#phrases — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #phrases, aggregated by home.social.
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“To coin a phrase”*…
Elliot Thornley nods to Shakespeare as the prodigious coiner of words (and phrases) that he was…
And then reminds us that Jeremy Bentham was no slouch with a neologism himself…
It’s pretty amazing. Shakespeare really shaped the English language!
So did Jeremy Bentham. He’s best-known for inventing utilitarianism and the panopticon [see here], but he also coined the words:
- Minimize
- International
- Percentage
- Pluralism
- Monetary
- Locating
- Marginalize
- Codify
- The prefix ‘self-’
- Maximize
- The prefix ‘post-’
- The prefix ‘infra-’
- Exhaustive
- Insurable
- Collaborator
- Alleviating
- Unaffordable
- Exclusionary
- Inexclusively
- Antagonising
- Deontology
- Disambiguation
- Eudemonic
- Evidentiary
- Characterizable
- Perusable
- Preferability
- Remediation
- Astuteness
- Uncalculating
- Uncoerced
- Unbridgeable
- Subvariety
You can find even more Bentham coinages at my source [lots more].
And as if all that weren’t enough, Bentham kind of invented jogging:
Bentham appears to have been a regular jogger—or, as he put it, ‘circumgyrater’. According to the journalist George Wheatley, who stayed with the eighty-one year-old Bentham in March 1831, before both breakfast and dinner Bentham would take ‘a few turns in the garden, which … he calls circumgyrating’, which Wheatley described as a ‘trotting or taking up a kind of trotting step’.
So not only are you quoting Bentham, you might be mimicking him too…
The second-greatest coiner of English words? “You are quoting Bentham.”
More coinage (and source of the image at the top): “Coined Words Acknowledged.”
* idiom
###
As we commend contrivers, we might recall that it was on this date in 1940 that another colossal coiner of phrases appeared: the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short “A Wild Hare”– the first “official” Bugs Bunny cartoon– premiered (though long-time readers will recall that Bugs [or at least, his prototype] made his inaugural screen appearance two years earlier). Directed by Tex Avery, “A Wild Hare” was nominated for an Academy Award.
#BugsBunny #Cartoon #culture #history #JeremyBentham #language #literature #phrases #Shakespeare #TexAvery #words -
“To coin a phrase”*…
Elliot Thornley nods to Shakespeare as the prodigious coiner of words (and phrases) that he was…
And then reminds us that Jeremy Bentham was no slouch with a neologism himself…
It’s pretty amazing. Shakespeare really shaped the English language!
So did Jeremy Bentham. He’s best-known for inventing utilitarianism and the panopticon [see here], but he also coined the words:
- Minimize
- International
- Percentage
- Pluralism
- Monetary
- Locating
- Marginalize
- Codify
- The prefix ‘self-’
- Maximize
- The prefix ‘post-’
- The prefix ‘infra-’
- Exhaustive
- Insurable
- Collaborator
- Alleviating
- Unaffordable
- Exclusionary
- Inexclusively
- Antagonising
- Deontology
- Disambiguation
- Eudemonic
- Evidentiary
- Characterizable
- Perusable
- Preferability
- Remediation
- Astuteness
- Uncalculating
- Uncoerced
- Unbridgeable
- Subvariety
You can find even more Bentham coinages at my source [lots more].
And as if all that weren’t enough, Bentham kind of invented jogging:
Bentham appears to have been a regular jogger—or, as he put it, ‘circumgyrater’. According to the journalist George Wheatley, who stayed with the eighty-one year-old Bentham in March 1831, before both breakfast and dinner Bentham would take ‘a few turns in the garden, which … he calls circumgyrating’, which Wheatley described as a ‘trotting or taking up a kind of trotting step’.
So not only are you quoting Bentham, you might be mimicking him too…
The second-greatest coiner of English words? “You are quoting Bentham.”
More coinage (and source of the image at the top): “Coined Words Acknowledged.”
* idiom
###
As we commend contrivers, we might recall that it was on this date in 1940 that another colossal coiner of phrases appeared: the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short “A Wild Hare”– the first “official” Bugs Bunny cartoon– premiered (though long-time readers will recall that Bugs [or at least, his prototype] made his inaugural screen appearance two years earlier). Directed by Tex Avery, “A Wild Hare” was nominated for an Academy Award.
#BugsBunny #Cartoon #culture #history #JeremyBentham #language #literature #phrases #Shakespeare #TexAvery #words -
“To coin a phrase”*…
Elliot Thornley nods to Shakespeare as the prodigious coiner of words (and phrases) that he was…
And then reminds us that Jeremy Bentham was no slouch with a neologism himself…
It’s pretty amazing. Shakespeare really shaped the English language!
So did Jeremy Bentham. He’s best-known for inventing utilitarianism and the panopticon [see here], but he also coined the words:
- Minimize
- International
- Percentage
- Pluralism
- Monetary
- Locating
- Marginalize
- Codify
- The prefix ‘self-’
- Maximize
- The prefix ‘post-’
- The prefix ‘infra-’
- Exhaustive
- Insurable
- Collaborator
- Alleviating
- Unaffordable
- Exclusionary
- Inexclusively
- Antagonising
- Deontology
- Disambiguation
- Eudemonic
- Evidentiary
- Characterizable
- Perusable
- Preferability
- Remediation
- Astuteness
- Uncalculating
- Uncoerced
- Unbridgeable
- Subvariety
You can find even more Bentham coinages at my source [lots more].
And as if all that weren’t enough, Bentham kind of invented jogging:
Bentham appears to have been a regular jogger—or, as he put it, ‘circumgyrater’. According to the journalist George Wheatley, who stayed with the eighty-one year-old Bentham in March 1831, before both breakfast and dinner Bentham would take ‘a few turns in the garden, which … he calls circumgyrating’, which Wheatley described as a ‘trotting or taking up a kind of trotting step’.
So not only are you quoting Bentham, you might be mimicking him too…
The second-greatest coiner of English words? “You are quoting Bentham.”
More coinage (and source of the image at the top): “Coined Words Acknowledged.”
* idiom
###
As we commend contrivers, we might recall that it was on this date in 1940 that another colossal coiner of phrases appeared: the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short “A Wild Hare”– the first “official” Bugs Bunny cartoon– premiered (though long-time readers will recall that Bugs [or at least, his prototype] made his inaugural screen appearance two years earlier). Directed by Tex Avery, “A Wild Hare” was nominated for an Academy Award.
#BugsBunny #Cartoon #culture #history #JeremyBentham #language #literature #phrases #Shakespeare #TexAvery #words -
“To coin a phrase”*…
Elliot Thornley nods to Shakespeare as the prodigious coiner of words (and phrases) that he was…
And then reminds us that Jeremy Bentham was no slouch with a neologism himself…
It’s pretty amazing. Shakespeare really shaped the English language!
So did Jeremy Bentham. He’s best-known for inventing utilitarianism and the panopticon [see here], but he also coined the words:
- Minimize
- International
- Percentage
- Pluralism
- Monetary
- Locating
- Marginalize
- Codify
- The prefix ‘self-’
- Maximize
- The prefix ‘post-’
- The prefix ‘infra-’
- Exhaustive
- Insurable
- Collaborator
- Alleviating
- Unaffordable
- Exclusionary
- Inexclusively
- Antagonising
- Deontology
- Disambiguation
- Eudemonic
- Evidentiary
- Characterizable
- Perusable
- Preferability
- Remediation
- Astuteness
- Uncalculating
- Uncoerced
- Unbridgeable
- Subvariety
You can find even more Bentham coinages at my source [lots more].
And as if all that weren’t enough, Bentham kind of invented jogging:
Bentham appears to have been a regular jogger—or, as he put it, ‘circumgyrater’. According to the journalist George Wheatley, who stayed with the eighty-one year-old Bentham in March 1831, before both breakfast and dinner Bentham would take ‘a few turns in the garden, which … he calls circumgyrating’, which Wheatley described as a ‘trotting or taking up a kind of trotting step’.
