Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[DeLurker]

I have two identical shirts - one black and one cream.  Slightly fancified Henleys that I have owned for a couple years and wear pretty frequently.

 

The last time  I wore the cream one, somehow the sleeves had shrunk!  Not the length, but they were tight around the elbow and forearm - disturbingly so.  Both sides too.  Alternatively, my elbows and forearms are somehow Popeye arms.  None of my other shirts (including the black version) fit differently.

 

I have no idea what happened or why, but I am very unhappy about this unpleasant development.

[BW Manilowe]

I think that they need to bring back that "developing story" label for when stories are a few hours old, because "breaking news" to me sounds ridiculous to have on a story that's more than a few hours old (IOW, if I'm not mistaken, "breaking" means that you just got the first word of what happened in a story and you're bringing it to the attention of your viewers for the first time).

Exactly. "Breaking News" normally is thought of as the *initial* notice to the viewers that some important (national or local) news event has occurred. And it shouldn't be "Breaking News" for more than, maybe, an hour or two *at the most*.

After that, the same story, even with the inclusion of completely new facts/information involved with it, should be more accurately considered a "Developing Story". It's *not*/shouldn't be "Breaking News" for two full freaking days. At least not in my not so humble opinion.

But I think the cable news networks--CNN in particular--use the release of new facts/information as a "loophole", if you will, to keep calling the story involved "Breaking News" for as long as possible (because that part of the story technically at least could be considered "Breaking News", since it's a new aspect of the story).

[FormerMod-a1]

But I think the cable news networks--CNN in particular--use the release of new facts/information as a "loophole", if you will, to keep calling the story involved "Breaking News" for as long as possible (because that part of the story technically at least could be considered "Breaking News", since it's a new aspect of the story).

 

I think this is true as I've even seen the "Breaking News" label on events/news items *days* after they initially happened.

[bmasters9]

I think this is true as I've even seen the "Breaking News" label on events/news items *days* after they initially happened.

Even the death of Anna Nicole Smith, IINM, was "Breaking News" long after it was first reported (I mean, we know she's dead: why do you keep acting like it's the first time you're telling us?!).

[bilgistic]

Alternatively, my elbows and forearms are somehow Popeye arms.

This made me laugh!

If you got the shirts at Old Navy, there's your reason. My wardrobe is 99% ON, but their stuff is so weird. If I think I'm going to like something, I better order 12 of it, because no other run of it will look or fit the same, and some of the same run will have a weird sleeve or one leg longer than the other. I have a couple of pants that I have to roll a little higher on my right leg because they are longer on that side. I'm pretty sure my legs are even, because I've never had that issue in 40 years of wearing pants. Maybe I went six months without pants. I've been unemployed for long stretches.

Edited June 20, 2015 by bilgistic

[bilgistic]

Something that's been really pissing me off lately: taking a shower just to get out and start sweating again. Hulk rage!

[auntlada]

Even the death of Anna Nicole Smith, IINM, was "Breaking News" long after it was first reported (I mean, we know she's dead: why do you keep acting like it's the first time you're telling us?!).

Maybe all the newsreaders thought Chevy Chase was a real journalist? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead

[bmasters9]

Maybe all the newsreaders thought Chevy Chase was a real journalist? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead

That could very well have been the inspiration for it. 

[harrie]

But I think the cable news networks--CNN in particular--use the release of new facts/information as a "loophole", if you will, to keep calling the story involved "Breaking News" for as long as possible (because that part of the story technically at least could be considered "Breaking News", since it's a new aspect of the story).

 

As it happens, my car got serviced yesterday so I was in the dealership's waiting room for a couple of hours, with CNN on the TV.  As you point out, they would position a story update as breaking news and claim that a new development had occurred; but - and I was reading, so not paying strict attention -- it seemed like there were no really big developments, it was essentially the story from 20 minutes earlier, rehashed. 

[Bastet]

Something that's been really pissing me off lately: taking a shower just to get out and start sweating again. Hulk rage!

 

My dad is from Oklahoma, and, when I was a kid, every three years our summer vacation was to go there to visit my grandma and assorted aunts and uncles.*  This was not my idea of a good time for many reasons, one of which was the humidity.  My god, the humidity!  And, to me, the very worst part of the humidity was getting nice and clean, and then starting to sweat practically before I'd finished drying off.  I can handle pretty high temperatures if it's a dry heat.  But add in high humidity, and I'm just miserable.  I am not someone who enjoys being cooped up inside ... and the air-conditioning at my grandma's was only one window unit, anyway.

