Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases

You are all wrong...

"With a view to..."

is the MOST ANNOYING PHRASE EVER!!!!!

I made the fatal mistake....


Really? I was not aware that I could converse with the dead.

"No problem!" instead of "You're welcome!"

So, if it was problematic... you would have said "no"?

The size of the list and the level of participation at the Telegraph is, dare I say it, awesome. A real CSI London. Needless to say, they are the errors of others. Lotta skins crawling, urges to kill and folks droven crazy! Some of you complainers are using improper grammar. Objectors, speech came and comes before thought. Correcting speech is listening to one�s own mind. George W. Bush wasn�t quaint, he was dangerous. He was a �worst case scenario� with no �range of possibilities.� Nothing changes unless someone complains. With Barak Obama there is going to be a mind in the White House, despite his few grammatical errors. Lazy speech yields lazy thought followed closely by decisions. It�s your decision.

Aside from the stupidity of the saying, �everyone has a right to their own opinion�, it is, his or her or his or her;improper use of relative and possessive pronouns.

At the end of the day, I personally think this article is fairly unique. With
all due respect, it's not rocket science. At this moment in time, it's a
nightmare, absolutely, to think otherwise. I don't know why it shouldn't of
been studied 24/7.

To overuse an overused cliche, these comments are a brilliant source of further material for me. In Damp Squid I erred on the side of caution (another cliche) in estimating how much people hate all these things.

Keep 'em coming, as a Yank might say.

"I was sick everywhere."
(With a big emphasis on "everywhere")
I am usually only sick in one place.

with regards to

Extremely average has to have a special place for management drivvel spouting tosseurs
as do;
touch base
offline [someone]
think out loud [try that in a library]
brought [a purchase]
long ball [it's spherical - hence intrinsically equal and not elongated in any vector]

I find it amazing when phrases which have hardly or never been used before seem suddenly indispensible when discussing a subject which has been heavily reported on. "Shoulder to shoulder" (aka let's all go to war together post 9/11) springs to mind and lately "toxic debt" (the global credit crisis).

The other expression I find particularly creepy is the one that has replaced personnel "human capital" - sounds a bit ominous to me, like we could all be rounded up and shippped off to the abttoir if necessary.

Here is a live recording Has anyone ever made a dead one?

''bear with me'' ...are there ANY uk secretaries answering the phone who do not use this warning that they have to put you on hold? Or do they mean ''bare with me'', conjuring up horrific visions of overweight Brits stripping off? Interestingly I have never heard a man use this phrase yet .

"brilliant", as in that was a brilliant steak.
"ex-patriate"

Talk WITH instead of talk TO: so how does one hear the other person? Or talk, with someone, to a third? Talk with him with her?

Meet WITH. Whom are you meeting with whom? If you just mean you are meeting Fred, what is the useless and misleading "with" doing there? Or even, Heaven help us, "meet up with ...". It used to be said that American is English spoken by foreigners. Are we all non-native speakers now?
Or do people think the more useless words they use, the better their speech?

And one other, "different TO" and, worse, "different THAN". Since when did even BBC announcers decide that "different FROM" must be replaced by such misuses? "To" is used with "similar", the very opposite of "different".

when given change by a shop assistant or waitress " there you go" what the Hell does that imply? That they have done me a favour by making change?
The worst phrase is still : "Gordon Brown, Prime Minister" it makes no sense at all

Awesome...

ObservingReality states " I always thought Brits sounded pretty dumb when they said "Value for Money." When we speak value, generally, and almost exclusively, it is in the context of money. Therefore, only the word "value" need be used."
He or She is probably from the USofA as most dumb Brits know there is Historical Value, Practical Value, Sentimental Value, Novelty Value, and of course, Monetary Value. Even us Stupid Aussies know that.

SPREAD THE WEALTH

"Are you alright?" for hello is especially annoying because it gives the addressee the distinct feeling that the actual answer to the question - of how she is - is not of interest, and in effect must be bulldozed over quite speedily. It's a subtly dominating thing - quite English in nature really. At the end of the day - it ain't polite.

"Blah blah blah" and
"Blah blah blah blah blah"

Saying the 3-blah sarcastically when someone is boring you is snarky and rude, but waaaaaaay worse IMHO is the 5-blah used as a verbal ellipsis in your own story. Learn to tell a better story.

'et cetera' pronounced 'ek cetera'

I hope this is edited and published as an insert in the Sunday Telegraph along with some commentary from some of the DT editors and writers. Good fun... and piercing.

And what of the simultaneously irritating and completely erroneously-used "beg the question"? People use it constantly when they mean simply "pose the question".

Wot no "Up for grabs" in the top ten? Shome mishtake shurely.

This was given to 'John and I' instead of 'John and me.

Why do so many people find it impossible to pronounce the letter 'w' when it occurs in the middle of a word as in drawing which is pronounced drorring?

"i'm not stupid"

I always wonder when people feel the need to say this

The use of the term "rock star" by the media to describe anyone who is a celebrity of the moment.

What does"second guess"mean?

"Moving Forward" that one drives me crazy. It's like it's the new catch phrase of the decade. Stop and think for a second here. Aren't most of us at least feeling like we are moving in a forward direction in life and experiences? Talk about stating the obvious.

How about the ridiculous phrase, 'One of the only...', used by BBC reporters and even learned professors and many others?

