My Daily Gripes

dorian · Guru

My Daily Gripes

Radar · Guru

dorian wrote:
(1) Can anyone explain why people say, "enough is enough"? Why not some other meaningless tautology like "too little is too little", or "too much is too much", or "too much is more than enough"?

(2) Why do native English speakers say "yeah, no"? A proposition can either be true (yeah) or false (nah), not both. So which is it?

(3) What's the deal with prices such as 99c or $99.99 or $29990 (drive away)? Do advertising droids really believe that the average person is too stupid to understand the difference between $100 and $99.99?

To help marketing people recognise that they're the idiots, not us, I propose that we legislate to prohibit the use of the digit "9" in all marked and advertised prices. Any such legislation would be framed in such a way as not to stifle competition or creativity.

For example, if a vendor really wants to sell a pair of shoes for $99.99, or a car for $29990 (drive away), then he could advertise the shoes for $100 less 1 cent rebate or discount, or he could sell the left shoe for $66.66 and the right shoe for $33.33, or he could sell the car for $30000 and package it with a Big Mac Meal (medium, drive-through or eat-in, conditions apply).

I am not real smart but why.

The other one which is very noticeable in shops today is no pricing.

I grew up being told "if you gotta ask the pice then you can not afford it" and sametimes I really need that item. Bugga

iana · Guru

They once said once a King, always a King.
But they also said, once a knight is enough!

biggles2 · Veteran Member

hmmm .. I'd love to get a word in here .. but every time I open my mouth, some idiot speaks !

Joda · Senior Member

Remember, confucious said The beginning of Wisdom is to call everything by its right name, Joda...

Izabarack · Guru

dorian wrote:
(1) Can anyone explain why people say, "enough is enough"?

(2) Why do native English speakers say "yeah, no"?

(3) What's the deal with prices such as 99c or $99.99 or $29990

1. It's just a way of filling the space. Like Um and Ah and "In terms of" and "You know", without meaning. Used mostly by people who speak automatically while trying to work out what they do want to convey.

2. Context is needed and an indication of inflection. Sometimes the "yeah" is intended to indicate that the other person has been heard and the "no" is the answer.

3. Plenty of research shows that people react favourable to the 0.99 while, at the same time, being aware of the attempt to manipulate their opinion. And Yes, people are stupid hence the success of the Buy three tyres and get one free. Most viewers are too maths challenged to do the mental arithmetic and calculate price per individual tyre so look for other adds using the buy three get one free advertising for comparison.

Iza

dorian · Guru

(4) ISTM that the moral Zeitgeist is reflected in the changing nature of TV game shows. On the positive side we appear to have permanently ditched the stereotypical ornamental female spinning a wheel of fortune or smiling vacuously as she points to an array of sponsored products. Nowadays we have shows like "Letters and Numbers" (SBS) where the comperes are actually cleverer than the contestants.

However, on the negative side we have shows such as "The Chase". It used to be that the contestants would compete against each other, or compete against the clock, but nowadays the game show itself is the competitor. This idea makes me uncomfortable. Worse still are those contestants (usually the younger generation) who choose the lowest offer, especially when it is a negative amount. What kind of person would shamelessly take an equal share of a pot to which they have contributed less than nothing?

dorian · Guru

(5) I recently ordered a pizza with garlic bread. However, I was told that I could buy the same items, including a drink that I didn't want, as a package deal, for less than the cost of the items that I actually wanted. So it was pure economics that drove me to purchase the "deal". The Pepsi bottle is now in the fridge, waiting for me to find a use for it (other than drinking it).

Do the people who design these packages really not understand that these deals make no economic sense?

LLD · Guru

(6). Along the lines of 5. A "free" addition to try and sell me a car where the edition is a games console for the backseat. The salesperson seems to think it's a selling point. I just want the console removed and cash instead.

Magnarc · Guru

Dorian your views are music to the ears of this old pedant. Commercial TV has been dumbing down viewers for years. Kitchens that rule, ( now a virtual soap opera, "did she tell lies or didn't she?) Houses that rule, Block renovations that are fully scripted, does anyone really think that those ladies wearing nail bags and overalls, really do wield a hammer or a saw in any meaningful way?

Whilst on the subject of commercial TV I must comment on those bloody annoying bottom of the screen adds that they insert at the most interesting part of the programme.

I think that the reason young people do not do well on the Chase is that they have very little general knowledge, know almost nothing about History but they do have one saving grace, they have the most well developed thumbs ever. I hasten to say that this is not their fault more a failure of our education system???

