Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol. 6)

[Shakermaker]

Cotty said:

Does that mean I can leave my company mobile at the door when I leave in the evening.

Why not?

Are you that important that you need to be contacted out of hours? If you are, then hopefully you are rewarded accordingly. If not, then why worry about it?

[captain_cynic]

nonsequitur said:

I read there are moves to ban personal mobiles at work due to distraction on company time. The article quoted two companies that insist that employees leave their phone at the door. Good idea?

I can imagine any professional (as in white collar) workplace that did that would be inundated with resignations within minutes.

For me, it'd be impossible. I use my phone, not just as a communications device and spare internet connection but as an external testing device to see if thing work outside of the network.

[nonsequitur]

Shakermaker said:

Cotty said:

Does that mean I can leave my company mobile at the door when I leave in the evening.

Why not?

Are you that important that you need to be contacted out of hours? If you are, then hopefully you are rewarded accordingly. If not, then why worry about it?

Exactly. My mobile was mislaid in the blue wheelie bin recently. Seven days, didn't miss it at all. I only talk rubbish anyway, so no great shakes.

[gareth_r]

Johnspex said:

People who say 'even mean'. The even is superfluous. It's just 'what does that mean'.
Another bloody Americanism.

Presumably it's a variety of this:

even
adverb
used to show that something is surprising, unusual, unexpected, or extreme:

I don't even know where it is.
Everyone I know likes the smell of bacon - even Mike does and he's a vegetarian.
We were all on time - even Chris and he's usually late for everything.
It's a very difficult job - it might even take a year to finish it.
"I never cry." "Not even when you hurt yourself really badly?"
Even with a load of electronic gadgetry, you still need some musical ability to write a successful song.

[Cotty]

Shakermaker said:

Cotty said:

Does that mean I can leave my company mobile at the door when I leave in the evening.

Why not?

Are you that important that you need to be contacted out of hours? If you are, then hopefully you are rewarded accordingly. If not, then why worry about it?

They seem to think so. Does mean I can respond to an armed robbery at the weekends or evening.

[captain_cynic]

gareth_r said:

Johnspex said:

People who say 'even mean'. The even is superfluous. It's just 'what does that mean'.
Another bloody Americanism.

Presumably it's a variety of this:

even
adverb
used to show that something is surprising, unusual, unexpected, or extreme:

I don't even know where it is.
Everyone I know likes the smell of bacon - even Mike does and he's a vegetarian.
We were all on time - even Chris and he's usually late for everything.
It's a very difficult job - it might even take a year to finish it.
"I never cry." "Not even when you hurt yourself really badly?"
Even with a load of electronic gadgetry, you still need some musical ability to write a successful song.

Hence "why" I always say those who are the most pedantic about the English language are the ones who know the least about it.

English is malleable and fault tolerant. Someone else can completely mangle it but I'll still be able to understand what they're saying.

[nonsequitur]

Cotty said:

Shakermaker said:

Cotty said:

Does that mean I can leave my company mobile at the door when I leave in the evening.

Why not?

Are you that important that you need to be contacted out of hours? If you are, then hopefully you are rewarded accordingly. If not, then why worry about it?

They seem to think so. Does mean I can respond to an armed robbery at the weekends or evening.

Wild Bill Cotty.

Edited by nonsequitur on Thursday 11th July 11:03

[Shakermaker]

Cotty said:

They seem to think so. Does mean I can respond to an armed robbery at the weekends or evening.

Rude if you ask me. Have you not considered an outreach program to these armed robber types to educate them in why they should only perform these actions between more reasonable work hours, say between 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday, thus allowing those of you responsible to otherwise have a chance of a home/work balance?

I'm sure there would be some funding available for this if you apply to the right people

[gareth_r]

captain_cynic said:

Hence "why" I always say those who are the most pedantic about the English language are the ones who know the least about it.

English is malleable and fault tolerant. Someone else can completely mangle it but I'll still be able to understand what they're saying.

This week, I have been annoyed by "tow the line".

Sorry!

[Johnspex]

gareth_r said:

Johnspex said:

People who say 'even mean'. The even is superfluous. It's just 'what does that mean'.
Another bloody Americanism.

Presumably it's a variety of this:

even
adverb
used to show that something is surprising, unusual, unexpected, or extreme:

I don't even know where it is.
Everyone I know likes the smell of bacon - even Mike does and he's a vegetarian.
We were all on time - even Chris and he's usually late for everything.
It's a very difficult job - it might even take a year to finish it.
"I never cry." "Not even when you hurt yourself really badly?"
Even with a load of electronic gadgetry, you still need some musical ability to write a successful song.

All those examples work. Even mean doesn't. I don't even know what that means makes sense.

[Shakermaker]

Johnspex said:

All those examples work. Even mean doesn't. I don't even know what that means makes sense.

Just used to add emphasis that not only does the person not understand, they can't fathom at all what was intended to be meant. But then used so frequently and with such casual abandon that most of us do so without reason

[nonsequitur]

gareth_r said:

captain_cynic said:

Hence "why" I always say those who are the most pedantic about the English language are the ones who know the least about it.

English is malleable and fault tolerant. Someone else can completely mangle it but I'll still be able to understand what they're saying.

This week, I have been annoyed by "tow the line".

Sorry!

Not such a bad song surely? 1978 by Toto, a bit dated, soft rock, but none the worse for that.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Karma. I was just about to have a little moan on here about people driving round car parks too quickly, and zooming out of spaces without looking, etc., and then I got stuck behind a doddering old fool doing 4mph round a car park.

Serves me right.

[MartG]

People moaning about United Utilities wanting to change the design of a new pumping station to include a higher surrounding wall - the same people who moaned when a similar pumping station overflowed its surrounding wall a few years ago...

[Frank7]

nonsequitur said:

Not such a bad song surely? 1978 by Toto, a bit dated, soft rock, but none the worse for that.

Go to the back of the class nonseq, that was “Hold The Line.”!!!

[yellowjack]

[redacted]

[nonsequitur]

Frank7 said:

nonsequitur said:

Not such a bad song surely? 1978 by Toto, a bit dated, soft rock, but none the worse for that.

Go to the back of the class nonseq, that was “Hold The Line.”!!!

Front of the rank, Frank. :. Me.

[talksthetorque]

gareth_r said:

This week, I have been annoyed by "tow the line".

Sorry!

I take it you weren’t on a fishing boat.

[SCEtoAUX]

The complete inability that my wife has to load the dishwasher in such a way that the spinning thing can actually spin.

[yellowjack]

talksthetorque said:

gareth_r said:

This week, I have been annoyed by "tow the line".

Sorry!

I take it you weren’t on a fishing boat.

I always thought that to "toe the line" was military in origin. When being disciplined in either a Guard Room or on OC's Orders, a miscreant would be marched in to the place where discipline was to be enforced and "put his toes on the brass line". Which in older barracks actually was a brass strip screwed into a recess in the floorboards, the top flush with the level of the floor. I've seen soldiers getting marched in "under orders" being marched in and out repeatedly (at well in excess of the standard 116 bpm) for failing to halt exactly on the brass line.

Turns out that the phrase is probably much older than that, though...

See also the opening scene where Jake is being released from prison in The Blues Brothers, the bit where he is told to "stand behind the line" by his guard, and he takes them literally at their word, stretching forward to sign for his belongings ("one unused prophylactic... one soiled" ) while keeping his toes sarcastically behind the line painted on the floor.