hmm.. nobody around me says Cheers.. maybe it's region specific?

I say 'Homeboy' or 'Homegirl'


And not in that wanna be hip-hop way. "What's up homeboy?"


It's hard to explain.

I think most of us know you well enough that you don't need to explain why you use such words.


dork

perhaps.
the owner's of my daughter's daycare center are Brits as were the owners of the deli in the building I used to work in.
They all say 'cheers' frequently, as a way of saying thank you or goodbye...and it comes out so habitually, I thought maybe it was very common

I also say 'fuck all' instead of 'nothing' or 'none'


Most Americans don't understand.

Where are you getting your dialect from exactly? Or are you that pretentious? :orly:

Last I checked Denver was in America.

My wife is always faking you out with lists. Like she will be explaining something and say:

"A. She did such and such"

and then go on without there being a B, or C, or D point.

Some times she also mixes em up, like having a point A, followed by point 2.

Drives me nuts.

sometimes I say 'fuck' or 'motherfucker' instead of 'shit'

as an aussie, my british friends pointed out that i say "mate" all the time.

how you going mate?

what you been up to mate?

are you staying around for long mate?

maybe its an aussie thing.. but i refuse to drop this repetition just in case i lose my australian-ness.

at least ill never drop the "G'day mate"

At work, people will end their sentence with the word "so"

Example: "I need you to look at this printer because it is not working and I need to print off this document.soooo..."

"I had a pretty good weekend, but I had a few things to do and didn't have much time to relax..soooo."

"fuck all" is an awesome expression. I'm going to start using it more often.

I think "fuck all" has effectively replaced "jack shit."

That usage is common, I couldn't quite imagine it being used to end sentences though.

Speaking of annoying words added to the end of sentences, most Brits will recognise the completely unnecessary use of "innit" as a punctuation mark.

E.g: "So at the weekend, yeah, I went to see my brother, innit. He was in a crap mood, so we went to McDonalds, innit. Because whenever you're in a crap mood, you need a Happy Meal, innit."

Drives me absolutely spare, especially as a schoolteacher. I actually tell my students that use of "innit" at the end of their sentences causes me to take them approximately 90% less seriously.

This person at work does the complete opposite - they start each sentence with "so." It's really annoying. Some examples are:

Jane, why does IT need to be involved in this request?
"So, the reason why IT needs to be involved is because..."

and

Jane, how do you get to Raleigh from here?
"So, you take exit 419 to..."

I feel your pain!

I cannot stand:

1. Ebonics
2. Any type of internet or IM speak
3. Profanity

How many moms does this kid have?

I've read some absolutely gorgeous poetry in Jamaican patois.

Two.

and how many heads do they have? :oogle:

One head each. One gave birth and the other one is the partner. Geesh, I have to spell everything out. :p

i was being a smartass...imagine that :shy:

:surprised: You...

That's nice. Not really Ebonics is it?

If by Ebonics you mean the vernacular of various Black cultures, then yes.

Examples of Jamaican patois:
"Mi a-go lef today." --> "I am leaving today."
"Him is badda than dem." --> "He is worse than they are."

The thing with patois was it arose largely as an intentional simplification and undoing of the "proper" English of colonials. It's a dialect of subversion, which I'm assuming is the case for other varieties of Ebonics. But in the particular case of Jamaica, it's quite fascinating.

Maybe there is something more specific or a kind of Ebonics that you don't like?

"at the end of the day"

I don't know why this reminded me but my old boss used to always say 'in your heart of heart'. It grated my nerves.

As a media type, there are a few phrases that have always annoyed me.

Reporters love to say, "brandishing a gun" when someone points a gun a somebody, "the charred remains" of somebody who got burnt up, "suffice to say" when they're wrapping a point.

Speaking of the media, one phrase I HATE is "ripped through." As in, a bomb or explosion ripped through a bus, building, etc (ktspktsp and I read it a lot, given the whole Lebanon connection)... it's as if there's no other sentence in the English language for describing the activity of a bomb, it gets used so often.

For my part, I am guilty of the introductory phrase, "I mean..." for WAYYY too many sentences. I suppose it's my way of softening what I'm about to say, but I don't think it's really necessary. Really bad habit.

Hmmm....

Growing up in Minnesota, I used to hate the two most common idioms there: "oh yah?" and "yah sure." As in:

"I hear the Olesons just had a lutefisk party."
"Oh yah?"

or,

"Cold enough for you?"
"Yah sure!"

When I moved to California, I started hanging with surfers 24/7, partly because I liked surf culture, and partly to help me lose my Minnesota accent. Mission accomplished, but I now have permanent surferisms in my speech that I know irritate some people.... I call all guys "dude," and I know I shouldn't....

Suburban white kids who use ghetto slang irritate the crap out of me....

I work sometimes with a guy who deliberately uses 1940s slang, and that also irritates the crap out of me....

Interesting point Baraka. I suppose I think of Patois as dialect rather than as Ebonics, although one could argue that Ebonics is dialect. I do not like Ebonics for a couple of reasons:

1. I find it aurally displeasing (it grates on the ear)
2. It is associated with a particular culture I find abhorrent ("gangsta")
3. It really is bad English and intellectually lazy

But, since you mentioned poetry, for some reason, when it is used in this form, I rather like it. Spoken word for example. I also like Gwendolyn Brooks, though I'm not sure if those would be considered Ebonics.

Do you like Pidgin?

"The charred remains of tourists were found after a terrorist's bomb ripped through the bus. Several Disney World guards were spotted afterwards, brandishing a gun. Suffice to say, Goofy is dead."

hahaha, awesome. Now you just need a flashy graphic and tag line.

Today I was in a meeting and the presenter said "literally" 19 times in 20 minutes.

I'm guessing that he or she truly meant "literally" once, or maybe not at all?

"needless to say"

then don't say it.

Basically....