Tell Me Something............Anything!

[Pigmy Pony]

A 'beeping' fridge - that is something I can do without.

(The power rating was in reply to Martin's slow boiling kettle.)

Yeah, if you leave the fridge door open for more than about 20 seconds, it nags you to shut it. A bit of a pain when you're loading it after a big shop, but pressing the button that switches on the fridge light shuts it up.

[Barry]

That makes sense - my partner often doesn't shut the fridge door fully and is surprised when it needs defrosting.

[Pigmy Pony]

Where did the word “colourways” suddenly appear from?

So I've noticed it being used frequently, along with 'uptick' (just seen it used 3 times in less than a minute during a report on aggressive behaviour towards pharmacy staff), and of course people who should know better starting a sentence with 'So'.

Might be time for a revised edition of the OED

Edit:'Uptick' is already in the OED, has been around since the 1950s. But, get this: according to OED, the word is used 0.01 times per million words in written English, compared to 'increase' which gets 200 uses per million. Be interested to see how those figures look in 12 months, but I expect to see an uptick in its frequency.

Thought I'd post this in a variety of colourways to make it look more interesting

[Barry]

I've noticed it being used frequently, along with 'uptick' (just seen it used 3 times in less than a minute during a report on aggressive behaviour towards pharmacy staff), and of course people who should know better starting a sentence with 'So'.

Might be time for a revised edition of the OED

They are just annoying Americanisms that are fashionable at the moment. I can't see how the term "uptick" is any better than "increase".

Both the OED and University of Cambridge edit their respective dictionaries, but you have to wait for the next edition, and it's not something that is done overnight.

[Pigmy Pony]

They are just annoying Americanisms that are fashionable at the moment. I can't see how the term "uptick" is any better than "increase".

Both the OED and University of Cambridge edit their respective dictionaries, but you have to wait for the next edition, and it's not something that is done overnight.

I do find it annoying, but partly because I'm a grumpy old git. It's just younger folk trying to keep up with fashions, and these I see as 'in' words. I'm not even going to try - every time I tell younger folk that I'm "down with the kids", they tell me I'm definitely not

You're right, uptick is no better than increase, see my previous post's figures on usage.

[Macca]

They are just annoying Americanisms that are fashionable at the moment. I can't see how the term "uptick" is any better than "increase".

.

Possibly 'uptick' has a higher emotional response than 'increase', so it is used in marketing and other literature in which the objective is to persuade rather than inform - and from that it passes into everyday use?

[Pigmy Pony]

Possibly 'uptick' has a higher emotional response than 'increase', so it is used in marketing and other literature in which the objective is to persuade rather than inform - and from that it passes into everyday use?

Could be used to describe one's experience when going 'commando' through a field of long grass

[Barry]

Possibly 'uptick' has a higher emotional response than 'increase', so it is used in marketing and other literature in which the objective is to persuade rather than inform - and from that it passes into everyday use?

You could well be right - the Americans have always had a knack in advertising copy to make things sound attractive.

I first became aware of it way back in the early seventies when I visited a pizza restaurant. The individual ingredients were described in detail, so what was probably a 'bog standard' pizza was made to appear irresistible and attractive.

[Macca]

You could well be right - the Americsn have always had a knack in advertising copy to make things sound attractive.

I first became aware of it way back in the early seventies when I visited a pizza restaurant. The individual ingredients were described in detail, so what was probably a 'bog standard' pizza was made to appear irresistible and attractive.

The scary thing is - it works.

[Barry]

Sad to learn of the death of actor Terence Stamp, age 87.

Famous for his good looks and impeccable dress sense, he formed one of Britain's most glamorous couples with Julie Christie, with whom he starred in Far From The Madding Crowd in 1967. He also dated the model Jean Shrimpton and was chosen as a muse by photographer David Bailey.

After failing to be chosen for the role of James Bond to succeed Sean Connery, he appeared in Italian films and worked with Federico Fellini in the late '60s. The Oscar- nominated actor starred in films ranging from Pier Pasolini's Theorem in 1968 to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994 in which he played a transgender woman.