TresSugar

How to Stop Your Friends From Saying "That's What She Said"

GiggleSugar — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Television show catchphrases are so easy to quote, and often get an easy laugh. Has any in recent memory been more durable, and yet so annoying, as The Office's "that's what she said"? This video shows one guy's extreme measures at getting his friend to stop using the phrase every chance he got. It's not pretty, but it looks effective.

What's the Most Annoying Corporate Catch Phrase?

GiggleSugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0700

George Orwell once feared for the English language, noting that vague prose, wordiness, and clichés were killing the truth and our souls. Well, he never heard corporate speak! (Click here and here if you're dying for more.) He would have popped a vein if he could hear sentences like, "Moving forward, let's touch base about leveraging our chances at incentivising folks into purchasing these synergistically utilizable value-added, outside-the-box integrated solutions. They're low-hanging fruit, people! Let's put 110 percent into picking them while they're ripe." I have no idea what I just said, but I'm proud of those sentences nonetheless. So what's the most annoying corporate catch phrase?

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"Snake Charmer"...Or So They Say

GiggleSugar — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:00:23 -0800

I refuse to believe that no one saw this coming...but the risk in airing it was worth its weight in funny. In fact, I think this game show is my new guilty pleasure.

Rent-a-Friend Business Booming in Japan

TresSugar — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:00:00 -0700

One of my favorite episodes of How I Met Your Mother involves Barney and his hired "family." The eternal playboy (played by Neil Patrick Harris) wants his mother to think he has settled down, so he pays actors to play his wife and son, concocts an elaborate backstory with details including his son's "catch phrase," and plays along for years every time he visits his mother with his fake family in tow.

Well apparently, Japan has turned this sitcom plot into a reality. Japanese rent-a-friend companies allow people to pay for pretend friends, relatives, work colleagues, or even best men! Sometimes single mothers hire fake husbands so kids stop bullying their children at school for having absent fathers!

Just like Barney's family, the "agents" are trained to know an extensive backstory. If rentees give any hint that they're aren't really the people they're pretending to be, it could mess up the clients' lives. Creepy! Apparently the need to look like everything is perfect in your life is so important in Japan that some people are willing to rent these actor-CIA-agent hybrids for about $250 per appearance.

While it might be tempting to hire a stand-in boyfriend for awkward situations, like when you're the only single girl invited to a dinner party filled with couples, this still seems strange to me. What do you think?

Photo courtesy of CBS

Obama Speech Textbooks Are a Hit in Japan

CitizenSugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:30:45 -0800

Barack Obama's speech audience just got even larger. An English textbook, "The Speeches of Barack Obama," has sold more than 400,000 copies in two months, which is apparently a big hit for Japan where very few novels sell more than a million copies a year.

According to the book's publisher, presidents and presidential candidates "are excellent as listening tools to learn English, because their contents are good and their words are easy to catch." Words and phrases like "yes, we can," "change," and "hope" are simple and short enough that non-English speakers can memorize them easily.

The 95-page paperback has topped the bestseller list on Amazon Japan and includes Obama's speeches in English from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the Democratic Party primaries with Japanese translations. The publisher claims he's received postcards from readers who heard the speeches, and said they were so moved they cried even though they aren't English speakers. Do you think his speeches are textbook and cry worthy?

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Did Any Of These "Effects" Have Any Effect?

Molly — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:01:00 -0800

Leading up to the election, talk of the Bradley effect was all over the place - everyone was watching to see whether in the privacy of the voting booth, people would really pull the lever (or fill in the arrow) for the first black president. Then there was talk about the "Obama effect" - people voting for him because of his race rather than his qualifications. Since Barack Obama's decisive victory, neither theory has been thrown around too much, but there's a new effect in town.

This week, Thomas Freidman floated the theory of the "Buffett effect", meaning that older white men told their buddies they would go McCain, but when filling out their ballots, Obama got the votes. The name, of course, refers to Warren Buffett, who may have influenced the affluent community to have faith in bringing America together, despite higher taxes. That, combined with the energy of the youth vote - the children and grandchildren of these men - inspired the change of heart.

While there's something to be said for that, how about the possibility of no effect at all? Just read more.