So not only are you quoting Bentham, you might be mimicking him too…
The second-greatest coiner of English words? “You are quoting Bentham.”
More coinage (and source of the image at the top): “Coined Words Acknowledged.”
* idiom
###
As we commend contrivers, we might recall that it was on this date in 1940 that another colossal coiner of phrases appeared: the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short “A Wild Hare”– the first “official” Bugs Bunny cartoon– premiered (though long-time readers will recall that Bugs [or at least, his prototype] made his inaugural screen appearance two years earlier). Directed by Tex Avery, “A Wild Hare” was nominated for an Academy Award.
#BugsBunny #Cartoon #culture #history #JeremyBentham #language #literature #phrases #Shakespeare #TexAvery #words -
“To coin a phrase”*…
Elliot Thornley nods to Shakespeare as the prodigious coiner of words (and phrases) that he was…
And then reminds us that Jeremy Bentham was no slouch with a neologism himself…
It’s pretty amazing. Shakespeare really shaped the English language!
So did Jeremy Bentham. He’s best-known for inventing utilitarianism and the panopticon [see here], but he also coined the words:
- Minimize
- International
- Percentage
- Pluralism
- Monetary
- Locating
- Marginalize
- Codify
- The prefix ‘self-’
- Maximize
- The prefix ‘post-’
- The prefix ‘infra-’
- Exhaustive
- Insurable
- Collaborator
- Alleviating
- Unaffordable
- Exclusionary
- Inexclusively
- Antagonising
- Deontology
- Disambiguation
- Eudemonic
- Evidentiary
- Characterizable
- Perusable
- Preferability
- Remediation
- Astuteness
- Uncalculating
- Uncoerced
- Unbridgeable
- Subvariety
You can find even more Bentham coinages at my source [lots more].
And as if all that weren’t enough, Bentham kind of invented jogging:
Bentham appears to have been a regular jogger—or, as he put it, ‘circumgyrater’. According to the journalist George Wheatley, who stayed with the eighty-one year-old Bentham in March 1831, before both breakfast and dinner Bentham would take ‘a few turns in the garden, which … he calls circumgyrating’, which Wheatley described as a ‘trotting or taking up a kind of trotting step’.
So not only are you quoting Bentham, you might be mimicking him too…
The second-greatest coiner of English words? “You are quoting Bentham.”
More coinage (and source of the image at the top): “Coined Words Acknowledged.”
* idiom
###
As we commend contrivers, we might recall that it was on this date in 1940 that another colossal coiner of phrases appeared: the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short “A Wild Hare”– the first “official” Bugs Bunny cartoon– premiered (though long-time readers will recall that Bugs [or at least, his prototype] made his inaugural screen appearance two years earlier). Directed by Tex Avery, “A Wild Hare” was nominated for an Academy Award.
#BugsBunny #Cartoon #culture #history #JeremyBentham #language #literature #phrases #Shakespeare #TexAvery #words -
🤔🧐🥸😎🤓💁♂️*If You Say 11 Phrases On A Regular Basis, Your Parents Did An Great Job Raising You👉
Your Parents Did A Great Job Raising You If You Say These 11 Phrases Often | YourTango
https://www.yourtango.com/family/parents-did-great-job-say-phrases-regular-basis -
🤔🧐🥸😎🤓💁♂️*If You Say 11 Phrases On A Regular Basis, Your Parents Did An Great Job Raising You👉
Your Parents Did A Great Job Raising You If You Say These 11 Phrases Often | YourTango
https://www.yourtango.com/family/parents-did-great-job-say-phrases-regular-basis -
English language is getting weird.
Everyone has their "daily driver" now. What's that?
In former times someone was "looking for a new job" now they seek their "next role".I am not a native speaker, so this may be the reason why I think it sounds weird. Or not?🤷
#english #language #phrases #dailydriver #newrole -
English language is getting weird.
Everyone has their "daily driver" now. What's that?
In former times someone was "looking for a new job" now they seek their "next role".I am not a native speaker, so this may be the reason why I think it sounds weird. Or not?🤷
#english #language #phrases #dailydriver #newrole -
"I'll be back in 2 _______s of a ________'s _________."
Fill in yours.
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"I'll be back in 2 _______s of a ________'s _________."
Fill in yours.
-
"I'll be back in 2 _______s of a ________'s _________."
Fill in yours.
-
"I'll be back in 2 _______s of a ________'s _________."
Fill in yours.
-
"I'll be back in 2 _______s of a ________'s _________."
Fill in yours.
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🧠🤯🧠🤯🧠🤯💁♀️*You Can Usually Tell How Intelligent A Person Is By 10 Phrases They Say When They're Stressed👉
People On The Verge Of Real Happiness Tend To Have These 8 Uncomfortable Feelings First | YourTango
https://www.yourtango.com/self/you-can-usually-tell-how-intelligent-person-is-by-phrases-they-say-when-theyre-stressed -
🧠🤯🧠🤯🧠🤯💁♀️*You Can Usually Tell How Intelligent A Person Is By 10 Phrases They Say When They're Stressed👉
People On The Verge Of Real Happiness Tend To Have These 8 Uncomfortable Feelings First | YourTango
https://www.yourtango.com/self/you-can-usually-tell-how-intelligent-person-is-by-phrases-they-say-when-theyre-stressed -
💊💉👩🏿⚕️👩🏼⚕️👨🏽⚕️👨⚕️👩🏿⚕️💊💉🏥⚕️🥼🩺🩻😷⛑️💁🏿♀️*3 Key Phrases to Get a Doctor to Take Your Symptoms Seriously — According to a Doctor👉
3 Phrases to Use at the Doctor’s Office to Avoid Being Dismissed
https://www.today.com/health/womens-health/phrases-to-get-doctor-take-pain-seriously-rcna344955 -
💊💉👩🏿⚕️👩🏼⚕️👨🏽⚕️👨⚕️👩🏿⚕️💊💉🏥⚕️🥼🩺🩻😷⛑️💁🏿♀️*3 Key Phrases to Get a Doctor to Take Your Symptoms Seriously — According to a Doctor👉
3 Phrases to Use at the Doctor’s Office to Avoid Being Dismissed
https://www.today.com/health/womens-health/phrases-to-get-doctor-take-pain-seriously-rcna344955 -
This is the moment of truth! :gutkato_kolereta:
After that, we can go back to lies and mystifications. :gutkato_dikfingro_supren:
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This is the moment of truth! :gutkato_kolereta:
After that, we can go back to lies and mystifications. :gutkato_dikfingro_supren:
-
This is the moment of truth! :gutkato_kolereta:
After that, we can go back to lies and mystifications. :gutkato_dikfingro_supren:
-
This is the moment of truth! :gutkato_kolereta:
After that, we can go back to lies and mystifications. :gutkato_dikfingro_supren:
-
This is the moment of truth! :gutkato_kolereta:
After that, we can go back to lies and mystifications. :gutkato_dikfingro_supren:
-
40+ Common expressions that became great song titles
Listed below are 40 common expressions that have become great song titles over the years. They are presented in alphabetical order. The songs shown date from 1955 to 2026. Feel free to pass along any others that you may know.
Peace!
“Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – 1959 song by Dean Martin
“Ain’t That a Shame” – 1955 song by Fats Domino and in 1979 by Cheap Trick
“Another One Bites the Dust” – 1980 song by Queen
“Asking for a Friend” – 2025 song by Foo Fighters
“Back of My Hand” – 2025 song by Belair Lip Bombs and 2005 song by The Rolling Stones
“Beating Around the Bush” – 1977 song by AC/DC
“Can We Still Be Friends” – 1978 song by Todd Rundgren
“Come As You Are” – 1991 song by Nirvana
“Cry Me a River” – 1955 song recorded by multiple artists
“Fight Fire with Fire” – song by multiple artists including Metallica
“Get On the Ball” – 1992 song by No Doubt
“God Only Knows” – 1966 song by The Beach Boys
“Good Help Is So Hard to Find” – 2014 song by DCFC
“Hanging Out to Dry” – 2026 song by Florence Road
“Hit the Road Jack” – 1960 song by Ray Charles
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – 1966 song by Marvin Gaye
“If It Makes You Happy” – 1996 song by Sheryl Crow
“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” – 1987 song by the Georgia Satellites
“Let It All Hang Out” – 2009 song by Weezer
“Let the Good Times Roll” – 1978 song by The Cars
“Life in the Fast Lane” – 1976 song by The Eagles
“Listen to Your Heart” – 1988 song by Roxette
“One Way or Another” – 1979 song by Blondie
“Only the Good Die Young” – 1977 song by Billy Joel
“Point of No Return” – 1977 song by Kansas
“Race Against Time” – 1987 song by U2
“Same Old Song and Dance” – 1974 song by Aerosmith
“Should’ve Known Better” – 2026 song by the Beaches
“Takes One to Know One” – 2025 song by the Beaches
“The Best Is Yet to Come” – 1959 song by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
“The First Cut Is the Deepest” – 1967 song by Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow, and others
“Too Close for Comfort” – 1956 song by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“Too Much Time on My Hands” – 1981 song by Styx
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – 1974 song by Bachman Turner Overdrive
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – 1969 song by The Rolling Stones
“You Only Live Once” – 2006 song by The Strokes
“What Can I Say” – 2005 song by Brandi Carlile
“What Do I Know” – 2025 song by Deep Sea Diver
“Wish You Were Here” – 1975 song by Pink Floyd
“Working for the Weekend” – 1981 by Loverboy
“Wrapped Around Your Finger” – 1983 song by The Police
SOURCES:
- personal knowledge
- reddit.com
- http://www.google.com
- en.wikipedia.org
-
40+ Common expressions that became great song titles
Listed below are 40 common expressions that have become great song titles over the years. They are presented in alphabetical order. The songs shown date from 1955 to 2026. Feel free to pass along any others that you may know.
Peace!
“Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – 1959 song by Dean Martin
“Ain’t That a Shame” – 1955 song by Fats Domino and in 1979 by Cheap Trick
“Another One Bites the Dust” – 1980 song by Queen
“Asking for a Friend” – 2025 song by Foo Fighters
“Back of My Hand” – 2025 song by Belair Lip Bombs and 2005 song by The Rolling Stones
“Beating Around the Bush” – 1977 song by AC/DC
“Can We Still Be Friends” – 1978 song by Todd Rundgren
“Come As You Are” – 1991 song by Nirvana
“Cry Me a River” – 1955 song recorded by multiple artists
“Fight Fire with Fire” – song by multiple artists including Metallica
“Get On the Ball” – 1992 song by No Doubt
“God Only Knows” – 1966 song by The Beach Boys
“Good Help Is So Hard to Find” – 2014 song by DCFC
“Hanging Out to Dry” – 2026 song by Florence Road
“Hit the Road Jack” – 1960 song by Ray Charles
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – 1966 song by Marvin Gaye
“If It Makes You Happy” – 1996 song by Sheryl Crow
“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” – 1987 song by the Georgia Satellites
“Let It All Hang Out” – 2009 song by Weezer
“Let the Good Times Roll” – 1978 song by The Cars
“Life in the Fast Lane” – 1976 song by The Eagles
“Listen to Your Heart” – 1988 song by Roxette
“One Way or Another” – 1979 song by Blondie
“Only the Good Die Young” – 1977 song by Billy Joel
“Point of No Return” – 1977 song by Kansas
“Race Against Time” – 1987 song by U2
“Same Old Song and Dance” – 1974 song by Aerosmith
“Should’ve Known Better” – 2026 song by the Beaches
“Takes One to Know One” – 2025 song by the Beaches
“The Best Is Yet to Come” – 1959 song by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
“The First Cut Is the Deepest” – 1967 song by Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow, and others
“Too Close for Comfort” – 1956 song by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“Too Much Time on My Hands” – 1981 song by Styx
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – 1974 song by Bachman Turner Overdrive
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – 1969 song by The Rolling Stones
“You Only Live Once” – 2006 song by The Strokes
“What Can I Say” – 2005 song by Brandi Carlile
“What Do I Know” – 2025 song by Deep Sea Diver
“Wish You Were Here” – 1975 song by Pink Floyd
“Working for the Weekend” – 1981 by Loverboy
“Wrapped Around Your Finger” – 1983 song by The Police
SOURCES:
- personal knowledge
- reddit.com
- http://www.google.com
- en.wikipedia.org
-
40+ Common expressions that became great song titles
Listed below are 40 common expressions that have become great song titles over the years. They are presented in alphabetical order. The songs shown date from 1955 to 2026. Feel free to pass along any others that you may know.
Peace!
“Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – 1959 song by Dean Martin
“Ain’t That a Shame” – 1955 song by Fats Domino and in 1979 by Cheap Trick
“Another One Bites the Dust” – 1980 song by Queen
“Asking for a Friend” – 2025 song by Foo Fighters
“Back of My Hand” – 2025 song by Belair Lip Bombs and 2005 song by The Rolling Stones
“Beating Around the Bush” – 1977 song by AC/DC
“Can We Still Be Friends” – 1978 song by Todd Rundgren
“Come As You Are” – 1991 song by Nirvana
“Cry Me a River” – 1955 song recorded by multiple artists
“Fight Fire with Fire” – song by multiple artists including Metallica
“Get On the Ball” – 1992 song by No Doubt
“God Only Knows” – 1966 song by The Beach Boys
“Good Help Is So Hard to Find” – 2014 song by DCFC
“Hanging Out to Dry” – 2026 song by Florence Road
“Hit the Road Jack” – 1960 song by Ray Charles
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – 1966 song by Marvin Gaye
“If It Makes You Happy” – 1996 song by Sheryl Crow
“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” – 1987 song by the Georgia Satellites
“Let It All Hang Out” – 2009 song by Weezer
“Let the Good Times Roll” – 1978 song by The Cars
“Life in the Fast Lane” – 1976 song by The Eagles
“Listen to Your Heart” – 1988 song by Roxette
“One Way or Another” – 1979 song by Blondie
“Only the Good Die Young” – 1977 song by Billy Joel
“Point of No Return” – 1977 song by Kansas
“Race Against Time” – 1987 song by U2
“Same Old Song and Dance” – 1974 song by Aerosmith
“Should’ve Known Better” – 2026 song by the Beaches
“Takes One to Know One” – 2025 song by the Beaches
“The Best Is Yet to Come” – 1959 song by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
“The First Cut Is the Deepest” – 1967 song by Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow, and others
“Too Close for Comfort” – 1956 song by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“Too Much Time on My Hands” – 1981 song by Styx
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – 1974 song by Bachman Turner Overdrive
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – 1969 song by The Rolling Stones
“You Only Live Once” – 2006 song by The Strokes
“What Can I Say” – 2005 song by Brandi Carlile
“What Do I Know” – 2025 song by Deep Sea Diver
“Wish You Were Here” – 1975 song by Pink Floyd
“Working for the Weekend” – 1981 by Loverboy
“Wrapped Around Your Finger” – 1983 song by The Police
SOURCES:
- personal knowledge
- reddit.com
- http://www.google.com
- en.wikipedia.org
-
40+ Common expressions that became great song titles
Listed below are 40 common expressions that have become great song titles over the years. They are presented in alphabetical order. The songs shown date from 1955 to 2026. Feel free to pass along any others that you may know.
Peace!
“Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – 1959 song by Dean Martin
“Ain’t That a Shame” – 1955 song by Fats Domino and in 1979 by Cheap Trick
“Another One Bites the Dust” – 1980 song by Queen
“Asking for a Friend” – 2025 song by Foo Fighters
“Back of My Hand” – 2025 song by Belair Lip Bombs and 2005 song by The Rolling Stones
“Beating Around the Bush” – 1977 song by AC/DC
“Can We Still Be Friends” – 1978 song by Todd Rundgren
“Come As You Are” – 1991 song by Nirvana
“Cry Me a River” – 1955 song recorded by multiple artists
“Fight Fire with Fire” – song by multiple artists including Metallica
“Get On the Ball” – 1992 song by No Doubt
“God Only Knows” – 1966 song by The Beach Boys
“Good Help Is So Hard to Find” – 2014 song by DCFC
“Hanging Out to Dry” – 2026 song by Florence Road
“Hit the Road Jack” – 1960 song by Ray Charles
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – 1967 song by Gladys Knight and the Pips and 1968 release by Marvin Gaye
“If It Makes You Happy” – 1996 song by Sheryl Crow
“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” – 1987 song by the Georgia Satellites
“Let It All Hang Out” – 2009 song by Weezer
“Let the Good Times Roll” – 1978 song by The Cars
“Life in the Fast Lane” – 1976 song by The Eagles
“Listen to Your Heart” – 1988 song by Roxette
“One Way or Another” – 1979 song by Blondie
“Only the Good Die Young” – 1978 song by Billy Joel
“Point of No Return” – 1977 song by Kansas
“Race Against Time” – 1987 song by U2
“Same Old Song and Dance” – 1974 song by Aerosmith
“Should’ve Known Better” – 2026 song by the Beaches
“Takes One to Know One” – 2025 song by the Beaches
“The Best Is Yet to Come” – 1959 song by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
“The First Cut Is the Deepest” – 1967 song by Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow, and others
“Too Close for Comfort” – 1956 song by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“Too Much Time on My Hands” – 1981 song by Styx
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – 1974 song by Bachman Turner Overdrive
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – 1969 song by The Rolling Stones
“You Only Live Once” – 2006 song by The Strokes
“What Can I Say” – 2005 song by Brandi Carlile
“What Do I Know” – 2025 song by Deep Sea Diver
“Wish You Were Here” – 1975 song by Pink Floyd
“Working for the Weekend” – 1981 by Loverboy
“Wrapped Around Your Finger” – 1983 song by The Police
SOURCES:
- personal knowledge
- reddit.com
- http://www.google.com
- en.wikipedia.org
-
40+ Common expressions that became great song titles
Listed below are 40 common expressions that have become great song titles over the years. They are presented in alphabetical order. The songs shown date from 1955 to 2026. Feel free to pass along any others that you may know.
Peace!
“Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – 1959 song by Dean Martin
“Ain’t That a Shame” – 1955 song by Fats Domino and in 1979 by Cheap Trick
“Another One Bites the Dust” – 1980 song by Queen
“Asking for a Friend” – 2025 song by Foo Fighters
“Back of My Hand” – 2025 song by Belair Lip Bombs and 2005 song by The Rolling Stones
“Beating Around the Bush” – 1977 song by AC/DC
“Can We Still Be Friends” – 1978 song by Todd Rundgren
“Come As You Are” – 1991 song by Nirvana
“Cry Me a River” – 1955 song recorded by multiple artists
“Fight Fire with Fire” – song by multiple artists including Metallica
“Get On the Ball” – 1992 song by No Doubt
“God Only Knows” – 1966 song by The Beach Boys
“Good Help Is So Hard to Find” – 2014 song by DCFC
“Hanging Out to Dry” – 2026 song by Florence Road
“Hit the Road Jack” – 1960 song by Ray Charles
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – 1967 song by Gladys Knight and the Pips and 1968 release by Marvin Gaye
“If It Makes You Happy” – 1996 song by Sheryl Crow
“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” – 1987 song by the Georgia Satellites
“Let It All Hang Out” – 2009 song by Weezer
“Let the Good Times Roll” – 1978 song by The Cars
“Life in the Fast Lane” – 1976 song by The Eagles
“Listen to Your Heart” – 1988 song by Roxette
“One Way or Another” – 1979 song by Blondie
“Only the Good Die Young” – 1978 song by Billy Joel
“Point of No Return” – 1977 song by Kansas
“Race Against Time” – 1987 song by U2
“Same Old Song and Dance” – 1974 song by Aerosmith
“Should’ve Known Better” – 2026 song by the Beaches
“Takes One to Know One” – 2025 song by the Beaches
“The Best Is Yet to Come” – 1959 song by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
“The First Cut Is the Deepest” – 1967 song by Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow, and others
“Too Close for Comfort” – 1956 song by Sammy Davis, Jr.
“Too Much Time on My Hands” – 1981 song by Styx
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – 1974 song by Bachman Turner Overdrive
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – 1969 song by The Rolling Stones
“You Only Live Once” – 2006 song by The Strokes
“What Can I Say” – 2005 song by Brandi Carlile
“What Do I Know” – 2025 song by Deep Sea Diver
“Wish You Were Here” – 1975 song by Pink Floyd
“Working for the Weekend” – 1981 by Loverboy
“Wrapped Around Your Finger” – 1983 song by The Police
SOURCES:
- personal knowledge
- reddit.com
- http://www.google.com
- en.wikipedia.org
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Love yourself
Something that is quite obvious to me was quoted by a Master of Corporal skills
Do not ever speak negatively about yourself, not even as a joke.
Your corpus does not differentiate between jokes and truth on this energetic level.Words emit energy and they do eminate spells. The skill of seperating words in elements is called spelling for a good reasons!
Change the way you speak about yourself and you shall change your life.
#Words #of #wisdom #WordsOfWisdom #Motivation #motivational #phrases
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Love yourself
Something that is quite obvious to me was quoted by a Master of Corporal skills
Do not ever speak negatively about yourself, not even as a joke.
Your corpus does not differentiate between jokes and truth on this energetic level.Words emit energy and they do eminate spells. The skill of seperating words in elements is called spelling for a good reasons!
Change the way you speak about yourself and you shall change your life.
#Words #of #wisdom #WordsOfWisdom #Motivation #motivational #phrases
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Love yourself
Something that is quite obvious to me was quoted by a Master of Corporal skills
Do not ever speak negatively about yourself, not even as a joke.
Your corpus does not differentiate between jokes and truth on this energetic level.Words emit energy and they do eminate spells. The skill of seperating words in elements is called spelling for a good reasons!
Change the way you speak about yourself and you shall change your life.
#Words #of #wisdom #WordsOfWisdom #Motivation #motivational #phrases
-
Love yourself
Something that is quite obvious to me was quoted by a Master of Corporal skills
Do not ever speak negatively about yourself, not even as a joke.
Your corpus does not differentiate between jokes and truth on this energetic level.Words emit energy and they do eminate spells. The skill of seperating words in elements is called spelling for a good reasons!
Change the way you speak about yourself and you shall change your life.
#Words #of #wisdom #WordsOfWisdom #Motivation #motivational #phrases
-
Love yourself
Something that is quite obvious to me was quoted by a Master of Corporal skills
Do not ever speak negatively about yourself, not even as a joke.
Your corpus does not differentiate between jokes and truth on this energetic level.Words emit energy and they do eminate spells. The skill of seperating words in elements is called spelling for a good reasons!
Change the way you speak about yourself and you shall change your life.
