Firstly, I can’t stand people who say firstly when they mean first.
Second, when did people start pronouncing route as rowt. The word has always been pronounced root. A rout (pronounced rowt) is a military disaster. What are you, a bunch of hillbillies?
Third, why do so many people pronounce kilometre (or kilometer) ki-lohmeter? It’s pronounced kilo-meter as in one thousand meters. Nobody says mi-limeter or cen-timeter. Nobody weighs 90 ki-lograms.
Most people already know not to say literally when they mean figuratively.
Other annoying things people say: “Haven’t seen you for a minute” when they mean “for a while”“reach out” when they just mean “contact”And, dating back all the way to the ’70s but still going strong: “The thing of it is, is…”
In the last 20 years I have heard so many HR psychobabble terms that deserve the same punishment, and for the life of me I cannot think of an example right now. I guess it’s because I’m a “seasoned employee” who is only a couple years short of “starting a new personal chapter”…………i.e. I’m an old fart who’s counting the days to retirement.
I’m actually going to have to agree with Neighbor Bob. Baking macarons is a skill, as is knowledge of calculus. However, baking isn’t a member of the set of skills necessary to be a rocket scientist. To me, a skill set is a pre-defined list of skills required for a position or task.
Oh, c’mon, Rat; I’m just spitballing here, but at the end of the day, maybe he was just proactively leveraging his core competencies with a strong bias to action.
“skills” implies being good at a single thing. “basketball skills”, for example.
“skill set” implies having several things one is good at, not just pertaining to job duties. If you are good at basketball, programming computers, and underwater basket weaving, you have a diverse “skill set”.
The one that grinds my gears is “going forward” to replace " in the future" or “from now on”. Nothing really wrong with it I guess but it sounds and makes me want to slap people. No, I’ve not done that, just really wanted to.
Another annoying business-speak when discussing a vision for future plans is then someone will ask “What does that look like?”Totally redundant nonsense. It is like telling someone your ETA from a journey and then they ask “when will that be?”
Most of the people who talk like that sit in private offices with doors that lock. Avoiding contact with the lesser laboring lifeforms who are under the delusion they are also human.
Is that cliff made of fiber-reinforced concrete, or carbon fiber, or what? That tiny little tip held up rat and pretentious guy. I know, I know, cartoon physics.
I suspect “skill set“ is yet another annoying and unnecessary tech word to sound sophisticated and modern. Those who use that phrase sound like machines.
minty_Joe 3 months ago
Next time, let it go, Rat. Let it go.
hariseldon59 3 months ago
I always wondered how Rat has the strength to throw someone twice his size off a cliff. More cartoon physics.
ImDaRealAni 3 months ago
RIP Neighbor Bob.
Need coffee 3 months ago
Too bad Bob didn’t have mad evasive skillz.
BasilBruce 3 months ago
Why did Bob go with Rat to the cliff? That wasn’t very Wile E of him.
Kveldulf 3 months ago
Firstly, I can’t stand people who say firstly when they mean first.
Second, when did people start pronouncing route as rowt. The word has always been pronounced root. A rout (pronounced rowt) is a military disaster. What are you, a bunch of hillbillies?
Third, why do so many people pronounce kilometre (or kilometer) ki-lohmeter? It’s pronounced kilo-meter as in one thousand meters. Nobody says mi-limeter or cen-timeter. Nobody weighs 90 ki-lograms.
Most people already know not to say literally when they mean figuratively.
Rant off. No cliffs nearby.
jpsomebody 3 months ago
You have to say skill set now. In this day and age, saying you have skills means something entirely different.
Robin Harwood 3 months ago
Keep up the good work, Rat.
Keno21 3 months ago
Rat has a very particular set of skills, that make him a nightmare for people like neighbor Bob.
MichaelAxelFleming 3 months ago
“Skill set” is like “price point.”
johndifool 3 months ago
Senseless waste of human life.
nosirrom 3 months ago
Wow, what would he have done if neighbor Bob had a pair of dimes?
RLG Premium Member 3 months ago
Now they need to hire TWO guys.
edgar.allan.poodle 3 months ago
I remember when paradigm was the work word.