As it turns out, people were honest about who they were planning to vote for which means that all these "effects" may have had no effect at all. In fact, only 19 percent of voters said that race was a factor in their decision, down from twice as many earlier this year, and it doesn't seem like people were lying. While hopefully this is further proof that the election was about finding the right leader for our country, it was still a historical moment for the United States.

Any Obama/Bradley/Buffett effect loses some credibility when the record-breaking youth vote is taken into account. Perhaps it wasn't about what the older population was doing in the booths so much as the youth population actually figuring out where the booth was, and not feeling any pressure to cover up their choice. So what do you think, did any of these catch phrase "effects" affect the election? Or do you have a name for an effect all your own?

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Ask E. Jean For DearSugar: How Can I Catch Him?

E Jean Carroll — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Disclaimer: E. Jean is back this week with quite a doozy. I happen to think she's a wee bit harsh this time, but I thought it was only fair to let you chime in and tell us what you think of the advice she's offering Miss Mimi in Miami.

Dear E. Jean,

Hi! I’ve met a handsome doctor. Everyone likes him. He’s really awesome. I just want to get his attention, challenge him, and make him curious about me. Please give me some tips for an effective way to catch him. - Mimi in Miami

To see E. Jean's answer, read more.

Dearest Mimi,

Alas, my charming numbskull, may I speak frankly? I’ve read your email a dozen times, examined your question from every angle, and each time, I’ve reached the same conclusion:

Miss Mimi, you lack the brains to “catch” the doctor. As evidence of your catastrophic nincompoopery, allow me to introduce the unedited version of the letter you sent me:

hi!i have meet handsome doctor everyone likes him he is really awesome,i just want to get his attention,challenge,curious him about me, in reverse.give me some tips how to do an effective way how to catch him - Mimi in Miami

To call this knuckleheaded would insult knuckleheads. However, all is not lost. If, in the next three months you devote a large - large - chunk of time to improving your mind, and if you email me one intelligent sentence (or three semi-witty phrases) well, my darling, then I’ll tell you how to captivate your Dr. Awesome. (But after three months of getting smarter, you’ll probably realize snaring a man is not all that.)

To see more advice from E. Jean, visit Elle magazine and AskEJean.com.

Relationship Protocol: A History of Cheating

DearSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0700

While the majority of you may be skilled at keeping history right where it belongs, there are certainly some things from the past that once known, require a lingering thought or two, like children from a previous relationship, a traumatic incident in childhood, or cheating.

Though I don’t think the familiar catch phrase “once a cheater always a cheater” is necessarily true, if I found out that a significant other had cheated in a previous relationship then I would be concerned. But perhaps I’m just paranoid, so what do you think? If you knew he had cheated before, would it make you think differently of him? Or would it have no bearing on your current relationship?

Source

It's Not Just Reality - Swing Vote the Movie Comes to Theatres

CitizenSugar — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:00:59 -0700

Now that the Fourth of July has come and gone, I need a new summer event to look forward to. This might be it? The movie Swing Vote stars Kevin Costner (I wonder if it's been a long time since anyone's written that phrase. . .?) and hits theaters August 1. Here's the premise: when historically inexplicable yet "mischievous antics" of a 12-year-old girl leave the outcome of the presidential election relying on a single vote one man (dubbed a "likable loser) all eyes rest on him to decide.

I'm dying to see how they make this work, you know, with the electoral college and laws, history and the like, but that might be part of the fun? The flick promises a "stunning series of events that place the fate of the free world in the hands of a man more comfortable slinging cases of beer." OK, there you go - stunning. Here's to hoping!

The presidential candidates are played by Dennis Hopper and Kelsey Grammer, with Nathan Lane and Stanley Tucci playing their campaign managers. Not a shabby cast! Here's one of the phoney campaign ads from the movie, it's pretty funny - and that Dennis Hopper is kind of striking. What do you think, will you be lining up to catch this one - or voting "No, thanks?"

LOL Metal Heads

GiggleSugar — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 04:00:00 -0700

The lolcat pics have taken the internet by storm, but they're a little obvious, don't cha think? The formula: a cute misspelled catch phrase is added to a cute cat pic, which is then distributed widely on the web. But what if we were to "ironically" couple lol phrases with photos of death metal groups? The Warehouse took a, uh, stab at the task and did a killer job.

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