I dislike
"it behoves me to say..."
"Me Myself...
or
and how about yourself instead of you

"an expression that BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys has described as "the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice.""

The Portuguese have chips with rice all the time. Works for me!

actually, I don't seem to be able to find actually on this page

"Are you all right?" or "All right!!" instead of saying "Hello". No answer is required. This is especially annoying on the telephone.

You know...

What about the use of 'I refute' instead of 'I disagree, or I am going to argue my point, or defend myself against this allegation'? Even politicians who should know better, use this. Please educate anyone who is about to appear on TV on the correct use of this word. You do not refute something by just saying you disagree with it. Puh-lease! (Another one.)

"Around" such as "issues around" a particular subject. This usage is recent, yet annoyingly ubiquitous. Also (as mentioned by others) "hard working families" - used so often by GB, and which makes single people fee excluded. How about a law against discrimination against singles? Also, "trialling" for testing. The word trial comes from try. It is not a verb! "Going forward", "absolutely" etc etc etc.

There have been several comments on paragraphs that transcend irritation, but how about this one:-

I hear what you're saying but, with all due respect, it's not exactly rocket science. Basically, at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is you have got to be able to tick all the boxes. It's not the end of the world, but, to be perfectly honest with you, when push comes to shove, you don't want to be literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Going forward we need to be singing from the same songsheet but you can't see the wood from the trees. Naturally hindsight is 20/20 vision and you have to take the rough with the smooth before proceeding onwards and upwards. The bottom line is you wear your heart on your sleeve and, when all is said and done, this is all part and parcel of the ongoing bigger picture. C'est la vie (if you know what I mean).

'Can I get a...' instead of 'please may I have'.

'Can I get a decaf latte'...be my guest but dont burn yourself on the steamer...or perhaps do and while your sitting in A&E maybe the medical staff will let you 'get' some medical help I believe it's kept in the cupboard marked idiot.

For all the banks who've been using this one over the past year: "a negative return" or a "negative profit". Excuse me but isn't that a loss?!

There have been several comments on paragraphs that transcend irritation, bu how about this one:-

I hear what you're saying but, with all due respect, it's not exactly rocket science. Basically, at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is you have got to be able to tick all the boxes. It's not the end of the world, but, to be perfectly honest with you, when push comes to shove, you don't want to be literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Going forward we need to be singing from the same songsheet but you can't see the wood from the trees. Naturally hindsight is 20/20 vision and you have to take the rough with the smooth before proceeding onwards and upwards. The bottom line is you wear your heart on your sleeve and, when all is said and done, this is all part and parcel of the ongoing bigger picture. C'est la vie (if you know what I mean).

'Pre-prepare' is tautology.

To make something ready before an event is to prepare. You can't make something ready before before an event. Unless you're cleverer than Einstein.

Southern based pronunciation of
'drawring' drives me crackers!
DRAWING - only 1 R

It is also common to hear people say " you can't do nothing" as a way of saying you cannot do anything. Is it correct or absolute nonsense?

what about 'to literally decimate' and 'pro-active' (what is wrong with simply 'active' do we really need the 'pro' bit?

Journalists (US and UK)
"At this hour"
"On this day"

What's wrong with saying "now", or "today"???

Also the tendancy of news media to refer to people having been "angered" by a situation. how often are they actually angry (flushed red, prominent veins on the forehead etc), rather than just being in disagreement?

"Go, go, go, go, go" shouted US-style at a crowd the shouter wants to do something quickly without thinking.

It's only a few years old, though, I believe. So imagine how many viewers must have felt when watching a British TV drama about the approach of D-Day 1944, to hear a junior British officer yelling "Go, go, go, go, go" at his soldiers.

'Have you got a reward card at all?'

I either have, or don't have, a reward card - there is no 'at all' about it.

"To be perfectly honest with you" - a precursor to a lie if ever I heard one ...
"At this time" - usually heard said by American flight crew as in "at this time we are going to ask you to fasten your seat belts" ...
"By the way" - a favoured utterance of Glaswegians ...
and my alarming oxymoron of them all, much used by politicians ... "as I've made clear". You haven't, you've just made us more confused!

the over use and misuse of the word "like" especially by Americans eg " She said to me xxxx and I was like wow"

Good job! (Americans always say this to animals they are training or children who are performing some idiotic task.)

You might find "shouldn't of" to be an irritating phrase, but it shouldn't irritate you because it is ungrammatical -- because it isn't! I believe that "shouldn't of" has become so popular amongst native English speakers that now it IS grammatically correct. After all, I maintain, proper grammar is determined by the language as it is used. The rules of grammar are descriptive, not normative.

There is nothing wrong with "I personally".

Adverbs require verbs and, in English at least, verbs take personal pronouns.

So if you (personally) want to use the word "personally" it will inevitably be accompanied by "I", "you", "he", "she", "it" or "they".

It is tautologous, granted, but isn't that the point - it's used to emphasise that the action of a particular person or group was done by him or them?

What a waste of time! Oh dear oh dear, you would not only like to tell people how to live but how to speak as well! Get in a time machine and go back to Shakespeare's time and start berating him for his use of language why don't you? (during his time he was criticised for not having a degree and for using dialect in his plays). Our great language has evolved, middle class concerns about language have never changed anything. Innit?

I agree with all the responses....110% grrrr!

im sorry but you all REALLY need to get over it;...... you know what i meannnn innit!

