followed by tucking them under their chair, and will eventually look away. She said this was particularly useful in doctors' waiting rooms and on trains. Try it yourself. I have, and it works.   

[serious crayons]

Probably not when it's a white person using it about another white person, but I can see how it still is, even then.

I think it is especially then. It's not an insult to white people (except whoever it's referring to), it's an insult to black people. That is, and I can't think of any non-awful way to say this, when someone uses that phrase they're implying that some white people are trash and some white people aren't. Whereas with black people, implicitly, there's only one category.

Whenever I hear someone say this who I know doesn't mean to sound racist, I shudder.

[delalluvia]

Probably not when it's a white person using it about another white person, but I can see how it still is, even then.

Dunno.  Like the descriptor 'red-neck', some people take pride in the expression that they're "trailer park trash."

Go figure.

[serious crayons]

Dunno.  Like the descriptor 'red-neck', some people take pride in the expression that they're "trailer park trash."

Go figure.

That seems like one of those situations where a group reclaims a slur for its own use. Even people who use it humorously to describe themselves probably wouldn't be thrilled with being called that.

[ifyoucantfixit]

      How about "do you mind?"   Or its twin,  "hope you dont mind."

  You certainly arent allowed to say 'yes.  I do mind.""  That makes you the ass for saying so.  It
stops them from taking the onus for getting you to do something you dont really want to do, without being able to
say so.

[David In Indy]

I get annoyed when people say "they are thinking outside the box" or "they are pushing the envelope".

First of all, both of those phrases are WORN OUT now. And secondly, "pushing the envelope" doesn't make any sense. At least not in the context they are using it.

[Kerry]

      How about "do you mind?"   Or its twin,  "hope you dont mind."

  You certainly arent allowed to say 'yes.  I do mind.""  That makes you the ass for saying so.  It
stops them from taking the onus for getting you to do something you dont really want to do, without being able to
say so.

I work with a woman who says "Do you mind?" a lot. When she says it, especially in the way she does, couched in grinning, sycophantic faux-camaraderie, you know  she actually means "Do it now!"  She is very passive-aggressive and dangerously unstable with it.  I work with so many absolutely wonderful people. Alas, she is not one of them! 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Me too. Especially "white trash," because that's not only demeaning, it's also racist. People who use the term don't always seem to realize this.

Probably not when it's a white person using it about another white person, but I can see how it still is, even then.

I think it is especially then. It's not an insult to white people (except whoever it's referring to), it's an insult to black people. That is, and I can't think of any non-awful way to say this, when someone uses that phrase they're implying that some white people are trash and some white people aren't. Whereas with black people, implicitly, there's only one category.

That's exactly what I meant.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Dunno.  Like the descriptor 'red-neck', some people take pride in the expression that they're "trailer park trash."

Go figure.

I have a friend who revels in being "South Jersey Trailer Trash." He feels it frees him from having to observe certain bourgeois standards of life and behavior.