#Words #of #wisdom #WordsOfWisdom #Motivation #motivational #phrases
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Fun to see the Irish idiom "make a hames of" in a national news headline: https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0417/1568809-odonovan-protests/
I wrote about the expression in 2012: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/making-a-hames-of-it/
#language #IrishEnglish #dialect #idioms #phrases #words #blogpost
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Fun to see the Irish idiom "make a hames of" in a national news headline: https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0417/1568809-odonovan-protests/
I wrote about the expression in 2012: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/making-a-hames-of-it/
#language #IrishEnglish #dialect #idioms #phrases #words #blogpost
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Fun to see the Irish idiom "make a hames of" in a national news headline: https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0417/1568809-odonovan-protests/
I wrote about the expression in 2012: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/making-a-hames-of-it/
#language #IrishEnglish #dialect #idioms #phrases #words #blogpost
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Fun to see the Irish idiom "make a hames of" in a national news headline: https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0417/1568809-odonovan-protests/
I wrote about the expression in 2012: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/making-a-hames-of-it/
#language #IrishEnglish #dialect #idioms #phrases #words #blogpost
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Fun to see the Irish idiom "make a hames of" in a national news headline: https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0417/1568809-odonovan-protests/
I wrote about the expression in 2012: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/making-a-hames-of-it/
#language #IrishEnglish #dialect #idioms #phrases #words #blogpost
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Oh, I think I just realised what people mean when they say ‘have your cake and eat it too’. :gutkato_surprizita:
They probably mean eating your cake and having your (uneaten) cake in your possession, both at once, which is impossible. :gutkato_datreveno:
To me it always sounded like you get a cake and then you eat it, which is much less impossible. I mean, if you have a cake, then you are most likely going to eat it, and if you are eating cake, then of course you need to have cake. You could give someone cake and not let them eat it, but why would you do that? Who does that?! Really, the phrasing is just needlessly confusing! :gutkato_kapturniĝas:
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Oh, I think I just realised what people mean when they say ‘have your cake and eat it too’. :gutkato_surprizita:
They probably mean eating your cake and having your (uneaten) cake in your possession, both at once, which is impossible. :gutkato_datreveno:
To me it always sounded like you get a cake and then you eat it, which is much less impossible. I mean, if you have a cake, then you are most likely going to eat it, and if you are eating cake, then of course you need to have cake. You could give someone cake and not let them eat it, but why would you do that? Who does that?! Really, the phrasing is just needlessly confusing! :gutkato_kapturniĝas:
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Oh, I think I just realised what people mean when they say ‘have your cake and eat it too’. :gutkato_surprizita:
They probably mean eating your cake and having your (uneaten) cake in your possession, both at once, which is impossible. :gutkato_datreveno:
To me it always sounded like you get a cake and then you eat it, which is much less impossible. I mean, if you have a cake, then you are most likely going to eat it, and if you are eating cake, then of course you need to have cake. You could give someone cake and not let them eat it, but why would you do that? Who does that?! Really, the phrasing is just needlessly confusing! :gutkato_kapturniĝas:
-
Oh, I think I just realised what people mean when they say ‘have your cake and eat it too’. :gutkato_surprizita:
They probably mean eating your cake and having your (uneaten) cake in your possession, both at once, which is impossible. :gutkato_datreveno:
To me it always sounded like you get a cake and then you eat it, which is much less impossible. I mean, if you have a cake, then you are most likely going to eat it, and if you are eating cake, then of course you need to have cake. You could give someone cake and not let them eat it, but why would you do that? Who does that?! Really, the phrasing is just needlessly confusing! :gutkato_kapturniĝas:
-
Oh, I think I just realised what people mean when they say ‘have your cake and eat it too’. :gutkato_surprizita:
They probably mean eating your cake and having your (uneaten) cake in your possession, both at once, which is impossible. :gutkato_datreveno:
To me it always sounded like you get a cake and then you eat it, which is much less impossible. I mean, if you have a cake, then you are most likely going to eat it, and if you are eating cake, then of course you need to have cake. You could give someone cake and not let them eat it, but why would you do that? Who does that?! Really, the phrasing is just needlessly confusing! :gutkato_kapturniĝas:
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Top ten posts in March 2026 https://library.hrmtc.com/2026/04/01/top-ten-posts-in-march-2026/ #AA #Abaddon #abominableCrime #absolute #accordingToTheFashion #advancedMagician #albertusMagnus #Alchemy #aleisterCrowley #american #AmericanWitch #anneRice #archivalFinds #artsClub #astralProject #astralProjection #babalon #barriersToEntry #basicPrinciples #basicTraining #basisOfMagic #BehmenistPrinciples #BehmenistThought #beliefs #bend #berlin #bestTen #blinderWearingSheep #blood #body #BrianJGibbons #cabala #ceremonialMagic #chatbot #class #colinWilson #consciousness #consecration #conspiracy #conspiracyTheories #CosmicEvilToys #cosmologicalConcerns #Craft #culturalCurrents #dailyPractice #DanielMitsui #DavidConway #destroying #diary #earlyModernPeriod #edit #elements #endeavours #EricaMCornelius #esotericSociety #esotericTraditions #esotericists #everyWord #everydayLife #Expression #failures #fatalResults #FelixJohnTaylor #follow #FoucaultSPendulum #FranzKafka #Fraterאוהבהנו #freemasons #FrenchOccult #FrenchSecretService #GastonDeMengel #gender #goldenAge #gospel #GreenDragon #HeinrichHimmler #hermeticism #holyMountain #human #IkeVil #imaginativeExploration #inform #intelligenceOperators #interfereWith #JEdwardCornelius #jacobBoehme #journeyToTheEast #KaAba #kabbalah #Khabs #Khu #kill #lam #life #literaryArts #literaryHistory #livedExperiences #london #LuciferianSalons #magic #magicArts #magicalAlphabets #magicalPractice #magicalRecipes #magicalTheory #magicalTraining #makeItLogical #man #March2026 #MariaDeNaglowska #MarshallWSL #masonicLodges #mechanicalOracle #memories #mercilessly #modernMagic #modernWitch #moralStatus #mostIntense #mysteries #mysticalThought #narrativeHistory #naturalLaw #NaziMysteries #NaziMysticism #Nu #obscureSources #obsessions #occult #occultRevival #occultThought #occultUnderground #occultism #occultist #offeredUp #ohevHanu #OnSexualFreedom #philosophy #phrases #poetry #Polaires #politicalSchisms #practicalMagic #primer #progressiveIdeals #realities #religion #religiousValues #reneGuenon #ritualEquipment #RomanticNotion #sacredSong #saints #sanctuary #satan #secretSociety #Self #seminalWork #seriousStudent #sex #sexScandals #sexualIdeology #sexualNature #sexuality #societyOfWriters #soul #spellcraft #spiritualEnlightenment #story #strangerThanFiction #study #subconsciousness #successes #summary #summaryOfTheMonth #supremeSacrament #supremelySacred #tablesOfCorrespondences #talismanicMagicAndProphecy #tarot #teachings #temple #terms #TheAlchemist #theHermeticOrderOfTheGoldenDawn #TheRevivalOfMagickAndOtherEssays #thelema #ThelemicPath #ThelemicPhilosophy #ThelemicPractice #ThelemicStudy #Thelemite #ThomasAquinas #timingOfRituals #toTheSoul #topPosts #topTen #traditional #traditions #tryToEdit #UmbertoEco #unbelievableClaims #Victorian #VictorianSexuality #VisualArts #WBYeats #waterItDown #whiteLighters #whoSWho #wicca #will #WilliamBlake #witch #womanhood #women #worthy #yourOwnSoul -
