Oxford's Top 10 Most Irritating Phrases
 

Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases - Telegraph

The top ten most irritating phrases:

1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science

What others would you add?

I would add "the fact of the matter is..." not to mention all the workplace lingo like "synergy", "think outside the box", "the disconnect is..", we no longer have problems we have "opportunities".

I do, "from time to time", misuse the number eight listed: Shouldn't of (which is only correct in grammatical terms as "Shouldn't have"...)

Interesting to see the link is from the Telegraph, a great publication I venture to occasionally. :)

Phrases? I can't think of any, but I rarely ponder on such trivialities of what irks me in daily life; I ignore most of what occurs for my betterment.

Perhaps the overabundant instances of the phase "That's awesome", thus rendering virtually everything mundane because it's used so often, for nearly anything, by almost everyone.

to throw x or y under the bus. [[this one i really detest. where did i come from? what i detest most about it is that i use it sometimes. it's like a virus.]]
to be upside-down.
enlightened self-interest.
free enterprise system.

there are more. i'll post as i think of them.

A product as a solution: Instead of writing the program ourselves, we may have to buy a solution. ARGHHH

If you're buying a server from a company, you are buying a solution. Enterprise grade solution instead of big server.

Nine Eleven

- tragic event, annoying name.

"a bomb ripped through _____"

"President Bush..."

The phrase "at the end of the day" is in my own top 10.

I'll add these:
•going forward
•utilize
•in fact (or, worse: in actual fact)
•ironically (when used improperly--which, ironically, is most of the time)
•to be honest/to tell you the truth
•[insert tired metaphor here]

I'm sure I'll add more when I remember them.... :)

"I personally" think lists like these are stupid. It only further reinforces that some people need to get over trivial shit like this and worry about things that actually matter. I will say though that "Shouldn't of" is annoying just because it's flat out wrong.

You stole my comment.

Baraka, I love using "henceforth" in place of "going forward"

to leverage. [[i fucking hate this one. hate. it.]]

Like.

"He told me to see him in his office and I was, like, uh, why?"

"You know."

No, I don't know, or you wouldn't have to tell me.

The above used together.

"He's like, you know, awesome!"

It never ceases to amaze me when I go to interview the president of some company and he's talking like, you know, a valley girl. Sha.

"Whilst".

How about "while"? "While" not fancy-pants enough for ya?

Also: "At a high rate of speed." What, "fast" isn't official-sounding quasi-fascist enough for you, mr popo?

I don't know where my sister chameleoned this phrase from,
but I find it highly irritating.

"right right"

Perhaps it's also the way she uses it.
It comes across as impatient and dismissive.

Urban Dictionary: right

It's Canadian, or can be easily associated as such. I have no idea how I assimilated it into my speech, but I rightly cannot stop because it's so right good to say in the place of 'very', 'real' and the ilk. (additional: I believe quite a bit of anime adolescents have a predilection to utter "right right" after being assigned a task, but again, I have no idea how I know this.)

I was in Radio Shack the other day picking up a switch for a broken folding machine at work, and the kid working there started every sentence with "actually". At first I let it go, but after 6 or 7 times it really, really started to grate on me.

I'm done with actually for a while.

epic...

a person at work starts nearly every sentence with "so"

"where is john?" "so, the last time I saw him he was in the other room."

This is along the same lines as "utilize" for me. (But isn't nearly as bad.)

People like "utilize" because it makes what they're talking about sound more important...but superficially so.

I have a saying: "Why utilize 'utilize' when utilizing 'use' will do?"

That's awesome. You get bonus points for also using "nevertheless," "moreover," "wherewithal," "erstwhile," "forthwith," "heretofore," "mayhaps," "happenstance," and "whosoever."

Go!

"My friends..." reminds me of dubbed, TV-friendly versions of "motherfucker".

that's odd. I've never hear 'right right' used together. I'll keep my ears peeled to see if I can pick it up.


My recent distaste has been for verbs that have been turned into nouns. It seems that every meeting that I am in these days has somebody stating that a request is an "ask"

I.e. : " the ask here is to get a project plan finalized by sunday night"

In my defense, I only use "awesome" in conjunction with heavy sarcasm.

"Process mapping"
"In all actuality..."
"Whenever we were..."
"Usually always" as in "We usually always put the left shoe on before the right."
"99.9% of the time...."
"You're shitting me."
"Shut up."


My favorite lately to use when stupid people are annoying me is "Oh fer fok's saaayke" Brad-Pitt-in-Snatch style. It silences people quickly and makes them think.

The english language is not rocket science. I personally think Oxford can kiss my fairly unique ass. They shouldn't of posted some useless crap like this, With all due respect, at the end of the day, as long as people know what you're talking about, you're saying it right.

I guess they get even more irritating when used together. :)

Thank you for not using "utilized." :thumbsup:

How about "I could care less"... especially considering most people actually mean "I couldn't care less" when they say it. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

"New and Improved" pisses me off.

It's one or the other, but it can't be both. If it's new, it can't have been improved upon yet. If it's improved, it's something that has been around for a while and is now somehow better.

"Going forward" is something my boss loves using lately, and it's beginning to get on my nerves.

Also, the way people at work have been using "really?" is getting to me.
"This lady cut me off in traffic today, and I was like REALLY? REALLY? Then... (blah blah blah)" Jesus... I'm easily irritated.

I´ll let you go.

I am talking to someone on the phone or whatever, and they say "well, i´ll let you go" as if they control me or are doing me a favor.

Thanks your highness, how fucking magnanimous of you.

My daughter and her friends actually say "O M G" that's "L O L funny", of course when she says "whatever" I have to hold back...

basically ...hopefully ...level playing field...
You betcha! (unless you're Swedish)
how r u? (h8 text-speak)
diversity (when the correct word is variety, or divergent)
dude...dude... omg! how I hate dude!:mad:

Lindy

wow...like, no one said "thinking outside the box."
Actually, to be honest, I really thought it would of been utilized by now. :p

"it is what it is"

yeah, no shit!

" I promise"

I am guilty of using "I'll let you go," when on the phone.

It sounds clumsy and disingenous to my own ears when I say it.

I will work on not using it anymore.

"I gotta go now," is honest and simple.

I do enjoy using a handful of different phrases that to others might seem
hackneyed and over-the-top cliche,
but I love them.

"Heavens to Betsy" ( I believe the origin of this, is still a mystery)

Many years ago, I had an elderly babysitter who used, "oh! my lands",
as a mild exclamation.

I wonder who I am "driving crazy"...with this one.

Oh, I thought of another one: "impacts."

It's irritating when people use it as a synonym to "affect/effect."

i.e. "It will be interesting to see how it impacts the children...."

Those poor children.... :( They never saw it coming. Now look at them...they've been crushed to death. :sad:

So the lesson is: "impact" when used as something other than literally "striking with force" should be used carefully.

"The program had an impact on the children."
"The impact of the program is evident on the children."

NOT

"The program impacted the children deeply."
"The program is impacting the children on a large scale."
"We will see how the program impacts the children."

Please... I beg of you.

While they are only intenet abreviations of phrases, maybe it's the condensed nature of these that make them especially annoying to me:

FTW ...and even worse FTMFW

Btw, ( ;) ) I'm starting to get annoyed by my excessive use of "..."

make no mistake
they say
it is said
makes it pop
cool
good chance of networking
interface with someone
You know what I mean?

The list goes on

x-factor - can you even define it?

Orientate - first you orientate your map...

NO, you dont. Stop using it.

"bless you/his/her heart."