James Wolfenstein 3 months ago
I need a new cliff. I threw a “pronoun” guy the other day and he just walked away… I mean she… or it… they?.. :D
Troglodyte 3 months ago
Great skill set you’ve got there, Rat! :D
Flynn White Premium Member 3 months ago
Why use one word when you can appropriate innumerable multifarious words?
win.45mag 3 months ago
He seems to have agreed. Rat got him from the cafe’ to the cliff. Hopefully he was a defense lawyer.
win.45mag 3 months ago
I’m hoping they’re like lemmings.
lavender headgear 3 months ago
Other annoying things people say: “Haven’t seen you for a minute” when they mean “for a while”“reach out” when they just mean “contact”And, dating back all the way to the ’70s but still going strong: “The thing of it is, is…”
Gandalf 3 months ago
I’m with rat on this one…
iggyman 3 months ago
Rat’s and Pastis’ “cliff notes”!
Jim 9700 3 months ago
Price point was another irritating unnecessary term, when they could just say price.
Ignatz Premium Member 3 months ago
Yes, like saying “finalize” instead of “finish”; “utilize” instead of “use”; and taking “medication” instead of “medicine.”
WaitingMan 3 months ago
I never did understand set theory.
colddonkey 3 months ago
Even if they have the skill set many won’t want the job unless it allows them to work from home.
B.comics.61 3 months ago
The phrase “skill set” has been plaguing us for a heckuva lot longer than 10 years.
jadem308 3 months ago
Bravo, Rat! Throw them all off the cliff.
Huckleberry Hiroshima 3 months ago
I think I agree with you this time, Rat. But I am disappointed there was no Wilhelm scream. Of course that is not your fault.
GentlemanBill 3 months ago
That’s a precipice, not a cliff. Go collect him and try again.
Bomage 3 months ago
Now do one about signage.
prrdh 3 months ago
Being Rat’s neighbor may be hazardous to your health.
wongo 3 months ago
And yet neighbor Bob keeps showing back up in future strips. Must not be much of a cliff.
ro.boat 3 months ago
I wonder if Rat feels the same way about the phrase ‘price point’? Because ..yeah, throw him off a cliff.
Rich Douglas 3 months ago
This is for the people who think the plural of “process” is pronounced “process-ease.”
Slowly, he turned... 3 months ago
I brain stormed it and I agree with rat on this one.
brianstreleckis 3 months ago
Probably not a good idea to have that coffee shop/diner/whatever so close to a cliff.
Doug K 3 months ago
That should make room for another opening in the company.
Perhaps they could use someone with Rat’s skill se … uh skills.
elbow macaroni 3 months ago
Homicide? Always hilarious.
SusieB 3 months ago
Thank you Rat!
aerotica69 3 months ago
In the last 20 years I have heard so many HR psychobabble terms that deserve the same punishment, and for the life of me I cannot think of an example right now. I guess it’s because I’m a “seasoned employee” who is only a couple years short of “starting a new personal chapter”…………i.e. I’m an old fart who’s counting the days to retirement.
diskus Premium Member 3 months ago
I think you can still say skills but you would need to be specific as to what type of skills. Skill set implies specificity
mindjob 3 months ago
There is nothing as bad as using the word “like” repeated in a single sentence
Ellis97 3 months ago
Rat is really picky when it comes to terminology.
Burbank 3 months ago
I’m actually going to have to agree with Neighbor Bob. Baking macarons is a skill, as is knowledge of calculus. However, baking isn’t a member of the set of skills necessary to be a rocket scientist. To me, a skill set is a pre-defined list of skills required for a position or task.
backyardcowboy 3 months ago
The cliff needs to be a lot taller or Bob will be back in the strip again.
bbbmorrell 3 months ago
This is such a reasonable solution. Why can’t our political leaders address these issues the way Rat does?
Code the Enforcer 3 months ago
Hmmm … ’ Throwing People Off Cliffs ‘ … Now! THAT’S a Skill Set!! … :)
Malph 3 months ago
Thank you, Rat! Except that term was used 20 yrs ago in the same context.
DaBump Premium Member 3 months ago
Oh… I dunno… maybe a BIT of an overreaction?
gnome 3 months ago
…Rat for President…
Snolep 3 months ago
My favorite is now mandatory use of “ older adult.” As opposed to “older child?” “Younger adult?”
Goat from PBS 3 months ago
Someone annoying you? Throw them off a cliff! Soon there will only be one person left.