'back to back' meaning consecutive.
As the world breeds more and more morons they adopt a pidgin English.

you know

Why "Have got" they are derived from to Have. Surely have is sufficient?

truth be told

"This is from my sister and I."

"He cam home with Mary and I."

"Between you and I."

"As you do"(this one makes me want to commit an act of physical violence.)

"As you would" (same as above)

The worst by far.........

"DIARIZE"

Yuk!

Beat that.

'its been a rollercoaster'when referring to some sort of trial or difficulty.

and the one that drives me mad 'two times more concentrated' instead of 'twice as .

I hate BBC journalists (who should know better) who say "exetra" when they mean "etcetera". And the BBC weather woman who insists on naming one country "Scotlind" when we all know it is a land, not a lind.
Most irritating of all though is BBC sports commentators who have a particularly bizarre sort of football speak, in which they use phrases such as "he's gone and put the ball in the top corner". We expect this from stupid footballers, but can't we expect professional commentators to be able to speak English?

A phrase which I have grown to dislike is 'academic superiority'.

I found my dislike growing as I read this article and its comments.

Two big ones for me: 'That will learn him' instead of teach him; and 'Can I lend a tenner'. No! I will lend, you will borrow. Ask correctly or you won't get it

So-and-so "heads up" the paperclips department. What's wrong with "heads"?

And when introducing someone at a conference, "And so, without further ado..."

This was recently uttered by a football pundit: "The goal was caused by laxadaisical defending."

Mixing lax and lackadaisical is a minor irritant, but what about the following?

"You know, I was like ... and he was so, you know, like ..."

The use of "you know" and, more recently, the American import "like" have reached epidemic proportions. Please try to build up our herd immunity against this linguistic disease. Thank you.

As we all head home on our various modes of public transport tonight, try and listen out for a teenager that doesn't use the word "LIKE" in every sentence. You will struggle to find one.

"My name is Jonathon Ross" should be in there somewhere

'Diva'.

Incorrectly used, particularly by X Factor judges, to describe a generously proportioned girl who is better than average at karaoke.

Ball park figure? Pushing the envelope?

Leaving the ly off adverbs i.e. quickly.... and al the spelling mistakes in some of these comments!

Freedom, justice and democracy in the same sentence.

Makes my skin crawl, to coin a phrase.

My least favourite expression is "going forward" as in "Our marketing strategy, going forward, is..."

.....LIKE!

Often used by idiot managers:

".....you'll have to make the time"

Sadly, I haven't yet managed to change the laws of physics.

'then' used usually by some counter assistant who informs me that'll be �5.50 then ..then what?

'Random' or 'randomly' or, even worse, 'randomer' to describe an entirely planned but perhaps slightly odd occurence or action.

"Oh my god! How random was that shop?"

To which I shudder.

How about:
'je ne sais quoi'
comprising of,
arranged over four floors,
mainstreaming,
paradigm,
compact (= small)
and,at least here in Brazil,'semi-new cars'.
Finally, could somebody explain, please, "an hotel".

So.

The trubbl is pipple don speke proper Englander no more, not like when i was a Children....literally. I blame the BBC.

"re-renovate" unless you are actually renovating for a second time.
"hot water heater" it's just a water heater!

Seems like most of the responses are from the UK, and I think everyone knows the US uses the most slang. I found it interesting that someone mentioned '3 weeks time', I have only heard that in the UK and Ireland, never in the states, but yeah, the media and business world is responsible for much of the 'lingo'.
Cheers

How about "in your own words"?
Whose words would I use?

I gave up reading the comments after about 15 minutes, but I never saw "at the top of the hour" (a sky news favourite) which just has to be the most ridiculous comment ever, no what I mean like ?

My pet hate is
"will you sign that for me"
usually said in a patronising manner by a young shop assistant

The phrase that really puts my teeth on edge is used by a young lady of my acquaintance who says: "I was like .... wotareyouon you silly mare?"
I hate 'kids' for children
And 'nan' for grandma! Like, where did that come from?

"I'm not being funny" , as "this ,may seem like a drop in the ocean" from a government "perspective" but now that the "credit crunch" is "in full swing" does this mean that the "weapons of mass destruction" are no longer a threat to "national security" or "Our Boys" in "I -raq (Its Iraq, you Yanks)! "Going Forward" surely this must ease tensions with the "coalition forces" - (what coalition)?

Synergy? First annoyed me twenty odd years ago when it started to be used by the multinational I worked for. Synergy is actually the effort needed to start an affair with your best friend's wife.

"I feel sick" - except when someone genuinely does of course. If I could, everytime I hear that phrase I'd force the person to sit with their head over a bucket for ten minutes - at least.

The majority of you don't actually give alternative words or phrases to use instead of supposed "cliches" that really aren't cliches as much as they are unavoidable bits of speech. Many of these words and phrases don't have an alternative form to use without making it sound like you're trying to put variation into a "cliched" phrase. (*!!!--->IN OTHER WORDS<---!!!*, makes it obvious of the phrase you meant to say)

What about "per se" when "as such" used to be sufficient?

What about "per se" when "as such" used to be sufficient?

"For free" instead of just "free." The urge to kill rises when I hear this one.

So does "next up." Arghhhhh!

The inlaws use "brought" in place of "bought" and it drives me crazy.

Bored of

'Liaise' and 'lets touch base'.