 

*Hmm, this reads like she was some abandoned old lady we only bothered with every three years.  There was a lot of family left in Oklahoma, two still in the same (miniscule) town, and my dad would visit by himself in the interim, bring her out to stay with us the few times she'd agree to it, etc.

[bilgistic]

I live in Charlotte, NC, and it's been in the high 90s to 100 for the past week or so, with no break in sight. Local meteorologists have been excited because records have been broken. This is late July and August weather, not June weather. The sharks at the Carolina beaches are confused because the water is overall warmer (not just now, I mean on a global scale) and are snacking on people. I am going to the beach in a month after five years of no vacation. I am the palest version that white people come in, and the sharks are fiesty. This was a good plan.

[bilgistic]

Unless you are 14, do not use of-the-moment slang words. A grown woman who is a friend of a friend posted on Facebook that her vacation was "on fleek". NO. You had a wonderful time; it was fantastic; you loved it. You are grown. Talk like you are.

Edited June 21, 2015 by bilgistic

[Bastet]

You - and an internet article - taught me a new "word" today.  Um, thanks?

 

I often learn a new expression about five years after it stops being used by the cool kids, so I guess I'm ahead of the game on this one.  I don't think I'll be adopting it, though.  Hell, I still say "groovy."

[bilgistic]

I saw the term only this year and I HATE it. I also hate the word "selfie", but I'm 40, and kids need to get off my lawn, etc.

I like "the cat's pajamas" because of cats and pajamas, and that's, what, 80 years old?

[magicdog]

The sharks at the Carolina beaches are confused because the water is overall warmer (not just now, I mean on a global scale) and are snacking on people. I am going to the beach in a month after five years of no vacation. I am the palest version that white people come in, and the sharks are fiesty. This was a good plan.

 

 

 

Just stay away from areas where there are fishing piers and you should be fine.  That's something no one mentions with these recent shark attacks - how many local fishermen are throwing chum off the piers to lure their catch.

[DeLurker]

Unless you are 14, do not use of-the-moment slang words. A grown woman who is a friend of a friend posted on Facebook that her vacation was "on fleek". NO. You had a wonderful time; it was fantastic; you loved it. You are grown. Talk like you are.

My daughter is 14 and she loathes all these current terms.  Her favorite?  Huzzah!  Which I gather is from the Middle Ages.

 

When I was 14, slightly after the Middle Ages, the coolest bad boy from our area used "egads" and "gadzooks".

[Sweets McGee]

You - and an internet article - taught me a new "word" today.  Um, thanks?

 

I often learn a new expression about five years after it stops being used by the cool kids, so I guess I'm ahead of the game on this one.  I don't think I'll be adopting it, though.  Hell, I still say "groovy."

My favorite words for something being good are "groovy" and "keen." It started as a jokey thing with me and my husband but years later we say those words so much we don't notice we're doing it.

[Maharincess]

Hunky dory was my phrase of choice when something was good. I still say it.

Mine is "cool" I grew up saying everything is cool and I just can't stop!

What I hate is "amazing", everything is amazing. I don't know if it still is but it was so over used for a long time.

[auntlada]

I have a 22-year-old microwave. It still works. We talked about replacing it one Christmas, but then the washing machine sprang a leak I couldn't find and therefore couldn't fix. So we still have the old microwave. It's 850 watts. All the frozen stuff gives instructions for 1100-watt microwaves and either says not to cook it in anything less or to add time, but it never says how much time to add. I wish they would put some kind of formula, like for every 100 watts fewer, add so many seconds or minutes or so much percentage of time. I know they won't and they'd probably say it would be too difficult for them to imagine every situation, but I sure wish they would.

[FormerMod-a1]

This table converts from 850 to 1100, but you read it backwards and see that for 5:01 minutes in 1100 watts, you would cook 6:30 in 850 watts.

[Qoass]

A guest at my workplace said to me, "Did you just say 'awesome"?  That's funny-- I say that all the time!".  Yeah, just you, hon.  Although I must say I have a veritable flotilla of words I use to express pleasure such as "peachy" and "delightful".