Silence Dogood Premium Member 3 months ago
No. Today’s operative is “Under the bus”!
Cozmik Cowboy 3 months ago
Oh, c’mon, Rat; I’m just spitballing here, but at the end of the day, maybe he was just proactively leveraging his core competencies with a strong bias to action.
newsbb 3 months ago
A word that really bugs me is ‘webinar’, to me that is just ugly.
mousefumanchu Premium Member 3 months ago
Fueled by rage
Flatworm 3 months ago
Well, at this point in time…
zeexenon 3 months ago
Ironically, he works at a company called SKILSAW.
wildlandwaters 3 months ago
it’s not often I agree with Rat, but I’ll make an exception this time!
krisjackson01 3 months ago
He’s tough but fair.
Aficionado 3 months ago
The term “skill set” isn’t new. I first heard it about 25 or 30 years ago.
gigagrouch 3 months ago
Skill set, paradigm shift, unpack, drill down, sea change, hone (never “home”) in, ‘supposably’, it-is-what-it-is, 6 of 1, what-ever, I mean…, so…, ya know…, ectcetera…
Lazy language.
Spence12 Premium Member 3 months ago
Only in cartoons are cliffs so easy to find.
moondog42 Premium Member 3 months ago
“skills” implies being good at a single thing. “basketball skills”, for example.
“skill set” implies having several things one is good at, not just pertaining to job duties. If you are good at basketball, programming computers, and underwater basket weaving, you have a diverse “skill set”.
Beowulf 406 Premium Member 3 months ago
The one that grinds my gears is “going forward” to replace " in the future" or “from now on”. Nothing really wrong with it I guess but it sounds and makes me want to slap people. No, I’ve not done that, just really wanted to.
Arghhgarrr Premium Member 3 months ago
Blame it on the movie Taken.
Dis-play name 3 months ago
Another annoying business-speak when discussing a vision for future plans is then someone will ask “What does that look like?”Totally redundant nonsense. It is like telling someone your ETA from a journey and then they ask “when will that be?”
shamiehg 3 months ago
Rat — especially his cliff throwing offfa - has a great skill set. ;)
olds_cool63 3 months ago
Rat is so cool!
Cameron1988 Premium Member 3 months ago
Rat gets triggered too easily
John Jorgensen 3 months ago
Hmm, should we hire a guy with a great skill set? I don’t know. A guy with a lousy skill set would probably work a bit cheaper. . . .
AndrewSharpe 3 months ago
Well, that wasn’t a cliffhanger at all.
eddi-TBH 3 months ago
Most of the people who talk like that sit in private offices with doors that lock. Avoiding contact with the lesser laboring lifeforms who are under the delusion they are also human.
sincavage05 3 months ago
set the record straight Rat and nice throw.
ArcticFox Premium Member 3 months ago
Rat exhibits an essential skill set of his own.
Otis Rufus Driftwood 3 months ago
Just because your skill set isn’t what employers want, Rat.
FireAnt_Hater 3 months ago
Is that cliff made of fiber-reinforced concrete, or carbon fiber, or what? That tiny little tip held up rat and pretentious guy. I know, I know, cartoon physics.
Seed_drill 3 months ago
Can you also toss off the people who use “gift” as a verb instead of “give” and “gifted” instead of “gave”?
IKnowIt! Premium Member 3 months ago
Another good example of how all the stupid ideas begin at the top in corporations and get implemenred by H.R.!
emoten 3 months ago
For once I’m with Rat. It’s not only pretentious jargon, it’s mind-numbingly stodgy.
wordsmeet 3 months ago
As per Cartoon Physics 202, there’s always a plump and comfy mattress at the bottom of the cliff. :)
Karen Mapes Premium Member 3 months ago
Can we also do Price Point? Please?
76noos 3 months ago
Classic, pedantic Rat.
Swirls Before Pine 3 months ago
Rat has a particular set of skills. A skillset, if you will.
mikeBridges 3 months ago
What does Rat think about the use of “leverage” as a synonym for “reuse”?
Withan 3 months ago
Set theory is a skill.
wordsmeet about 2 months ago
I suspect “skill set“ is yet another annoying and unnecessary tech word to sound sophisticated and modern. Those who use that phrase sound like machines.