Just awful.

At the end of the day...its bedtime isn't it?

'Go For It'

Anybody who uses this phrase should have therapy to cure them .... Preferably therapy involving a large wooden club .......

Journalists (US and UK)
"At this hour"
"On this day"

What's wrong with saying "now", or "today"???

Also the tendancy of news media to refer to people having been "angered" by a situation. how often are they actually angry (flushed red, prominent veins on the forehead etc), rather than just being in disagreement?

"To be honest..."

"To be fair..."

"At the end of the day..."

"We can bounce ideas off each other.."

African-American. Why introduce labels?

I hate when people say something like: "In three weeks time."...
Ofcourse! what else could it be? 3 weeks weight?!

"Deteriate".

Out there

How about adding these phases often used in customer services:

"Same differance" if it's differant it's not the same
"Almost exactly" Again it's either exact or not
"It's not a problem" if it's your job it shouldn't be a problem
"I'll fix it so.." is it broken then?
"Bare with me" NO I will not!

"How's life?" I usually reply, "I like it" (don't you?)"

How about adding these phases often used in customer services:

"Same differance" if it's differant it's not the same
"Almost exactly" Again it's either exact or not
"It's not a problem" if it's your job it shouldn't be a problem
"I'll fix it so.." is it broken then?
"Bare with me" NO I will not!

'Hard working families' by Gordon Brown trying to butter up conned voters whilst ignoring hard working individuals and lazy families.

We will do 'the right thing' by Gordon Brown without actually telling us what that might be leaving him room to carry on making it up as he goes along.

'Let's all be perfectly clear about this.' By Labour politicians fishing for extra time.

'Kids' used by almost everyone to incorrectly refer to children (kids are young goats)

'i am loving this' and 'we were loving it' baby speak style of incorrect tense use that seems to be growing.

"rationalize" for "fire"

People who write about that which irks them the most, then feel the need to explain why. Presumably for those of us stupid enough to not understand their gripe.

Step up to the plate
Gimme five
Listen up
Freakin'
gotten
Right!
Cool
Dude

The frequency of Americanisms heard over the BEEB waves makes me cringe ...soooooooo much - where is 'very'; soooo good! me and me and me ..went to the exhibits - oh really !; may be its true - where is 'perhaps' gone, I am the one That did it..oh lord; Please banish them from any kind of speech utterances.

To see the BEEB take up Americanisms, cheap unreflecting, over its waves makes me cringe soooo much ...where is 'very' gone? oh it is sooo good!! me and me and me went to the exhibits - oh really you did?; It is I that did it ?; May be ... Can we think and banish these off once and for all times ?

Look,

- at the start of a sentence when people mean 'Listen, inferior person ..'

"So I turned around and said..."

I simply said
top ten
thinking outside the box
you have a nice day

What about current favourite of politicans "....because it's the right thing to do"

1. Human as a noun (human beings)

2. Ending sentences with a preposition

3. Personifying inanimate objects

4. Corporate speak (spinning bad news)

5. Movie and sport idiomatic expressions at work

At the end of the day I personally hate this Fairly unique phrase that I am hearing allot st this moment in time. With all due respect I absolutely find to journalists - It's a nightmare and it shouldn't of entered the mainsteam but I hear 24/7 that it's not rocket science it's the
Credit Crunch - Arrrrrgh!

Anyone smiling ? ;-) ( hate this too!)

Having said that-----

BASICALLY SPEAKING IS THE WORST OF THE WORSTEST.

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I PERSONALLY and ABSOLUTELY think IT'S A NIGHTMARE that AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME you presumptuously assume to created a list of FAIRLY UNIQUE things we SHOULDN'T OF said but do say 24/7, after all AT THE END OF THE DAY, it's just talking, IT�S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

"You know?" at the end of a sentence, especially when used by someone struggling with a vocabulary too small to actually explain what they mean!

"Haych" for the letter "H", when the 'H'sound is meant to be silent, as in "Aitch"

Hearts and minds. Shock and awe. Insurgents. Regime change. Ethnic cleansing. Extraordinary rendition (recent wars have given us many vile expressions)
Going forward (that one is like a virus among management types! It helps you to spot the pod-people though). Adrenaline-fuelled.

"from a high level perspective"

"Anyways" is not a word...
it is used so often now, but
still sounds like fingernails
down a chalkboard ....

"You want to have your cake and eat it, too."

What on earth is the point of having cake if I'm not going to eat it?

Reiterate or iterate...There,I've said it again

Does anyone else hate "win win situation"?

"functionality" should be on this list

on-going situation

I�ll flag that up for you

downsize

ten things to do before you die

and the oscar goes to ...

education, education, education ...

gestalt

run that by me again

in the fullness of time

not to put too fine a point on it

not to beat about the bush ...

open and shut case

independent inquiry

golden rule

sustainable growth

end game

zero sum game

one step at a time

endogenous growth

tinpot dictator

the crowd are standing on their feet

I work in the US and the most annoying phrase over used here is "can you reach out to them"
Makes my skin crawl everytime!

'Celebrity' should only apply to a person who has achievements or talents we should celebrate.

'Very much so' instead of 'Yes'.

...the following needs to be slurred slightly for the right effect. massively overused in hiphop culture

"knowwha'm sayin?"
(you know what I'm sayin?)
"y'antambout?"
(you know what I'm talkin about?")
"..na'mean?"
(know what I mean?)