 

Why is it that when a guy has sex he's getting some but when a woman does it's "giving it away"?  Advice to any woman who needs it-- if you're giving it away and not getting some back, you're doing it wrong.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Qoass

[JTMacc99]

Mine is "cool" I grew up saying everything is cool and I just can't stop!

What I hate is "amazing", everything is amazing. I don't know if it still is but it was so over used for a long time.

Louis C.K. has an amazing rant on the overuse of amazing: 

 

"Anyway, I was listening to the two guys. And one of them used a word that really pissed me off. Because, it was how he used it. He used the word ‘hilarious.’ That’s one of those words that we use, and we don’t care what it means. We go right for the top shelf with our words, now. We don’t think about how we talk. We just say, 'Dude, it was amazing. It was amazing.’ Really? You were 'amazed’? You were 'amazed’? By a basket of chicken wings? Really? 'Amazing?’

 

What are you going to do with the rest of your life now? What if something really happens to you? What if Jesus comes down from the sky. Makes love to you all night long. Leaves the new living lord in your belly? What are you going to call that? You used 'amazing’ on a basket of chicken wings. You’ve limited yourself verbally to a shit life. All these words we use. 'Genius.’ Anybody can be a 'genius’ now. It used to be you had to have a thought no one had ever had before. Or you had to invent a number. Now, it’s like, 'Hey I got a cup in case we need another cup. Dude you’re a genius. ’

 

So this guys, he used 'hilarious.’ […] His friend goes, 'I saw Lisa today.’ And he goes, 'Hah. That’s hilarious.’

 

How the fuck is that hilarious?! That you saw Lisa? Is Lisa a poodle on her hind legs. How is that hilarious? Was she standing next to Jerry Lewis when he was younger. How the fuck is that hilarious? Do you know what hilarious means? Hilarious means so funny that you almost went insane when you heard that shit. It’s just so funny that it almost ruined your life. You’re homeless now because you can’t cope or reason anymore because that hilarious thing just shattered your mind. And three months later you’ve got shit and leaves in your hair and you’re drenched in pee in the gutter. That’s how funny hilarious is."

 

I have a 22-year-old microwave. It still works. We talked about replacing it one Christmas, but then the washing machine sprang a leak I couldn't find and therefore couldn't fix. So we still have the old microwave. It's 850 watts. All the frozen stuff gives instructions for 1100-watt microwaves and either says not to cook it in anything less or to add time, but it never says how much time to add. I wish they would put some kind of formula, like for every 100 watts fewer, add so many seconds or minutes or so much percentage of time. I know they won't and they'd probably say it would be too difficult for them to imagine every situation, but I sure wish they would.

I bought a bigger, more powerful microwave. It was totally worth it.  It's amazing and totally on fleek.

[DeLurker]

I hate, and have since I was a small child, the use of okey dokey (or any derivation of that term).  OK is just fine.

 

The funniest was when I was a teen and the terms "unreal!" and "for sure" came into widespread use.  At one point my Mom started using them and she had never been the type to use slang or make any effort to stay on trend.  My brother and I would lose our shit everytime she use either term.

[Qoass]

I can handle amazing (except on Fashion Police where they've stripped it of any worth) but amaze-balls is just all kinds of wrong.

[bubbls]

On the subject of old folks trying to act cool/hip/trendy, all you grandpas with one earring in your left earlobe? No. No, no, no, no! Just no. I see this far more than one might imagine considering I live in the Midwest. Grandpas in their grandpa jeans and grandpa shirts and grandpa shoes and a gold hoop or a shiny CZ sparkling in one ear. I see it enough that I'm suspicious there's some kind of underground old guy sex ring and the earring shows you're a member.

[Qoass]

That's what I keep trying to impress on America's youth about tattoos.  They may look (insert word of your choice here) now but when you're unbearably old you're going to scare the children!

[harrie]

On the subject of old folks trying to act cool/hip/trendy, all you grandpas with one earring in your left earlobe? No. No, no, no, no! Just no. I see this far more than one might imagine considering I live in the Midwest. Grandpas in their grandpa jeans and grandpa shirts and grandpa shoes and a gold hoop or a shiny CZ sparkling in one ear. I see it enough that I'm suspicious there's some kind of underground old guy sex ring and the earring shows you're a member.

