Things that irk you......

[outofplace]

But would they affect you?

 

[User 11148]

But would they affect you?

Effort again ...

 

[trifectarich]

Slow golfers.
Bad drivers.
Big oil companies and/or the owners of the corner convenience store who hike the price of gas overnight by a quarter a gallon, just because they can.
Slow golfers.
Local TV stations that don't catch a typo on their scroll and let it run that way for two hours.
Airline passengers who hold Zone 5 boarding passes but rush to the gate the moment boarding is imminent.
Slow golfers.

 

[Starman]

I am irked by your ilk.

 

[cranberry]

Spitting and littering, including flicking a cigarette butt, in public space.

 

[swingline]

Score the ball
The use of "would" in a sports story unless it's in quotes. Past ****ing tense, please.

 

[John]

Spitting and littering, including flicking a cigarette butt, in public space.

Maybe at the top of my list, which is part of why I don't like watching MLB. It's all spitting and littering (spitting sunflower seed shells all over the field and dugout is littering).

Others:

When a team scores to cut the other team's lead to, say, 50-40, and the announcer says the team is now within 10. No, it's not. All uses of "within" in this way drive me a bit nuts.

Also, and this is a very common SID thing, when team A "plays host" to team B. Garbage.

 

[Buck]

Maybe at the top of my list, which is part of why I don't like watching MLB. It's all spitting and littering (spitting sunflower seed shells all over the field and dugout is littering).

Others:

When a team scores to cut the other team's lead to, say, 50-40, and the announcer says the team is now within 10. No, it's not. All uses of "within" in this way drive me a bit nuts.

Also, and this is a very common SID thing, when team A "plays host" to team B. Garbage.

I had an editor, way back when in the beginning of my journalism career, who would not allow us to use the word 'host' as a verb.
It always had to be 'play host.'

 

[Buck]

Also agree on misuses of 'within.'
A 10-point difference is not within 10 points. It is 10 points.

 

[Buck]

And the misuse of above .500.
This is ubiquitous.

20-10 is not 10 games over .500.
The team has played 30 games. 15-15 would be .500. 20-10 is not 10 games over 15-15.

 

[SpeedTchr]

I was not told math would be involved.

 

[Spartan Squad]

And the misuse of above .500.
This is ubiquitous.

20-10 is not 10 games over .500.
The team has played 30 games. 15-15 would be .500. 20-10 is not 10 games over 15-15.

Don't take this as me arguing with you because I genuinely never thought about it the way you put it. So my understanding of what you argue here is that after 30 games, being 20-10 means you are five wins above .500 so if you level things out, you have to change just five games, not 10. The way I think about it is at 20-10, you would have to play 10 games to get to a .500 record (obviously having to lose 10 games in a row). How would you describe it? My guess is your answer is just stick with the record, but when making a point of ephasis about that record—highlighting how well a team is doing or how bad it's doing—how might you describe it?

 

[Buck]

Don't take this as me arguing with you because I genuinely never thought about it the way you put it. So my understanding of what you argue here is that after 30 games, being 20-10 means you are five wins above .500 so if you level things out, you have to change just five games, not 10. The way I think about it is at 20-10, you would have to play 10 games to get to a .500 record (obviously having to lose 10 games in a row). How would you describe it? My guess is your answer is just stick with the record, but when making a point of ephasis about that record—highlighting how well a team is doing or how bad it's doing—how might you describe it?

So you would have to play, and lose, 10 games to get to .500, but there might not be 10 games left in the schedule.

So a men's basketball team goes 19-10. The team is not nine games over .500 and the regular season is over.
I think the quality of the regular season is apparent, 19-10 is a good season.
However, there might be more context that would highlight that it is an even better season than 19-10 might indicate on it's own.
Maybe they finished best in conference for the regular season, maybe of only one of a handful of times.
Maybe that is one of the better records the school has had in men's basketball.
There would have to be some additional context to indicate the quality of the record if additional emphasis is needed because while 19-10 might not be a historic season in the largest context it might be very notable in the specific context of that team and school.

 

[MisterCreosote]

At the risk of drawing Buck's ire, I think "10 games over .500" has become pretty widely accepted shorthand for "team has 10 more wins than it has losses."

 

[CD Boogie]

And the misuse of above .500.
This is ubiquitous.

20-10 is not 10 games over .500.
The team has played 30 games. 15-15 would be .500. 20-10 is not 10 games over 15-15.

I disagree. If a team is 20-10 and loses 10 games in a row, it's at .500.

 

[bigpern23]

I like to answer "lousy" or "terrible." A lot of times, it throws the salesperson off. They're used to hearing that the person is fine.

Best one I've heard was this salty old local who saddled up to the bar in this dive. Exchange between the bartender and barfly goes:
"How's it going, Tommy?"
"Terrible! But I'm getting used to it."

That's a good one to throw off a cashier with. They never quite know whether to laugh or say how sorry they are.

 

[bigpern23]

I disagree. If a team is 20-10 and loses 10 games in a row, it's at .500.

As noted above, if a college basketball team is 20-10, there are not 10 more games on the schedule, thus, it is not 10 games over .500. If an MLB team is 100-60, they are not 40 games over .500 because there are not 40 games left to play.

It has obviously become accepted usage, but it's often inaccurate and probably shouldn't be used at all. It does not add anything to the story.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Local TV news has lost the ability to speak a sentence in their torturous and dumb pursuit of the active voice.
Crime coverage on local TV news has become a non-stop stream of present and past particpial phrases:

• Police continuing to look for the suspect
• Residents fearing for their safety
• Friends and family shocked by the events

Your participal is a verb form but it is not functioning as a verb. I have recently watched three crime segments that never included an actual verb.
It's a crime. The verb is the best part of the story. Use a VERB!

Always hated the real crime shows that show a perp in a high-speed chase or watching someone in the process of committing a crime, yet they still call them a "suspect."

I get it that all "suspects" are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but c'mon. They're right there on live TV.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

You forgot "... in the game." Dammit, of course it was in the game. If it was during batting practice, we wouldn't care.

My college guy who sends me PRs drives me nuts.

In addition to the "on the mound ..." in softball stories, he routinely has these gems:

"Smith struck out 10 in five innings pitched." (As opposed to what, five innings caught?)

"Jones went 2 for 3 at the plate." (As opposed to 2 for 3 from second base?) I can see if Jones was also the pitcher, but otherwise ...

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Sorry, guys, but host is not a verb. (ducking)