How about, "Ya know"
That one's really annoying!

"This will absolutely blow you away!" need a V-chip to blow out this phrase from TV, movies, internet, absolutely everywhere!

Trust me

"Educator" instead of "teacher". If they educated we wouldn't have so many high street neanderthals.

Most annoying US business "ism"..."paradigm"

Most annoying US radio/TV" ism"...."winningist"....only in the US!

Last but not least ...."alternate" instead of "alternative".

I detest the phrase "Don't get me wrong" often used to semi-apologise for having said something controversial.

"Irregardless, I could care less."

Power outage,we always said blackout.

'These things happen'

How about "not so much"?

I find myself saying "No Problem" in response to "Thank Yous" because the cultural "You're Welcome" response confirms that what I have done for you was a burden on me. I feel as though saying "No Problem" leaves the issue at a neutral point.

"It makes no logical sense."

"It's a situation where..."

Get over it. No really.. I mean get over it. We all use these cliches and tired phrases and while they are annoying, they also are a great way to instantly connect with another human being due to their familiarity. So I say... get over it which also may be overused, but you likely know what it means.

must reiterate the extremly annoying "no problem." "You're welcome," or "certainly" are appropriate responses. Whether something is problematic or not is of no interest.

please advise

Christopher Wilson: Next time you hear "thinking out of the box" ask the perpetrator what happens if the answer is in the box?
Why should I be the only one who gets strange looks at work.

You said, "Also making the top 10 is the grammatically incorrect 'shouldn't of', instead of 'shouldn't have.'"

This is actually wrong all the way around. While still incorrect, most are not using the word "of" at all, but are adding an additional contraction of "have," which makes it "'ve." Really what they're actually saying is shouldn't've. It is distinctly NOT the word of.

Again it is still incorrect, but I wanted to point out that your example was also incorrect.

"gutted" "gobsmacked"
2 horrible words

'Be true to yourself'

"I tell you what..."

Astonished 'rollercoaster ride' didn't make it. Every rollercoaster comparison and metaphor makes me want to throttle the perpetrator.

Of course we all have our pet hates don't we, at the end of the day...

Oh, I see Peter Carrington agrees with me. And Frances Cox. And Sindy, and Crispin Pines. Yes. Please can we announce some sort of rollercoaster embargo?

"To be honest..."

At the end of the day with all due respect, I personally think this fairly unique list absolutely shouldn't of be considered as 24/7 rocket science. It's a nightmare at this moment in time!

What about "In My Humble Opinion", is so untrue!

And what about "Change We Need"

Oooops, sorry!

On the first day in journalism school, I learned not only clich� phrases to avoid, but the top 13 ambiguous words to avoid if at all possible:

Facility, issue, case, basis, field, activity, experience, question, situation, condition, character, process, nature, problem.

It was a trick question.

Thats unacceptable.

Unprofessional

I've always disliked:

"Hindsight is 20/20"

"Can they do that?" or "You can't do that!" when the person just did. Your question should be, "Do I have any legal remedy?"

@kathleen

To be more correct, a single sandwich is a "panino," though several of them together are "panini."

At $7 each you'd think the restauranteur who wrote the menu could at least look it up.

I can't believe some of my favorites to point out aren't at all represented, though perhaps they are U.S. business"isms":
"flesh out"
"circle back"
"spearhead"
"we'll cross that bridge when we come to it"
"touch base"
"as per"
"In my experience"
"the sky's the limit"
"you know what I mean? (especially when preceded by "I mean, honestly")
"on the other hand"
"8am in the morning"
"following up"
"it's a given that..."
"moving forward"
"the gloves are off"
"on/off/under the table"
"and just for the record"
and finally, the doubly blasphemous: "a-whole-nother ballgame"

My personal # 1 most annoying phrase:

"My bad"

ARGH.

People who use invite as a noun ("Here is an invite to my party.") when its actually a verb ("I am inviting you to my party.") and there is a perfectly good noun for the item ("Here is an invitation to my party.")

This list is unbe-LIEVE-able, y'know, but, y'know, having said that, hey, give myself a break and let me introduce a better term, which I find very useful: "Someotherwhere." But, then, I've always ridden to the sound of a different cannon.

"chase lounge" for chaise longue

It is what it is.

"Good for you"

"Do what you gotta do"

"shabby chic" (crap furniture)
"at risk" (social misfit)
"functionality" (function)
"enabler" (helper)
"to be honest with you" (not usuallu honest with you)
"I thought to myself" (how would you think to anyone else?)

This list is unbe-LIEVE-able, y'know, but, y'know, having said that, hey, give myself a break and let me introduce a better term, which I find very useful: "Someotherwhere." But, then, I've always ridden to the sound of a different cannon.

pet peeve phrase:
"panini sandwich"

If you don't know what it is, you shouldn't be paying over $7 to eat it.

My son and I recently combined my 2 most hated phrases:

With all due respect
No offense

Now we say "with all due offense".

Works for me!!! (another big no-no)

My additions to the list:

Phrases: "Going forward" instead of "In future", "Give me the heads-up" instead of "Warn me", "Exactly" and "Of course" instead of "Yes".

Mispronunciations (unfortunatley becoming more common from the BBC): "Sickth" instead of "Sixth", "Fith" instead of "Fifth" and "Rooves" instead of "Roofs".