 

The earring and the rattail/ponytail.  It's just a sad, sad look. 

[DeLurker]

I can handle amazing (except on Fashion Police where they've stripped it of any worth) but amaze-balls is just all kinds of wrong.

Awesomesauce goes on this list too.

 

On the subject of old folks trying to act cool/hip/trendy, all you grandpas with one earring in your left earlobe? No. No, no, no, no! Just no. I see this far more than one might imagine considering I live in the Midwest. Grandpas in their grandpa jeans and grandpa shirts and grandpa shoes and a gold hoop or a shiny CZ sparkling in one ear. I see it enough that I'm suspicious there's some kind of underground old guy sex ring and the earring shows you're a member.

Ewww!

 

I got used to seeing this when I lived in So Cal and it just stroke me as kind of a pathetic attempt to stay relevant.  In South Florida when I would see it, it could go two ways: 1 - an obvious attempt to be youthful or 2 - someone who legitimately liked their earring and didn't give a fuck about what you thought (usually worn on a society escapee living in Key West or someone encountered that lives in the swampy remote parts of the Everglades).

 

I don't particularly care for the ear gauges, but I have to think "isn't that a decision you'll regret eventually"?  Maybe I am just old...

[auntlada]

I hate, and have since I was a small child, the use of okey dokey (or any derivation of that term).  OK is just fine.

 

The funniest was when I was a teen and the terms "unreal!" and "for sure" came into widespread use.  At one point my Mom started using them and she had never been the type to use slang or make any effort to stay on trend.  My brother and I would lose our shit everytime she use either term.

 

Then you'd probably hate that we've taught our son to say, "Okey-dokey, artichokey!" Mostly, he just says the artichokey after we say okey-dokey.

This table converts from 850 to 1100, but you read it backwards and see that for 5:01 minutes in 1100 watts, you would cook 6:30 in 850 watts.

 

Thank you! I am saving that pdf. (I don't know why it never occurred to me to look online for such a chart. Sometimes my age really shows.)

 

ETA: It's for things like that chart (and various recipes) that I finally joined Pinterest and figured out what to do with it. It's much easier than searching through my email for things I saved.

Edited June 22, 2015 by auntlada

[Qoass]

 

someone who legitimately liked their earring and didn't give a fuck about what you thought

The older I get, the less I care about what anybody else thinks of me.  I'm sure many people think I should cut my hair and buy some more sensible shoes but I do what makes me happy no matter how you may feel about it.  That said, I shy far away from permanent stuff like piercings and ink.  Even the most drastic hairstyle will grow out but tats will only grow...saggy?

[DeLurker]

Then you'd probably hate that we've taught our son to say, "Okey-dokey, artichokey!" Mostly, he just says the artichokey after we say okey-dokey.

Thing is, I know it is an irrational thing to hate.  And I know why I hate it - when I was little, we lived a few blocks away from my Uncle.  His younger daughter was horribly spoiled and said it all the time.  Our house was much more democratic so such blatant preferential treatment was unfair in all caps!

 

I hate when someone responds to "Could you pass me the salt/answer the phone/whatever" with "I could" and corrects you with "Would I pass you the salt/answer the phone/whatever".  My Dad did/does this and so did my ex.  It is such a minor matter to me that I resent it being brought up, nonetheless brought up every.time.you.hear.it! The smug superiority in which it is said is the real kicker.

[janie jones]

I used to go out with someone who would add "sauce" to all kinds of adjectives.

 

I don't particularly care for the ear gauges, but I have to think "isn't that a decision you'll regret eventually"?  Maybe I am just old...

At least those can go back to normal.

[DeLurker]

At least those can go back to normal.

What I learned from PTV today!

[BW Manilowe]

I can handle amazing (except on Fashion Police where they've stripped it of any worth) but amaze-balls is just all kinds of wrong.

Especially when the fully-grown, 40-year-old, wife & mother, Giuliana Rancic says it. Just saying. For heaven's sake, she's a 40-year-old woman; not a teenybopper/tween.

Yes, she works in entertainment news, in Hollywood, but she needs to grow the eff up already & stop using words/half-words that are much too young for a woman her age, like "gorge" (shorthand for "gorgeous") & "amazeballs".

