Totalism, Newspeak, Cliches

[BlackHeart]

I hate them, but it seems that more and more they are being used by people coming out of our educational system. After having a conversation with a few supposedly educated young adults, I was horrified at how much of their discussion or thoughts come in the form of thought-terminating cliches.

Here is some of my favorites:

1) "Life is too short" ---didn't notice!...but listening to drivel does make it seem too long.

2) "You should enjoy your work"------duh...tell that to the guy that cleans toilets......with that thinking our toilets will clean themselves......I don't know but isn't that whys its call WORK and not HOBBY.

3) "You should support your spouse in whatever they do" -----this one comes in all sorts of versions.......hmmm tell that to the spouse of a VLT addict...or maybe I'm thinking that a pimp has a good income .....and probably enjoys his work as a bonus-see point 2.

4) "Youv'e gotta grab life by the horns" ....last time I checked grabbing anything with horns, by the horns, was a bad idea.

5) "We went out there and did our best"........every pro-sport player has this one on the cheat sheets inside of his helmut.........Wow....I sort of expected you to go out there and do your worst or not go out there. This category of pro-sport interview answers is just too big to go further...otherwise I might blow the minds of intellects with your words or wisdom .....I am sure most of these sound tracks are just superimposed over every interview.

6) "Safety First"..........Hmmm. Whats last? Hitting the ground? I thought Tim Hortons was first.

7) "If I had a million dollars..."...........Barenaked Ladys over did this one....but please......go on.....I am sure I will be suprised.

8) "If I had a dollar for everytime..." .........see point 7.

9) "Youv'e gotta enjoy life"........then I probaby should listen to you anymore. On the flipside, I'm sure I'm not gonna enjoy death instead.

10) "Life is about taking chances"...........so is gambling, cheating on your taxes or wife, dashing across busy freeways and throwing beer bottles at police cars. So if I choose life, which chance should I take first. You gotta talk to that safety first guy.....he disagrees with you.

11) "No Pain, no gain"...........S&M anyone. What will a mild irritation get me?

12) "The Children are the Future"..........Oh Boy.....right now all they want is candy. Hmmm Then who is the past?

I just took some chances, put on my safety first harness and grabbed the bull by horns, just trying to hang on and enjoy what little life I have left. I am sure the pain, that is to come, will gain me something. At least I have the support of my wife and I went out there and did my best. Damm I love my job----the futures I invested in are all yours Junior. I just hope they are worth a million.


Anyone else with the cliches they love to hear

[hal53]

HAHAHA!!!...the one that drives me crazy is when one of the service company hands or my rig hands state , after something goes sideways "MAN , I've never seen that happen before!!!"...don't know why, just makes me PO'd or better yet, when I hand a roughneck a brand new something in the box, he comes and tells me 10 mins. later..."it was broke when I got it"...!!!!!

[greylynx]

Mr. Blackheart:

Excellent observation.

How very true.

[roadkill]

What burns me is the way the word 'custom' has lost its meaning. As soon as a company has a 'custom' model rather than custom-making something, I figure someone let the marketing department out of the hemp sack for too long.

[BlackHeart]

And speaking of custom-ers and service and marketing departments. I guess there are not cliches so much as meanless marketing slogan, but why not....they are just as vacuous.

13) "Satisfaction guaranteed".......this ones above the return desk or should i say the refusal to refund desk....are those big letters above you missing something........and just how will you guarantee my satisfaction....I'm a hard to satisfy type of guy.....if its free and never breaks, lasts forever...ok then I might be satisfied.

14) "Our Customers are Number One".......and we still have our first customer on hold ........so your competitors customers are number two????....not a good ploy to get them over........my kids know what number one and number two means.

15) "No Reasonable Offer Refused"........City Fords like to use this one.....who's reasonable nowadays......most car salesmen aren't........is it only reasonable if the salesman can retire after "putting you together" on a deal

16) "Your in good hands".........I hope you washed them and their warm because I hate having to cough while I write the check for that insurance.....they must be very small hands to write all that tiny small print.

17) "Our Reputation Speaks for Itself".......probably because no one else will.

18) "Built to Last"..........most truck commercials have a version of this one.....But I sure wish Last meant longer than the warranty.

19) "Eco-freindly"........just how hot is Eco...she sure sounds exotic.....so how does packing food in little individual packets become good for the eco.

20) "Award winning"......gotta love this one....hey I just won the AO Blackheart trophy for journalism......feel any more superior now when your buying my stuff.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by BlackHeart

I hate them, but it seems that more and more they are being used by people coming out of our educational system. After having a conversation with a few supposedly educated young adults, I was horrified at how much of their discussion or thoughts come in the form of thought-terminating cliches.

:

My favourite totalism is bashing young people and claiming they are somehow different than we were. Most of the "cliches" you quote in your opening post are at least 50 years old and are based on experience and good advice. I'm 53 and I recall my grandfather saying a few of them. LOL

[stuckincity]

Hey BlackHeart, you missed a few:

"Up To 50% Off!"... Even if you get 0% off, you're still within range.

"Some Conditions May Apply"...You can be sure those conditions will apply to YOU.

"Less Than $25,000!"...$24,995

"Introductory Offer 1.9%!"...It goes up to 29% in 3 months.

[CaberTosser]

I've heard radio spots for I think an investment advisor stating "Now accepting new customers". Wow, glad to hear you're doing that; when you weren't accepting new customers what was the reason? We should feel priviledged, I suppose.

[BlackHeart]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

My favourite totalism is bashing young people and claiming they are somehow different than we were. Most of the "cliches" you quote in your opening post are at least 50 years old and are based on experience and good advice. I'm 53 and I recall my grandfather saying a few of them. LOL

Not sure how old they are.....but it is the context of use that may now be diffferent.

Not bashing young people only....its anyone who uses this in a discussion as a way to summarize rather than defend their position logically......but like Orwell seen, it tend to be an evolving situation, and the kids just out of university are over using these cliches, almost to the point of absurdity, ususally to justify their lack of willingness to accept responsibility for their decisions in life and back them up with sound logic....so much easier to live by a motto and justify what you want with a cliche saying.

Don't want to work a Saturday......."Life is more then Work"
Want to do something stupid with your money........"Life is too short"
Want to do something dangerous......."Grab life by the horns"

When I was younger, plenty of those my age would justify their stupid decisions the same way, but it was much less common to use cliches. Maybe its an internet age thing.

But back on track...Okotokian....yes not just directed at youth...but anyone who uses them as a crutch. And definitely overused by marketing morons.

[Zippbuster]

Give the old man a hard time about drinking or supposed unhealthy food or lifestyle choices and he'll say..."You wanna die of nothin'?"

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by BlackHeart

But back on track...Okotokian....yes not just directed at youth...but anyone who uses them as a crutch. And definitely overused by marketing morons.

Actually, there IS one new one used by youth which drives me crazy.. sort of a passive-aggressive response designed to discount the opponent. "Whatever...."

[BlackHeart]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Actually, there IS one new one used by youth which drives me crazy.. sort of a passive-aggressive response designed to discount the opponent. "Whatever...."

Zippbuster.....that reply is really good as it has a little threat implied. LMAO

Okotokian....I actually think my wife invented the "Whateeeevvvver" 20 years ago. Pretty hard to continue an agrument or discussion after the "Whatever" bomb.

[stuckincity]

Originally Posted by Zippbuster

Give the old man a hard time about drinking or supposed unhealthy food or lifestyle choices and he'll say..."You wanna die of nothin'?"

I always gave my ol' man a hard time about that too.
He's 94, and his doc says he's like a 50-year-old except for his cane for a bad knee.

Go Figure!