"Moving forward!" Why suddenly does everyone use this phrase?

At the end of the day,with all due respect, when all is said and done, I personally feel that the use of cliches negatively robustifies our speechification. Lake Superior State University has been publishing a banned word and phrase list for years.

This is way too easy. And some of the pet peeves are a little petty anyway. (Change "I shouldn't think so" to a simple "no" every time? That would sound awfully abrupt.)

So how about words or phrases that are not correct but that you like anyway?

I like ones that have local color and also serve a genuine purpose. "Y'all" and "youse" and "you'uns" fill a grammatical hole and they just sound friendly. The use of "might could" in North Carolina (as in, "We might could change the logo from black to red") communicates a gentler tone of suggestion to those who are accustomed to hearing it than the grammatically correct phrasing. It really gives that Southern courtesy vibe.

The phrase "gunned down" annoys me intensely. Was the subject of this action belted over the head with a gun or actually shot with it?. Should be either "shot and wounded" or "shot dead". Thank you for letting me get this one off my chest.

The one that annoys me the most is the use of "revolutionary" in advertisements. The concept of zero, or the microprocessor? Revolutionary. A new shape of toothbrush or a weird additive in hand lotion? Not so revolutionary.

"Innovative" is similarly irritating.

The one that annoys me the most is the use of "revolutionary" in advertisements. The concept of zero, or the microprocessor? Revolutionary. A new shape of toothbrush or a weird additive in hand lotion? Not so revolutionary.

"Innovative" is similarly irritating.

"THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!"
People will say this overused line when no one was previously talking about anything. Drives me crazy!

thinking outside the box

1. I can't stand memos that include phrases like "if you would like to join the bookclub, please see myself..."
"See myself"? What brand of English is that?

2. the word "bizarre" is much overused

That salesman's favorite "the low hanging fruit"

"Best,"
Brendan

Best what? Are people saying that they're the best? You're the best? Best Regards? Are people too lazy to finish typing the thought?

Very annoying!

OK, I had a physics lecturer, right, OK? who used, OK, the words OK, (right?) and Right, (ok?) so frequently - right, ok, right - that he appeared to be bordering, right, on the edge of insantity. OK?
Right.



OK!

please do not forget the annoying "I've got." And many thanks to AOL for elevating that with their "you've got mail" corruption. Is "you have mail" that difficult to say?

Pre-owned vehicle

what about "Grassroots" as in a grassroots movement. I'm so tired of hearing it.
Also, "melting pot" referring to cultural diversity, "America is a melting pot of ideas"
if that's true, why aren't there more interesting ways of saying things.. perhaps a "wok pan" of ideas.
Also, I have a prof that always refers to general schedule information as "housekeeping issues" which is very irritating .

The term "AMAZING" is just soooooo overused these days.

Don't believe me...? Let someone start describing something-- ANYTHING-- take note: it WILL, no doubt, be...'amazing'

as per

I do not see why "I personally" is so irritating. It contrasts a person's stance with that of others, as short-hand for "Unlike others, I do X" or "While you do X, I do Y". Emphasising "I" often goes unheard.

No excuse for "should of" "shouldn't of" in writing, though. "Should've" in speech is fine.

What's wrong with 'it's a nightmare'?
OK, nothing is a nightmare except for a nightmare of course but that kind of literalism should halted at birth. Have you people no imagination?

My favorite irritating phrase is: "I say,"...."

I think this list literally represents a 'Perfect Storm'.

I hereby declare the use of the following words and phrases punishable by no less than 5 years in prison:

Guru
Expert
Blurb
Irregardless
PIN number
ATM machine
SAM missile
Carne asada steak (Taco Bell uses it a lot), etc.

And R.I.P. to these fine words that have since been bastardized and rendered laughable monstrosities:

Patriot
Freedom
Liberty
Terror

and my all time favorite (thank you Fox News for creating this one):

Homicide bomber

"Disconnect" as a noun or, well, as anything...

"Facilitate"

"Utilize"... you mean, "use"?

"I just wanted to reach out to you to have a conversation about..."

Putting "at" at the end of a question regarding the location of something... "where'd you get that at?"

"GWB has kept us safe from ANY major terrorist attack on US soil since Sept. 11"

really? what about major terrorist attacks on US soil ON sept 11 and before?

If you are hearing 'on accident' you are probably waiting 'on line', and you are in New York. If you are hearing 'prolly',rather than probably, and want to 'ax' a question about it, you aren't speaking Ebonics, you're in Pittsburgh (as I am). These things are called dialects and we here in Pittsburgh are proud of ours. So, if yinz roll your eyes in Steeler-town becuz I point out your car needs washed...yinz are welcome to go upstreet, past where the Murphy's used to be dahntahn, , come upta my hawse and say that and we will...invite you to supper. Seven fishes if it's Christmas, corned beef at St. Pat's, pascka for Easter and pierogies anytime. We're just kinda like that here. We'll be nice to you even if you are insufferable boors and snobs. I'd say that this is 'brilliant', but there is nothing more irritating. p.s. how about spelling? I just hate it when a lot is spelled alot.

I sat through a presentation given by a communicator in which "really" and "actually" occurred every few seconds. Really.

I cannot STAND the phrase "to think outside the box" - especially since it is used to convey the idea that one is an original thinker. Using such a boring cliche suggests that the speaker is anything BUT original!