Especially if she wants to get a legitimate journalism (which she's apparently actually got a degree in & practiced before her E! Job) job after her E! days come to an end.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh dear.  Then I believe I fall into the group of those that say "okie dokie" and adds "sauce" to awesome. (putting on flak jacket and helmet).

 

I'm a child of the '70s, so I don't know when these words were used, but I still do use "egads, gadzooks, groovy."

 

I really loathe the "haters gonna hate" and realized it came from that stupid song by Katy Perry! Ugh. I mean, when I criticize something, or don't like something, what I see in response is "haters gonna hate." Hell, my best friend said that to me a couple years ago, when I told her I couldn't stand Justin Bieber.

 

Oh, and a phrase that I've seen ad naseum, which I think is used in a way that I don't think is the original purpose or definition: torture porn. I hate the way it's thrown around. And now, I just another and if I had the space, I'd hit my head on my desk: scenery porn. Seriously?

Edited June 22, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[ramble]

My favorite words for something being good are "groovy" and "keen." It started as a jokey thing with me and my husband but years later we say those words so much we don't notice we're doing it.

If I'm around my parents or my sister & say "keen" they will respond with, "Keen Clark? Really?" or some variation of that. We saw the Christopher Reeve Superman movie as a family & some things stuck.

ETA: I use okie dokie artichokie & peachy keen jellybean & various other nonsense rhymes with my kids. I'm going to try to work in "on fleek" & see if they catch it or even know it. My oldest shuns social media & finds teen topics frivolous. She makes me believe some people truly are born with an old soul. My younger child isn't allowed on social media, even though she'd like to be, because I'm a mean, mean mama. She is a huge K-Pop fan & says "selca" for selfie. Not that she's ever taken a selfie, but she's cool in her own opinion & in my opinion that counts for a lot!

Edited June 22, 2015 by ramble

[Bastet]

The use of "amazing" to describe things that fall far short of the definition annoys me, but the one that really gets my goat is "awesome."  But, thanks to Eddie Izzard, I can set my blood pressure back to normal by thinking, "It's the dog's bollocks, that's what it is."

[pandora spocks]

GHScorpiosRule, on 22 Jun 2015 - 1:07 PM, said: I really loathe the "haters gonna hate" and realized it came from that stupid song by Katy Perry! Ugh. I mean, when I criticize something, or don't like something, what I see in response is "haters gonna hate."

I dislike the trite," I guess we agree to disagree!" There may be a difference of opinion, not going out of your way to provoke an argument.

If I hear another person say "getting your _______ on," I'll scream! A friend on FB talked about getting his pancakes on when he was actually ordering pancakes at a restaurant. On what? The plate? Grammatically, it makes no sense and only sounds stupid.

Edited June 22, 2015 by GenL
fixing quote tags

[Bastet]

I like "the cat's pajamas" because of cats and pajamas, and that's, what, 80 years old?

 

There was a discussion recently on the Turner Classic Movies message boards about "arcane" phrases in old films, things so long out of the vernacular we no longer know what they mean.  As I read through the various examples, about every tenth post I'd think, "I still say that." 

[auntlada]

I dislike the trite," I guess we agree to disagree!" There may be a difference of opinion, not going out of your way to provoke an argument.

 

I always want to tell people that I do not agree to disagree because they are wrong. I don't because usually that person is someone who just isn't going to listen, but boy, do I want to.

 

As long as we're discussing grammar (and things like that), I hate the overuse of exclamation points. I sometimes have to edit stuff written by high school students, and I often wonder what their English teachers are teaching them. These are supposed to be the smart kids, but some of them put an exclamation point after every sentence. I want to send them a link to the Schoolhouse Rock interjections song, except they don't send stuff directly to me so I don't know how to contact them.

[DeLurker]

I always want to tell people that I do not agree to disagree because they are wrong. I don't because usually that person is someone who just isn't going to listen, but boy, do I want to.

 

I usually don't say someone is wrong, but I often say they are terribly misguided.

[glowlights]

I dislike the trite," I guess we agree to disagree!" There may be a difference of opinion, not going out of your way to provoke an argument.

 

.... or the type of person (like my bil) who waves his hands and shouts I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE the minute one offers a factual counter-point to the aforementioned person's big, loud, unsolicited opinion.