Top ten posts in March 2026 https://library.hrmtc.com/2026/04/01/top-ten-posts-in-march-2026/ #AA #Abaddon #abominableCrime #absolute #accordingToTheFashion #advancedMagician #albertusMagnus #Alchemy #aleisterCrowley #american #AmericanWitch #anneRice #archivalFinds #artsClub #astralProject #astralProjection #babalon #barriersToEntry #basicPrinciples #basicTraining #basisOfMagic #BehmenistPrinciples #BehmenistThought #beliefs #bend #berlin #bestTen #blinderWearingSheep #blood #body #BrianJGibbons #cabala #ceremonialMagic #chatbot #class #colinWilson #consciousness #consecration #conspiracy #conspiracyTheories #CosmicEvilToys #cosmologicalConcerns #Craft #culturalCurrents #dailyPractice #DanielMitsui #DavidConway #destroying #diary #earlyModernPeriod #edit #elements #endeavours #EricaMCornelius #esotericSociety #esotericTraditions #esotericists #everyWord #everydayLife #Expression #failures #fatalResults #FelixJohnTaylor #follow #FoucaultSPendulum #FranzKafka #Fraterאוהבהנו #freemasons #FrenchOccult #FrenchSecretService #GastonDeMengel #gender #goldenAge #gospel #GreenDragon #HeinrichHimmler #hermeticism #holyMountain #human #IkeVil #imaginativeExploration #inform #intelligenceOperators #interfereWith #JEdwardCornelius #jacobBoehme #journeyToTheEast #KaAba #kabbalah #Khabs #Khu #kill #lam #life #literaryArts #literaryHistory #livedExperiences #london #LuciferianSalons #magic #magicArts #magicalAlphabets #magicalPractice #magicalRecipes #magicalTheory #magicalTraining #makeItLogical #man #March2026 #MariaDeNaglowska #MarshallWSL #masonicLodges #mechanicalOracle #memories #mercilessly #modernMagic #modernWitch #moralStatus #mostIntense #mysteries #mysticalThought #narrativeHistory #naturalLaw #NaziMysteries #NaziMysticism #Nu #obscureSources #obsessions #occult #occultRevival #occultThought #occultUnderground #occultism #occultist #offeredUp #ohevHanu #OnSexualFreedom #philosophy #phrases #poetry #Polaires #politicalSchisms #practicalMagic #primer #progressiveIdeals #realities #religion #religiousValues #reneGuenon #ritualEquipment #RomanticNotion #sacredSong #saints #sanctuary #satan #secretSociety #Self #seminalWork #seriousStudent #sex #sexScandals #sexualIdeology #sexualNature #sexuality #societyOfWriters #soul #spellcraft #spiritualEnlightenment #story #strangerThanFiction #study #subconsciousness #successes #summary #summaryOfTheMonth #supremeSacrament #supremelySacred #tablesOfCorrespondences #talismanicMagicAndProphecy #tarot #teachings #temple #terms #TheAlchemist #theHermeticOrderOfTheGoldenDawn #TheRevivalOfMagickAndOtherEssays #thelema #ThelemicPath #ThelemicPhilosophy #ThelemicPractice #ThelemicStudy #Thelemite #ThomasAquinas #timingOfRituals #toTheSoul #topPosts #topTen #traditional #traditions #tryToEdit #UmbertoEco #unbelievableClaims #Victorian #VictorianSexuality #VisualArts #WBYeats #waterItDown #whiteLighters #whoSWho #wicca #will #WilliamBlake #witch #womanhood #women #worthy #yourOwnSoul -
Saw this sentence with both the Irish English "give out" and a standardized-English "give out":
"The banks often give out¹ that the rules are too tight and they can’t give out² the money people need."
¹ complain
² issue, distributeSource and commentary: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/giving-out-irish-style/
#language #dialect #idioms #IrishEnglish #EnglishUsage #phrases
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Saw this sentence with both the Irish English "give out" and a standardized-English "give out":
"The banks often give out¹ that the rules are too tight and they can’t give out² the money people need."
¹ complain
² issue, distributeSource and commentary: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/giving-out-irish-style/
#language #dialect #idioms #IrishEnglish #EnglishUsage #phrases
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Saw this sentence with both the Irish English "give out" and a standardized-English "give out":
"The banks often give out¹ that the rules are too tight and they can’t give out² the money people need."
¹ complain
² issue, distributeSource and commentary: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/giving-out-irish-style/
#language #dialect #idioms #IrishEnglish #EnglishUsage #phrases
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Saw this sentence with both the Irish English "give out" and a standardized-English "give out":
"The banks often give out¹ that the rules are too tight and they can’t give out² the money people need."
¹ complain
² issue, distributeSource and commentary: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/giving-out-irish-style/
#language #dialect #idioms #IrishEnglish #EnglishUsage #phrases
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Saw this sentence with both the Irish English "give out" and a standardized-English "give out":
"The banks often give out¹ that the rules are too tight and they can’t give out² the money people need."
¹ complain
² issue, distributeSource and commentary: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/giving-out-irish-style/
#language #dialect #idioms #IrishEnglish #EnglishUsage #phrases
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Lyrical / contextual / regional / accuracy question:
If I use the phrase "gone off my/her head" in song lyrics as a person from Kansas, USA, is that going to be incomprehensibly British to my "average" listener (which is zero people, I know that, ok, I just crave CLARITY) or at best seem pretentious and jarringly out of place / context?Yea, yea, I know. Who cares.
I care about these things.
There's no excuse for sloppiness or ineffability just for the sake of "cleverness."
#songwriting #lyrics #slang #dialect #phrases #gone-off-her-head #writing #regional #language -
Lyrical / contextual / regional / accuracy question:
If I use the phrase "gone off my/her head" in song lyrics as a person from Kansas, USA, is that going to be incomprehensibly British to my "average" listener (which is zero people, I know that, ok, I just crave CLARITY) or at best seem pretentious and jarringly out of place / context?Yea, yea, I know. Who cares.
I care about these things.
There's no excuse for sloppiness or ineffability just for the sake of "cleverness."
#songwriting #lyrics #slang #dialect #phrases #gone-off-her-head #writing #regional #language -
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
And . . . Do Those Sheep Hallucinate Bullshit?
(AI Detective FAILS for Your Consideration)
AI, Reddit, and countless website “facts” pundits: Prepared to exonerate the next serial killer to roam free, while dumbing the world down gigahertz a second!Who is running this Artificial Intelligence? This Fatuous Forensic Criminology? This Whole Worldwide Factoid News Media?
May God Allied Mastercomputer help us!
I don’t want to hear any of the crap from the tech apologists who are going to cry, “Oh, that’s not AI; that’s just glorified autocomplete!”
Your problem, not mine.
If it’s calling itself “AI” or the humans who designed it have labeled it, “AI” – as you can clearly witness from the screen captures – then I judge it as AI.
So . . .FAIL!
. . . Next!
. . . Another killer on the loose . . .
#AI #AI #allen #analysis #analyzed #arthur #ArtificialIntelligence #autocomplete #benicia #biological #ChatGPT #circumstantial #clear #cleared #clears #collocation #comparison #compelling #contractions #DeepLearning #detective #dialect #diction #DNA #evidence #exclude #excluded #excludes #exclusion #fail #failure #fingerprint #Forensic #gaviota #generative #Google #handwriting #idiolect #inconclusive #largeLanguageModel #lee #leigh #linguist #linguistics #link #LLM #murder #Napa #NaturalLanguageProcessing #NLP #phraseology #phrases #physical #Reddit #Riverside #SanFrancisco #serial #solution #spelling #style #Vallejo #writing #ZodiacKiller -
"Platty joobs", "genny lec", "menty b" & co.: I wrote about this British slang fad
https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/dont-have-a-menty-b-about-this-bloggy-p/#slang #language #words #phrases #hun #linguistics #wordplay
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"Platty joobs", "genny lec", "menty b" & co.: I wrote about this British slang fad
https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/dont-have-a-menty-b-about-this-bloggy-p/#slang #language #words #phrases #hun #linguistics #wordplay
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"Platty joobs", "genny lec", "menty b" & co.: I wrote about this British slang fad
https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/dont-have-a-menty-b-about-this-bloggy-p/#slang #language #words #phrases #hun #linguistics #wordplay
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"Platty joobs", "genny lec", "menty b" & co.: I wrote about this British slang fad
https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/dont-have-a-menty-b-about-this-bloggy-p/#slang #language #words #phrases #hun #linguistics #wordplay
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"Platty joobs", "genny lec", "menty b" & co.: I wrote about this British slang fad
https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/dont-have-a-menty-b-about-this-bloggy-p/#slang #language #words #phrases #hun #linguistics #wordplay
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Don’t have a menty b about this bloggy p
An open linguistic question was raised recently on Bluesky by Darach Ó Séaghdha: What do we call those cutesie slang phrases that have become productive in the UK lately, like genny lec for ‘general election’ and menty b for ‘mental breakdown’?