I cannot STAND the phrase "to think outside the box" - especially since it is used to convey the idea that one is an original thinker. Using such a boring cliche suggests that the speaker is anything BUT original!

Well, at the end of the day i personally think that each of these phrases are fairly unique. It's absolutely not rocket scient and it's not a nightmare at this moement in time to use all these phrases. With all due respect, I am sorry. I shouldn't of done this. Peace out. Keep in touch 24/7.

"was the brainchild of"

UG!

Does anyone really say "shouldn't of"? I think it's a person mumbling "shouldn't have".

Several colleagues and I have privately rebelled against the use of "moving forward", a phrase constantly repeated by our managers. Every time they utter these words in the office, we discreetly shuffle forward an inch or two. By the end of a meeting, we are sometimes all leaning hard into the table, having "moved forward" several times...
Another annoying abuse of the language pertains to the abuse of the phrase: "speaking to an issue". The usage may be grammatically correct, it is still annoyingly overused. I prefer to talk "about" things than "to" them. As far as I'm concerned, talking "to" things is like talking to a tree thinking it's the King of Prussia...

Basically
My side
What's up?

"Very true."
"What it is is that it is not etc....."
"At this time...." [tr: now.]

In France, an Academy picks and weighs
Those words which aptly say the ways
In which a Frenchman's lively criticism
Conveys his shrug at business' britishisms.

"Post lunch." (it's rarely "post breakfast" or "post dinner.")

Add 'No brainer' to the list

"the human condition", especially when preceded by "Speaks to"

"Light years", especially when used temporally

"further" for "farther"

"Due to" for "Because of"

"You do the math."

"From [item] to [item] to [item]..."

"Up to [some amount] or more!"

"It's your [item]. [action]". See every other commercial on TV for this gem. For example, "It's your life. Be there." Does anyone even remember what this was advertising?

"Got [something-other-than-milk]?" Got grammar? Got originality? No? Get bent!

"I mis-spoke" (instead "caught lying my arse off")

"Make no mistake" (instead "I'm about to mis-speak")

How about the usual response given to the words "thank you" ----- "No problem" ?

How about the usual response given to the words "thank you" ----- "No problem" ?

'The proof is in the pudding' instead of 'The proof of the pudding is in the eating'

People like Lew -- who is probably not an American -- claiming that "The War on Terror" is irritating. GWB has kept us safe from ANY major terrorist attack on US soil since Sept. 11 but has received nearly zero credit for it.

The WORST: "Due to the current state of the economy..."

No mention of the irritating "for free." Something was either free or one got it for nothing.

you haters !

what about acronyms?

IMHO, AFAIK what had me ROFLING was the huge amount of... hell, this is the language of the devil

As far as I am concerned they left out the most overused and irritating phrase of all: "You know..."
Whatever happened to the simple "uh...?"

Scooter, it is not unphased, it is unfazed.

as if
are we having fun yet?
git'r done
my bad

My personal hated favority is "Wassup"

Jack,
When someone asks?
How are things? The reply is, "Everythings copastetic"

The word you're looking for is "copacetic".

Awesome; being 'aarsum'
Teenagers lingo, instead of - 'this' or 'that' is 'diss or dat'
A new Americanism, is using 'ality' where it's unnecessary; 'Directionality' instead of Direction.

Very irritating

"The war on Terror" Thanks GWB!

"Coming of age"

Why do these morons in the USA keep asking me "how are you"? and when I take the time to answer them it quickly becomes obvious that they really don't give a damn.

Also "no problem" for "you'welcome"

yeah but no but yeah but

"my next door neighbor." arrgh.

Maybe it is sad to be upset by these "bad" expressions. I find it pleasant, however, to hear English spoken correctly and elegantly. The speaker doesn't have to sound posh, but simply to show that they are not careless in their use of English. It matters particularly for people such as TV & radio presenters. When it comes to professionally written communications, there is no excuse at all for the use of bad English.

Before criticising others, it it as well to check one's knowledge with an up to date dictionary. For example, the use of the word "enormity" to refer to "huge size or significance" was reported in these Comments as incorrect. It is, in fact, now generally accepted as correct use.

Finally, I would add two more "hates" to the list:

1) "bored of/fed up of" (how ugly that sounds!) instead of "bored with/by"

2) The increasing misuse of "less" and "fewer".For example "there were less people voting than last year".

Hmm I'm guessing these people have nothing better to do than sit around and be anoyed about how people talk sorry to tell you but you cant do anything about it

"Needless to say" followed immediately by what the speaker just admitted was needless to say.

I hear people say "between you and I" all the time these days. It's "between you and me"!

Not as bad as what he thought...
GRRRR.
L
EAVE OUT THE "WHAT"!
- Not as bad as he thought.

That superfluous "what" drives me crazy.

People who refer to me as 'yourself'. It happens in shops and Customer Service calls and drives me mad. "Is it for yourself?" instead of "is it for you?". Where did this come from?

I kind of really dislike the continuous use of the word "retro" on websites selling secondhand stuff to describe old things which aren't retro but actually from the 50s (or when ever) which makes them the real thing. My understanding is that "retro" is somehing made today to look old. Have a nice day.

It is a shame to spoil an article about rancid English with a statement so obvious as to be almost a tautology: "...the grammatically incorrect 'shouldn't of'...".

Putting "ever" at the end of something or "really" in front i.e. The best ever/really really quite amazing.