 

I use okey-dokey when I'm being sarcastic or dismissive. "You say your child is the most brilliant and best-looking human ever to walk the earth? Okey-dokey..."

[BW Manilowe]

Oh dear. Then I believe I fall into the group of those that say "okie dokie" and adds "sauce" to awesome. (putting on flak jacket and helmet).

I'm a child of the '70s, so I don't know when these words were used, but I still do use "egads, gadzooks, groovy."

I really loathe the "haters gonna hate" and realized it came from that stupid song by Katy Perry! Ugh. I mean, when I criticize something, or don't like something, what I see in response is "haters gonna hate." Hell, my best friend said that to me a couple years ago, when I told her I couldn't stand Justin Bieber.

Oh, and a phrase that I've seen ad naseum, which I think is used in a way that I don't think is the original purpose or definition: torture porn. I hate the way it's thrown around. And now, I just another and if I had the space, I'd hit my head on my desk: scenery porn. Seriously?

"Haters gonna hate" is actually from that beyond stupid song (which most of hers are, in my not so humble opinion) by Taylor Swift. I can't stand Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber. With Katy Perry, it depends on the song. These days, my musical tastes lean more towards what's now called "Traditional Pop" (but not as far as artists as old as Tony Bennett--more like Top 40/Soft Rock artists I grew up listening to in those genres who are now considered "too old", or whatever, for Top 40/Soft Rock stations), as opposed to the current Top 40 artists for the most part.

[janie jones]

It's in that Taylor Swift song, but it's not from that Taylor Swift song.  It's been around.  Apparently the first time it appeared in a song was in 2000.

[GHScorpiosRule]

It's in that Taylor Swift song, but it's not from that Taylor Swift song.  It's been around.  Apparently the first time it appeared in a song was in 2000.

 

Well that explains it. I only listen to Classic Rock, Oldies, and music between the '70s-'80s. Maybe some from the '90s. I didn't know that phrase has been around that long. Still don't like it.

[Bastet]

As I understood it when I first started hearing/seeing it used, “haters gonna hate” meant that some people were going to be negative about anything a certain person/group of people did, even when it was something good, because they just plain don’t like that person/group and would thus never objectively evaluate their actions or give them their due respect for the good things they do.  “Haters gonna hate” was a shorthand for just ignoring that kind of negativity.

 

Now, though, I see people using it to dismiss any criticism they receive.  Or, really, people using it to dismiss any criticism someone of whom they’re a fan receives.

[backformore]

Yes, the problem with "haters gonna hate"  is not the original sentiment, but the way it brands people as "haters" because they disagree.  Similarly, not liking something, or disagreeing with something is considered "hating on"  it. 

 

I have an issue with the use of "phenomenal"  as an adjective which means, "pretty good".  I had a co-worker who used "AWESOME"  to describe almost everything he liked  - and he said it with such enthusiasm it drove me crazy.   I mean really, a sandwich would have to go a long way to be "awesome", as would the new fax machine, or coffee maker.  I kid you not, everything was AWESOME.    many times, it meant "this works the way it's supposed to"  or "This sandwich is tasty."   

Now, I am in contact with someone who describes stuff as "phenomenal"  when it clearly isn't.  And what bugs me more is the WAY she pronounces it, with a pause after the first syllable.   This new eye shadow?   " PHU.  nominal"   The chicken salad at that new place ?  " PHU. Nominal!"   

 

I guess I'm surrounded by people who are too easily impressed by things being adequate. 

[bilgistic]

I have a bad habit of saying things are "ridiculous!!" I'm pretty tightly wound and things annoy me. I bet no one here gathered that.

Ear piercings *can* be fixed after stretching, but it requires minor "surgery".

Edited June 23, 2015 by bilgistic

[Maharincess]

Are you talking about when people get those huge holes in their ears? That looks so gross. When they have the ring things out their ear lives are flippity flapping all over and it's nasty looking.

I'm all for doing what one wants with their bodies, I have 9 tattoos and have never regretted any of them, but the huge ear lobe thing just stumps me.

[bilgistic]

Yes, someone upthread said they can "go back", i.e., return to prestretched size, but large-gauge holes require surgery to repair, unlike a regular earpiercing or small-gauge piercing that may close after some time.