I need to vent!

[SkyWarp91]

Hmpf...

I've just learnt this morning that one of my local Kmart stores (Warrawong), which happens to be the largest out of the 3 local stores near me (Figtree, Warrawong & Shellharbour), is closing up shop due to the falling out in lease-renewal negotiations with Westfield Group.

That store has been there for at least 20+ years and with it's loss means yet another decrease in the retail outlet options of the Illawarra and 133 employees faced with redundancy.

Aw man that sucks, and you wonder why people shop online these days? It's like Aussie Retail (Westfield Group in this situation) is shooting itself in the foot!

[jazzcomp]

I hate price matching.

If the item has to be in stock at the same centre, what prevents me from buying it from the other store? When the other store is just on a different floor?

Oh well, I gave it a try.

[SkyWarp91]

I hate price matching.

If the item has to be in stock at the same centre, what prevents me from buying it from the other store? When the other store is just on a different floor?

Oh well, I gave it a try.

Some stores gotta keep their profits even at the convenience of the customer unfortunately.

Also on an unfortunate note down Adelaide we got some thunderstorms going, and thunderstorms = internet speeds going kaput.

Ah well, least I'm still holding a connection

[Hursticon]

that's a bummer, and a lot of staff. hopefully they'll open another store nearby.

Aw man that sucks, and you wonder why people shop online these days? It's like Aussie Retail (Westfield Group in this situation) is shooting itself in the foot!

It sure does suck for both the consumer and the employee; Interestingly though there has been a development made this afternoon, turns out the owner of Kmart (Wesfarmers) has announced that a Target store will be moving in to replace it and will provide 100 positions, leaving only 33 people in limbo but whom will hopefully find places elsewhere in the Illawarra with little or no hassle.

Seems a little suss though, in that the lease cost was too much for Kmart but apparently perfectly fine for Target.


My new gripe though? - The abuse of the English language for Bull***t advertising gimmicks!
Now, I'm not a literary master or an English Professor; I do try to employ a decent level of grammar and diction though and it really drives me up the wall when company's invent words for advertising.

Toys 'R' Us I don't care about, American English was purposely honed to trample all over British English but my issue lies with what the NRMA started with "Unworry" and KFC is now adopting with "Goodification"...
Seriously, I want to punch something! - Which is completely ridiculous but for some reason this sort of thing just really grinds my gears, to the point where no amount of oil is going to reduce the friction!

[SkyWarp91]

It sure does suck for both the consumer and the employee; Interestingly though there has been a development made this afternoon, turns out the owner of Kmart (Wesfarmers) has announced that a Target store will be moving in to replace it and will provide 100 positions, leaving only 33 people in limbo but whom will hopefully find places elsewhere in the Illawarra with little or no hassle.

Seems a little suss though, in that the lease cost was too much for Kmart but apparently perfectly fine for Target.


My new gripe though? - The abuse of the English language for Bull***t advertising gimmicks!
Now, I'm not a literary master or an English Professor; I do try to employ a decent level of grammar and diction though and it really drives me up the wall when company's invent words for advertising.

Toys 'R' Us I don't care about, American English was purposely honed to trample all over British English but my issue lies with what the NRMA started with "Unworry" and KFC is now adopting with "Goodification"...
Seriously, I want to punch something! - Which is completely ridiculous but for some reason this sort of thing just really grinds my gears, to the point where no amount of oil is going to reduce the friction!

Go to Louisville, Kentucky and dig out Colonel Sanders. Then punch him in the face. That'll teach KFC for messing with the English language

[Sky Shadow]

Toys 'R' Us I don't care about, American English was purposely honed to trample all over British English

I discovered today that 'nonplussed' (which means 'surprised and confused') now also means 'not disconcerted' (i.e. the opposite of its actual meaning) in the US because they were so ignorant that they kept using it incorrectly. Seriously:

"In standard use nonplussed means ‘surprised and confused’, as in she was nonplussed at his eagerness to help out. In North American English a new use has developed in recent years, meaning ‘unperturbed’—more or less the opposite of its traditional meaning—as in he was clearly trying to appear nonplussed. This new use probably arose on the assumption that non- was the normal negative prefix and must therefore have a negative meaning. It is not considered part of standard English."

So now in the US the word has been rendered meaningless because it means its opposite. I'm sick of this happening - it's apparently gay, sanguine, and so bad that I lucked out and am literally nonplussed. Aarrggh!

[UltraMarginal]

Toys 'R' Us I don't care about, American English was purposely honed to trample all over British English but my issue lies with what the NRMA started with "Unworry" and KFC is now adopting with "Goodification"...
Seriously, I want to punch something! - Which is completely ridiculous but for some reason this sort of thing just really grinds my gears, to the point where no amount of oil is going to reduce the friction!

this goodification crap is going to make me go on a KFC strike if it doesn't stop soon.

Add to that Gripe EOFYS, making a christmas like celebration out of an end of finacial year sale. when the product "Telstra something something" has no relation to comanies/departments trying to use up a budget before the end of the financial year.

apparently the greatest challenge in a marketing department is to take an element of the english language or someones heritage and butcher it just enough to rub people the wrong way or enter an "uncanny valley" so that it's remembered by the masses, loved or hated it's rememered.

[gantz]

Couldn't agree more, Hurst!

My main gripe being, everyday I here more and more Australians say 'ass' over 'arse' like 'badass' etc.

'Oh, he is such a bad-ass!' When I attempt to correct it, I get the standard 'no, I meant ass!'

WTH is going on, people?! Though there is some hope, Sunrise had Gym Class Heroes on the other morning with their new song 'Get Yo' Ass Back Home' which is fine, except Kochie was introducing them, and for some reason, he attempted to say 'ass' and it sound just awful. Luckily that Mel woman cleared things up saying 'Hi, we are here in Australia - it's arse!'

[Accel]

TV is to blame for that since every American show says Ass and well... is there any Aussie TV for people to watch these days? ;P

[GoktimusPrime]

I totally agree with you guys Hursti and gantz!

Then there's people who use American pronunciation... one of my colleagues has a very broad Australian accent, but he pronounces "interesting" the American way; i.e. "in-ter-ress-ting" instead of "in-chress-ting." It sounds really bad because he has such a thick broad Australian accent... just does NOT mix! A lot of kids are now referring to the library as the "lye-breh-ree" instead of "lye-bree." *sigh* Australian English is surely mutating into American English. Whatever... I'll stick with "inchressting" and "lye-bree", thank you very much.