End of diatribe. All "constructive" comments welcome.

dorian · Guru

I wonder just how much "knowledge" is contained in those quizzes. For example, one particular chaser (a barrister) could probably tell us the name of the Queen's third corgi, but can't work out how many minutes are in 3 hours. Are people who fill their heads with useless trivia really smarter than the rest of us?

Do we really lose our memories when we get older? Could it be that we've just filled our brains to capacity and are now faced with the problem of what to do with the old memories in order to make room for the new?

In the case of a computer, we can selectively delete those files which we no longer find useful, and then use the reclaimed space for new files. Or we can choose to discard the new file altogether. However, the human brain does not appear to afford us this level of control. It just randomly deletes old memories and replaces them with newer ones. That's why we can remember the latest annoying ad on TV, but forget the PIN of our bank account.

-- Edited by dorian on Monday 8th of April 2019 10:22:53 AM

Craig1 · Guru

Dorian, you forgot " like u know, like, well like". Or "absolutley like". But otherwise a well thought out Like

dorian · Guru

5 steps for, like, literally cutting the word 'like' out of your life:

https://mashable.com/2015/04/04/stop-saying-like/

dorian · Guru

(6) What's the deal with hypoallergenic, aloe vera, vitamin E tissues? Are people actually allergic to paper? Does the infused product even have a chance to do any therapeutic work before it is soiled and discarded?

https://www.aldimum.com.au/aloe-vera-tissues/

https://www.aldi.co.uk/aloe-vera-toilet-tissue-9-pack/p/066230007038400

-- Edited by dorian on Tuesday 9th of April 2019 11:18:50 AM

dorian · Guru

I just watched a senior policemen stand in front of media cameras and plead for help in recovering a baby girl who is the subject of an "amber alert". Apparently she had been taken on Monday by her father in contravention of a custody order. The cop and the ABC gave us almost everything we need to know in order to identify the man and his child, including their names and descriptions, and the make, model, colour and the registration number of his car . . . but no photos. In other words, we were given all the information that we could reasonably expect to receive via a radio broadcast.

television

NOUN
a system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio or other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen.

Craig1 · Guru

In particular WIN TV, who show an ever increasing amount of " BLURRED VISION" of almost everything related to children. Their answer was. " we will get fined or de-licenced' if we dare show faces in any detail. So I said why show this cr.p ? . Well this TV so you expect something. Well bugger me, I will vote with my remote says I.

Extraordinary Rendition · Veteran Member

What is TV?

Craig1 · Guru

It is becoming an ever decreasing commodity in our house and now that " The E............' is on much much less.

dorian · Guru

Is there any real reason to use the term, "going forward", especially when the future tense is already implied by the preceding context?

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=going%20forward

going forward

A completely unnecessary and meaningless corporate buzz phrase that somehow gets shoehorned into every memo, press release or public statement. It can always be eliminated from the text without any effect at all upon the intended meaning.

Craig1 · Guru

" absolutely, get with the program and don't be negative"

dorian · Guru

My father has been suffering from a blocked ear for about 1 year. He needs another grommet operation (he has already had 3), but due to his other health problems he doesn't wish to undergo another procedure. About 1 month ago his other ear become blocked overnight. Instead of seeing his GP, he insisted that I take him to see his audiologist for adjustments to his hearing aids, even though he hardly ever wears them, and even though it would undoubtedly be pointless, as proved to be the case. However, the audiologist did find excessive wax in the newly blocked ear, but declined to clean it out, suggesting that a registered nurse would be better qualified for this task. She did however increase the gain of the aid, which seems stupid to me, simply because it is treating the symptom rather than the cause. Presumably her work will need to be reversed once the blockage is cleared.

Anyway, I spoke to my father's GP, who also declined to perform the "aural toilet", as it is called. Instead he suggested that the nurse could do it, but it so happened that the machine (a syringe of some kind) was out of order. In the meantime my father presented at hospital with yet another problem, so I took the opportunity to ask the nurse and then the doctor to clean his ear. Once again, neither person would do it. Instead I was told to seek outside services. In fact the nurse claimed he had never been taught how to do this simple task.