In response I wrote a short thread, which I already disagree with. So I’ll pick up the discussion here on Sentence first, where there’s more room, it’s easier to find, and it’s probably less ephemeral than on social media.
We can show this linguistic fad as having two main stereotyped patterns or formulas, which overlap morphologically. For type 1, we take a word or short phrase, clip (i.e., truncate, abbreviate) the first stressed syllable, add a y-suffix, and reduce the next word or stressed syllable to its initial letter:
mental breakdown → menty b
nervous breakdown → nervy b
a hundred percent → hundy p
tomato ketchup → tommy k
sauvignon blanc → savvy b
ChatGPT → chatty g
lockdown → locky d
pandemic → panny d
Clapham Junction → Clappy JFor type 2, we clip the first stressed syllable, add a y-suffix (same as type 1 so far), clip the next word or stressed syllable, and, optionally, add an s-suffix:
general election → genny lec/lex
cost of living / cost-of-living crisis → cozzy/cozzie livs
platinum jubilee → platty jubes/joobs
king’s coronation → corrie nash
bank holiday → banny hols
state funeral → statey funesYou may not have seen or heard any of these. They’re still fairly restricted demographically, and are perhaps more spoken than written – and written only in very informal contexts – but if you search for them you’ll find examples.
I’m sure a linguist could formulate them better, but you get the idea. There’s minor variation, but there are clear core patterns. And a phrase can sometimes fit either type: panny dems and platty j also work and indeed are in use. How fun or satisfying they are to say is likely also a factor.
When a phrase can’t go either way, it may be because the result is semantically opaque or ambiguous, e.g., menty breaks suggests mental break(s) more than mental breakdown. Type 1s seem not to favour initial letters with zero onset (i.e., starting with a vowel sound): no cozzy ells or statey effs. But the sample size is small, so that may not hold up.
‘Have you heard the phrase “genny lec”?’ BBC vox pop, 2 July 2024
So what exactly is this phenomenon?
It’s slang and wordplay, for starters – but of a specific kind. The repeated formula (multiple clipping + y– or s-suffixation) made me wonder at first if it’s a snowclone – a kind of phrasal template that’s customizable for reuse (X is the new Y; X 2.0). But a snowclone needs to be a cliché first, and that’s not the case here.
The formula is productive, though – you can coin these phrases at will, as @matthewcba does in a TikTok video with the comically improbable mitty circs ‘mitigating circumstances’. (The video also includes simple clippings like Ab Fab and profesh.)
In the UK Independent in August 2024, Madeline Sherratt referred to the pattern as ‘cringe lingua’ and cited slang expert Tony Thorne’s belief that it
derives from the online “hun” generation – a subculture lampooned on Mumsnet that runs rampant with the frivolous and facetious use of “gorg” and “mwah” when typing furiously on WhatsApp – an etymological by-product of the “live, laugh, love” philosophy.
It extends to the humble “jackie p” (jacket potato) with a squirt of “tommy k” (tomato ketchup) on top – a money-saving meal when everything is so “spenny” (expensive) . . .
Such phrases are attributed to this broadly millennial subculture, which involves making silly jokes online. Those who subscribe to it, Thorne says, tend to be white, young, and upper-working-class to lower-middle-class women.
He said: “The online phrases such as ‘platty jubes’ and ‘savvy b’ mock the formal language that oppresses us, and we see this with young people when they move into the world of work and professionalism.”
Hun culture is something I was only marginally aware of. But I’m not surprised the fashion is driven by young women, given their place at the vanguard of so much linguistic innovation. The examples I’ve listed are all relatively new, as far as I know, but there are plenty of forerunners from various domains, including personal names.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was popularly known as Jackie O. Mickey D’s (Maccy D’s, etc.) for McDonald’s emerged in the 1970s as US Black and campus slang. An Aussie was reported on Bluesky to have called Christmas decorations ‘Chrissie Decs’ in the 1990s. Sunny Delight rebranded as SunnyD decades ago. Okey-doke has been dated to the 1930s. I’m sure you can think of others.
The recent wave of phrases are from a particular, interrelated set of sources, say the linguists who’ve researched them. Christian Ilbury confirmed to me that some are from or are associated with hun culture in the UK; his 2022 paper ‘U Ok Hun?: The digital commodification of white woman style’ includes examples of the type discussed here, including cocky t’s ‘cocktails’.
Pavel Iosad told me that his colleague Patrick Honeybone
has studied a version of pattern 2 in Liverpool (truncation + y-suffixation + some segmental effects, eg Sefton Park > Sevvy) and he dubbed it (Scouse) diddification, which I think is a glorious name that we should adopt.
Honeybone also refers to the process as ‘diddificating truncation’, alluding again to P. Diddy, and provides a one-page summary here [edit: see my update at the bottom]. At first I thought another rapper, Cardi B, fitted the pattern, but that name is a reworking of Bacardi.
The UK may be the hotspot of this slang, but Australians, as we’ve seen, are also on board. They do love their clippings and hypocorisms. Cozzie livs was Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year in 2023, and I recently saw an Australian call the tennis player Elena Rybakina ‘Lenny Baks’, a great example that shows the name’s stress pattern.
Some people find these phrases twee, stupid, or insensitive. Even the Financial Times said that cozzie livs ‘only compounds the misery’ of the cost-of-living crisis. Some of the phrases may aim, in part, to make light of difficult or stressful subjects, to dull or reclaim their power. This is a specialty of slang. But they won’t win everyone over, and that, too, is as it should be.
In January 2023, Serena Smith’s ‘investy g’ for Dazed magazine tied them to a literary tradition of creative silliness, citing Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. Sincere use of these phrases ‘misses a crucial element’, she wrote; ‘the cringiness, the tackiness, the ridiculousness is part of the fun’.
I neither love nor loathe them. I’d never used them, even ironically, until this blog post, this bloggy p, but I find them interesting as wordplay. I’d love to hear ideas for what to call them, how else they might be categorized, or how they relate to patterns already formally described or informally conceived (e.g., as a subset of hun lingo).
Suggestions in the replies to Gretchen McCulloch’s post on Bluesky include childish abbreviations or chilly abs, nicky Ns or nicky ens (for ‘nicknames’), clippy comps, and extended hypocoristics. Of these I like Erik Wennstrom’s clippy comps best. A clipped compound could be psyops or sitcom, but clippy comps shows more precisely (because self-referentially) what it refers to. Clippy c’s could be used for type 1.
Another route is to use a popular or prototypical example to refer synecdochically to the set, much as Brianne Hughes uses cutthroats or cutthroat compounds as shorthand for agentive and instrumental exocentric verb-noun (V-N) compounds. This would give us menty b compounds, genny lec phrases, or some such term.
Don’t have a nervy b about it, but if the slang sticks around and there’s a good term for it, it might eventually end up in an esteemed dictionary like Merry Dubs or the Oxy D.
A viral tweet in January 2023 from Depop Drama, now DM Drama, that helped popularize “cozzie livs”.
Update:
A few readers have pointed out that diddification is more likely a reference to Liverpool comedian and entertainer Ken Dodd and his Diddymen puppets, and (having read up on it) I agree. I’ve emailed Honeybone for confirmation and will edit this note when I hear back.
