4 ms·

What alternatives would you suggest? What are you willing to bet that they will stand the test of time without also becoming overused icons of language? "Reache

by bdamm 5y ago

What alternatives would you suggest? What are you willing to bet that they will stand the test of time without also becoming overused icons of language? "Reached out" at least has a warm diplomatic connotation so I personally don't mind it at all.

mbg721 5y ago
Why not "asked" for "reached out to ask"?
- bqmjjx0kac 5y ago
  At the end of the day, it is what it is.
  - geenew 5y ago
    It's certainly not what it's not, and it was what it was. Going forward, it will be what it will be. Despite the claims from some quarters, it wasn't what it wasn't; despite the hopes from other quarters, it won't become what it won't become. Some want it to be what it was, while others want it to not become what it is. Everyone can agree that it might or might not become what it is. All anyone can do is learn from what it was, understand what it is, and work to make what it will be what they want it to be.
    - Normille 5y ago
      Oh "going forward" is another good one! It's obviously designed to imply so much more 'progression', 'improvement' and 'boldly striding into the future' than the wholly unambitious "from now on"
  - jraph 5y ago
    At the beginning of the day too, most certainly.
- anonymfus 5y ago
  Because it does not express how hard it was.
- panzagl 5y ago
  I'm too busy tilting at the 'just say use instead of utilize' windmill, but your cause is worthy.
  - anigbrowl 5y ago
    I hate that one too. I think it's meant to imply a sort of pioneering by making something usable which previously wasn't, rather than merely employing it like some plebe. I've noticed an inverse correlationation between pomposity and substantiveness.
  - NathanielK 5y ago
    I had an english prof who'd take a mark off if you ever handed in anything containing "utilized". Now I see it every where.
- kseifried 5y ago
  Because often times they didn't get to the asking stage, they got to the "can we talk to someone about X and ask questions?" stage and nobody replied by the article deadline.
  - Normille 5y ago
    "often times" ?! Where did I put that cat'o'nine tails?
shard 5y ago
Yes, we can "circle back" in a few years and "touch base" with him to see if he still feels the same.
Normille 5y ago
>What alternatives would you suggest?... How's about the ones we've used for centuries already; "contacted" or "got in touch with". >"Reached out" at least has a warm diplomatic connotation... This is exactly the reason I abhor it so much. It's so blatantly trying to be touchy-feely it makes me want to puke! It's like some committee somewhere sat down one day and decided that terms like "contact" or "get in touch with" just weren't putting across how caring their faceless corporation was. So from now on it was going to be "reaching out" all the way. What I also loathe about it is that, having thus been foisted upon us from nowhere [5 years ago I'd only ever seen the phrase in the Four Tops song], all of a sudden, all over the globe, people who have been quite happily "getting in touch with" others or "contacting" them are suddenly "reaching out" instead. And, while you're all downvoting away. Just be aware that, in addition to the "reaching out" crime, my benevolent dictatorship is going to take a similarly flagellatory view of: * Beginning the reply to a question with "So..." * Using the word "super" instead of "very" * Describing anything as "awesome" which does not meet an officially defined standard of awe-inducement * Having entire conversations on social media, which consist entirely of fucking emojis. * Using the phrase "I could care less about..." when you mean precisely the opposite. [Phew! --that'll do for now. I think I need to lie down til that vein in my temple stops throbbing]
- bdamm 5y ago
  Perhaps we should make it illegal for all to use written language except for the most highly educated and those with the most serious of intent? This would weed out your qualms. "Contacted" isn't the same as "attempted to contact" so you are semantically incorrect even though the syntax is well formed.

by bdamm 5y ago

mbg721 5y ago

Why not "asked" for "reached out to ask"?

bqmjjx0kac 5y ago
At the end of the day, it is what it is.
- geenew 5y ago
  It's certainly not what it's not, and it was what it was. Going forward, it will be what it will be. Despite the claims from some quarters, it wasn't what it wasn't; despite the hopes from other quarters, it won't become what it won't become. Some want it to be what it was, while others want it to not become what it is. Everyone can agree that it might or might not become what it is. All anyone can do is learn from what it was, understand what it is, and work to make what it will be what they want it to be.
  - Normille 5y ago
    Oh "going forward" is another good one! It's obviously designed to imply so much more 'progression', 'improvement' and 'boldly striding into the future' than the wholly unambitious "from now on"
- jraph 5y ago
  At the beginning of the day too, most certainly.
anonymfus 5y ago
Because it does not express how hard it was.
panzagl 5y ago
I'm too busy tilting at the 'just say use instead of utilize' windmill, but your cause is worthy.
- anigbrowl 5y ago
  I hate that one too. I think it's meant to imply a sort of pioneering by making something usable which previously wasn't, rather than merely employing it like some plebe. I've noticed an inverse correlationation between pomposity and substantiveness.
- NathanielK 5y ago
  I had an english prof who'd take a mark off if you ever handed in anything containing "utilized". Now I see it every where.
kseifried 5y ago
Because often times they didn't get to the asking stage, they got to the "can we talk to someone about X and ask questions?" stage and nobody replied by the article deadline.
- Normille 5y ago
  "often times" ?! Where did I put that cat'o'nine tails?

shard 5y ago

Yes, we can "circle back" in a few years and "touch base" with him to see if he still feels the same.

Normille 5y ago

>What alternatives would you suggest?... How's about the ones we've used for centuries already; "contacted" or "got in touch with". >"Reached out" at least has a warm diplomatic connotation... This is exactly the reason I abhor it so much. It's so blatantly trying to be touchy-feely it makes me want to puke! It's like some committee somewhere sat down one day and decided that terms like "contact" or "get in touch with" just weren't putting across how caring their faceless corporation was. So from now on it was going to be "reaching out" all the way. What I also loathe about it is that, having thus been foisted upon us from nowhere [5 years ago I'd only ever seen the phrase in the Four Tops song], all of a sudden, all over the globe, people who have been quite happily "getting in touch with" others or "contacting" them are suddenly "reaching out" instead. And, while you're all downvoting away. Just be aware that, in addition to the "reaching out" crime, my benevolent dictatorship is going to take a similarly flagellatory view of: * Beginning the reply to a question with "So..." * Using the word "super" instead of "very" * Describing anything as "awesome" which does not meet an officially defined standard of awe-inducement * Having entire conversations on social media, which consist entirely of fucking emojis. * Using the phrase "I could care less about..." when you mean precisely the opposite. [Phew! --that'll do for now. I think I need to lie down til that vein in my temple stops throbbing]

bdamm 5y ago
Perhaps we should make it illegal for all to use written language except for the most highly educated and those with the most serious of intent? This would weed out your qualms. "Contacted" isn't the same as "attempted to contact" so you are semantically incorrect even though the syntax is well formed.