WTF? How hard can it be? Should I do it myself? Dad's ENT specialist used a relatively simple tool in the past, so I can't see why a GP couldn't do it.

dorian · Guru

My father's Home Care provider has a web site which allows me, theoretically, to view his account and schedule of services. I'm using a Windows 10 device running in "S mode". It came preconfigured with two browsers, Edge and Internet Explorer. The device is constantly updated and presumably has the latest security updates. However, whenever I try to access my father's account, both browsers complain that the site's security certificate has a problem. I have asked several times, by email and telephone, to have this problem fixed at their end. I even spoke to their tech support guy who didn't appear to understand the problem (or perhaps he didn't understand English). Suffice to say that the problem persists.

dorian · Guru

Craig1 wrote:
Dorian, you forgot " like u know, like, well like". Or "absolutley like". But otherwise a well thought out Like

Can anyone see the irony?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-27/trump-urges-vaccinations-against-measles-as-outbreak-continues/11051496

Students at Cal State-LA were shocked that their campus could be hit by a measles outbreak.

"When they were like measles, I was like, 'What? Where did that come from,'" said Sergio Dula, a communications major.

blaze · Guru

dorian wrote:
My father has been suffering from a blocked ear for about 1 year. He needs another grommet operation (he has already had 3), but due to his other health problems he doesn't wish to undergo another procedure. About 1 month ago his other ear become blocked overnight. Instead of seeing his GP, he insisted that I take him to see his audiologist for adjustments to his hearing aids, even though he hardly ever wears them, and even though it would undoubtedly be pointless, as proved to be the case. However, the audiologist did find excessive wax in the newly blocked ear, but declined to clean it out, suggesting that a registered nurse would be better qualified for this task. She did however increase the gain of the aid, which seems stupid to me, simply because it is treating the symptom rather than the cause. Presumably her work will need to be reversed once the blockage is cleared.
Anyway, I spoke to my father's GP, who also declined to perform the "aural toilet", as it is called. Instead he suggested that the nurse could do it, but it so happened that the machine (a syringe of some kind) was out of order. In the meantime my father presented at hospital with yet another problem, so I took the opportunity to ask the nurse and then the doctor to clean his ear. Once again, neither person would do it. Instead I was told to seek outside services. In fact the nurse claimed he had never been taught how to do this simple task.
WTF? How hard can it be? Should I do it myself? Dad's ENT specialist used a relatively simple tool in the past, so I can't see why a GP couldn't do it.

when I had my ear dewaxed, I was given drops to put in for 2 days, then back to the doc for the cleanout. Made me wonder how something that big would come out my ear

cheers

blaze

The Belmont Bear · Guru

GPs and nurses for me are like a jack of all trades but sometimes someone who specialises is your best bet. I also had an overnight hearing loss on one side which had the same symptoms as having water in the ear or being blocked with excessive wax so I went to my GP who did the softener/syringe thing. I revisted him again a week later as there had been no improvement so he prescribed a course of antibiotics believing that it may be related to an inner ear infection, after a number of repeats still there has been no improvement and I get the impression that he really doesn't know why. Last week I had to do a medical for a work visa and they told me that I had a "normal hearing loss for my age" in one ear and a 53% loss in the other when I told them the story about the treatment I had been receiving so far from my GP they immediately wrote me a referral to see a hearng specialist. Because of the months I have mucked around seeing a specialist will now have to go on the back burner as I am heading off to do some work in South Africa for the next 12 weeks.

Cheers

BB

Craig1 · Guru

Dorian, what about " New born baby " ?

dorian · Guru

dorian wrote:
My father's Home Care provider has a web site which allows me, theoretically, to view his account and schedule of services. I'm using a Windows 10 device running in "S mode". It came preconfigured with two browsers, Edge and Internet Explorer. The device is constantly updated and presumably has the latest security updates. However, whenever I try to access my father's account, both browsers complain that the site's security certificate has a problem.

I finally got in with my brother's smartphone, only to find that the account details were non-existent. It appears that I'll have to keep relying on monthly paper statements.

dorian · Guru

Craig1 wrote:
Dorian, what about " New born baby " ?

I like my brother's response: "OK, so how many arms and legs does it have?. All good? Enough said. Move on."

Personally, I detest undemocratic institutions, and I despise unearned privilege. Can I leave it at that?

sandsmere · Guru

dorian wrote:
Is there any real reason to use the term, "going forward", especially when the future tense is already implied by the preceding context?
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=going%20forward
going forward
A completely unnecessary and meaningless corporate buzz phrase that somehow gets shoehorned into every memo, press release or public statement. It can always be eliminated from the text without any effect at all upon the intended meaning.

This is the one that really gets to me.

" Going forward". Means absa-bloody-lootly nothing.

Craig1 · Guru

Possibly better than " going backwards" aka italian ww2 tanks, 28 reverse , 2 forward