Diddy is a vernacular word for small, probably a nursery pronunciation of little. There’s no entry for this sense in the English Dialect Dictionary, but Wiktionary has a citation from a ballad in 1894 – comfortably antedating the OED’s first citation, from Dodd himself, in 1963.
#affixation #BritishSlang #clippings #cozzieLivs #etymology #gennyLec #gennyLex #humour #hun #hunCulture #hypocorisms #language #linguistics #mentyB #phrases #plattyJoobs #slang #wordplay -
Don’t have a menty b about this bloggy p
An open linguistic question was raised recently on Bluesky by Darach Ó Séaghdha: What do we call those cutesie slang phrases that have become productive in the UK lately, like genny lec for ‘general election’ and menty b for ‘mental breakdown’?
In response I wrote a short thread, which I already disagree with. So I’ll pick up the discussion here on Sentence first, where there’s more room, it’s easier to find, and it’s probably less ephemeral than on social media.
We can show this linguistic fad as having two main stereotyped patterns or formulas, which overlap morphologically. For type 1, we take a word or short phrase, clip (i.e., truncate, abbreviate) the first stressed syllable, add a y-suffix, and reduce the next word or stressed syllable to its initial letter:
mental breakdown → menty b
nervous breakdown → nervy b
a hundred percent → hundy p
tomato ketchup → tommy k
sauvignon blanc → savvy b
ChatGPT → chatty g
lockdown → locky d
pandemic → panny d
Clapham Junction → Clappy JFor type 2, we clip the first stressed syllable, add a y-suffix (same as type 1 so far), clip the next word or stressed syllable, and, optionally, add an s-suffix:
general election → genny lec/lex
cost of living / cost-of-living crisis → cozzy/cozzie livs
platinum jubilee → platty jubes/joobs
king’s coronation → corrie nash
bank holiday → banny hols
state funeral → statey funesYou may not have seen or heard any of these. They’re still fairly restricted demographically, and are perhaps more spoken than written – and written only in very informal contexts – but if you search for them you’ll find examples.
I’m sure a linguist could formulate them better, but you get the idea. There’s minor variation, but there are clear core patterns. And a phrase can sometimes fit either type: panny dems and platty j also work and indeed are in use. How fun or satisfying they are to say is likely also a factor.
When a phrase can’t go either way, it may be because the result is semantically opaque or ambiguous, e.g., menty breaks suggests mental break(s) more than mental breakdown. Type 1s seem not to favour initial letters with zero onset (i.e., starting with a vowel sound): no cozzy ells or statey effs. But the sample size is small, so that may not hold up.
‘Have you heard the phrase “genny lec”?’ BBC vox pop, 2 July 2024
So what exactly is this phenomenon?
It’s slang and wordplay, for starters – but of a specific kind. The repeated formula (multiple clipping + y– or s-suffixation) made me wonder at first if it’s a snowclone – a kind of phrasal template that’s customizable for reuse (X is the new Y; X 2.0). But a snowclone needs to be a cliché first, and that’s not the case here.
The formula is productive, though – you can coin these phrases at will, as @matthewcba does in a TikTok video with the comically improbable mitty circs ‘mitigating circumstances’. (The video also includes simple clippings like Ab Fab and profesh.)
In the UK Independent in August 2024, Madeline Sherratt referred to the pattern as ‘cringe lingua’ and cited slang expert Tony Thorne’s belief that it
derives from the online “hun” generation – a subculture lampooned on Mumsnet that runs rampant with the frivolous and facetious use of “gorg” and “mwah” when typing furiously on WhatsApp – an etymological by-product of the “live, laugh, love” philosophy.
It extends to the humble “jackie p” (jacket potato) with a squirt of “tommy k” (tomato ketchup) on top – a money-saving meal when everything is so “spenny” (expensive) . . .
Such phrases are attributed to this broadly millennial subculture, which involves making silly jokes online. Those who subscribe to it, Thorne says, tend to be white, young, and upper-working-class to lower-middle-class women.
He said: “The online phrases such as ‘platty jubes’ and ‘savvy b’ mock the formal language that oppresses us, and we see this with young people when they move into the world of work and professionalism.”
Hun culture is something I was only marginally aware of. But I’m not surprised the fashion is driven by young women, given their place at the vanguard of so much linguistic innovation. The examples I’ve listed are all relatively new, as far as I know, but there are plenty of forerunners from various domains, including personal names.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was popularly known as Jackie O. Mickey D’s (Maccy D’s, etc.) for McDonald’s emerged in the 1970s as US Black and campus slang. An Aussie was reported on Bluesky to have called Christmas decorations ‘Chrissie Decs’ in the 1990s. Sunny Delight rebranded as SunnyD decades ago. Okey-doke has been dated to the 1930s. I’m sure you can think of others.
The recent wave of phrases are from a particular, interrelated set of sources, say the linguists who’ve researched them. Christian Ilbury confirmed to me that some are from or are associated with hun culture in the UK; his 2022 paper ‘U Ok Hun?: The digital commodification of white woman style’ includes examples of the type discussed here, including cocky t’s ‘cocktails’.
Pavel Iosad told me that his colleague Patrick Honeybone
has studied a version of pattern 2 in Liverpool (truncation + y-suffixation + some segmental effects, eg Sefton Park > Sevvy) and he dubbed it (Scouse) diddification, which I think is a glorious name that we should adopt.
Honeybone also refers to the process as ‘diddificating truncation’, alluding again to P. Diddy, and provides a one-page summary here. At first I thought another rapper, Cardi B, fitted the pattern, but that name is a reworking of Bacardi.
The UK may be the hotspot of this slang, but Australians, as we’ve seen, are also on board. They do love their clippings and hypocorisms. Cozzie livs was Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year in 2023, and I recently saw an Australian call the tennis player Elena Rybakina ‘Lenny Baks’, a great example that shows the name’s stress pattern.
Some people find these phrases twee, stupid, or insensitive. Even the Financial Times said that cozzie livs ‘only compounds the misery’ of the cost-of-living crisis. Some of the phrases may aim, in part, to make light of difficult or stressful subjects, to dull or reclaim their power. This is a specialty of slang. But they won’t win everyone over, and that, too, is as it should be.
In January 2023, Serena Smith’s ‘investy g’ for Dazed magazine tied them to a literary tradition of creative silliness, citing Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. Sincere use of these phrases ‘misses a crucial element’, she wrote; ‘the cringiness, the tackiness, the ridiculousness is part of the fun’.
I neither love nor loathe them. I’d never used them, even ironically, until this blog post, this bloggy p, but I find them interesting as wordplay. I’d love to hear ideas for what to call them, how else they might be categorized, or how they relate to patterns already formally described or informally conceived (e.g., as a subset of hun lingo).
Suggestions in the replies to Gretchen McCulloch’s post on Bluesky include childish abbreviations or chilly abs, nicky Ns or nicky ens (for ‘nicknames’), clippy comps, and extended hypocoristics. Of these I like Erik Wennstrom’s clippy comps best. A clipped compound could be psyops or sitcom, but clippy comps shows more precisely (because self-referentially) what it refers to. Clippy c’s could be used for type 1.
Another route is to use a popular or prototypical example to refer synecdochically to the set, much as Brianne Hughes uses cutthroats or cutthroat compounds as shorthand for agentive and instrumental exocentric verb-noun (V-N) compounds. This would give us menty b compounds, genny lec phrases, or some such term.
Don’t have a nervy b about it, but if the slang sticks around and there’s a good term for it, it might eventually end up in an esteemed dictionary like Merry Dubs or the Oxy D.
A viral tweet in January 2023 from Depop Drama, now DM Drama, that helped popularize “cozzie livs”.
#affixation #BritishSlang #clippings #cozzieLivs #etymology #gennyLec #gennyLex #humour #hun #hunCulture #hypocorisms #language #linguistics #mentyB #phrases #plattyJoobs #slang #wordplay