Things we don’t like – part two

Glad to see I have my uses….as Flagship’s official curmudgeon. Here are five more pet peeves:

• People who end their sentences with a rising tone (formally, the ‘high rising terminal’) – It’s just about acceptable amongst people under 25 – the poor things probably don’t know they’re doing it – but some of my grizzled contemporaries are now ‘upspeaking’.  My silent squirming will only last so long….
• The seemingly ubiquitous use of the term ‘sea-change’ to describe virtually any significant change in any context.  I’m not sure if Shakespeare coined the phrase (The Tempest – Act 1, Scene 2) but he meant something quite specific, namely a magical transformation ‘into something rich and strange‘.  In short, let’s all use The Bard but we shouldn’t abuse him.
• iPods – I thought they were designed for personal use.  If I can hear these machines then they’re not personal; they’re just yet another manifestation of technology’s contribution to anti-social behaviour.
• ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ – Channel 4 up to its usual tricks – a grotesque peep show masquerading as disinterested social commentary.
• Wagner – Yes, I suppose he has to be in the pantheon, but this tin-eared philistine can’t see what all the fuss is about.  Rossini got it right: “Wagner has wonderful moments and dreadful quarters of an hour” – make that dreadful hours….days….

Can I write about something I like next time?  I’m sure everyone is desperate to read my 10,000 word monograph on American hard and free bop….