Also "mofo"

"Let me tell ya". Do I look like I'm trying to stop you? Do you really need my permission? A favorite among U.S. football broadcasters.

floundering vs. foundering
flounder vs. founder

"Don't get me wrong, but ..."

Nevertheless needs to be said!

needless to say that...

All low and middle level managers constantly using the word 'strategy' in its various forms. Not everything they do has to start with 'strategic'! They are only tactical and need to realise that.

His 'untimely death,' as if there is usually a good time for it.

It's been mentioned here a few time, but must add my vote for "on the ground". I believe it began with "boots on the ground" to describe land forces as opposed to air or naval forces, but then began to be applied to any situation or set of facts, as in "the situation on the ground".

His 'untimely death,' as if there is usually a good time for it.

"It is what it is." - said with great gravity and profundity.

"actually"...."actually"...."actually"..."actually"...."actually"..."actually"....

"actually"...."actually"...."actually"..."actually"...."actually"..."actually"....

"Infamous" used for someone famous and not necessarily of bad repute

"Exactly". Even worse and more over-used than "absolutely". While not a common phrase, a recent reference I found amusing (and actually was written out during an education class) was to the "Noble Prize". While it is indeed noble, it is Nobel. Ha. Where is the "10 most annoying i-m prhases/acronyms list"? LOL, OMG, tru dat, fer shiz...

Same difference.

another one, "ping me" uggh!

"To be perfectly honest"
"to be frank"
"public outcry"
using "she" as a way to be gender neutral but it's really condescending

Quite literally

Make no mistake, ...

Quite literally

Make no mistake, ...

Makes me wonder if people are watching too much TV if they are this irritated with word usage. Imaginary people on TV and news casters use those phrases a lot. Thus, the repeated usage of these phrases in everyday life.
Turn off the little box in your house that brings your friends to visit everyday. You can do without them for at least once a week.

"At the end of the day, the bottom line is that we have to move forward"

The phrase "Not for nothing" immediately adds the utterer to my list of people to whom I wish never to speak again.

To "Second Guess" is an American (I believe) expression that means to make a guess at something where a more educated estimate has already been made. For instance: "I'm not going to second-guess Gordon Brown's forecast for the economy."
I don't have strong feelings about its use. For some reason however certain people in the UK seem to think it means simply to guess. Drives me mad.

Also use of "gratuitous" which means unsolicited or undeserved, but is inherently neutral, to mean nasty or bad.

Using an expression you don't understand doesn't ever make you sound clever.

I always find it irritating to read "paradigm shift" to indicate a significant change.

I think "shouldn't of" is probably mistaken for the double contraction - "shouldn't've" which is bad grammar also. I've never heard "shouldn't of" spoken. However, I have said and heard "shouldn't've" spoken.

When someone asks?
How are things? The reply is, "Everythings copastetic"

"Don�t mind if I do"

going forward

I will return your call at "my earliest convenience."

I think all this nitpicking on the use of language is ridiculous. Anchoring a definition or usage to a particular word or phrase is and has always been subjective to the speaker. The plasticity of language is well documented. Simply labeling others as stupid or uneducated because they don't adhere to particular elitist nuances only proves how anal you are and displays your superiority complex.

Have a good one.

A good one WHAT?

Baybmama-babydaddy

Having said that.

"It is what it is!"

Irregardless.

What about text talk? Most of my friends, despite my protestations (or perhaps because of them), insist on communicating with "OMG" and "lol x". I fear that soon, they will actually use those abbreviations in real speech...

To the person who "corrected" the incorrect phrase "spitting image" to "spirit and image", your correction is incorrect. The original form of the phrase is "spit and image", commonly reduced in casual speech to "spit 'n' image", in the same way that "rock and roll" becomes "rock 'n' roll".

To "Second Guess" is an American (I believe) expression that means to make a guess at something where a more educated estimate has already been made. For instance: "I'm not going to second-guess Gordon Brown's forecast for the economy."
I don't have strong feelings about its use. For some reason however certain people in the UK seem to think it means simply to guess. Drives me mad.

Also use of "gratuitous" which means unsolicited or undeserved, but is inherently neutral, to mean nasty or bad.

Using an expression you don't understand doesn't ever make you sound clever.

To "Second Guess" is an American (I believe) expression that means to make a guess at something where a more educated estimate has already been made. For instance: "I'm not going to second-guess Gordon Brown's forecast for the economy."
I don't have strong feelings about its use. For some reason however certain people in the UK seem to think it means simply to guess. Drives me mad.

Also use of "gratuitous" which means unsolicited or undeserved, but is inherently neutral, to mean nasty or bad.

Using an expression you don't understand doesn't ever make you sound clever.

My vote goes to: The usage of the word "Indian" when referring to anybody other than a person from India.

'Almost Exactly'

Surely a top ten entry?

"obama" While this is annoying now it will severely grating once the USA is turned totally socialist here in a few months. We'll see his policies RAMMED down the throat of the nation's citizens.

"Our thoughts are with"..."at this time". Almost as insincere as: "We apologise IF..."

where are you at?

it's: where are you. i hear it so much I walk around with my eyes permanently rolled back, uhg!!

"Our thoughts are 'with' [the family]'at this time'". Almost as insincere as: "We apologise IF [people have been offended/inconvenienced].

absolutely amazing.

'Almost Exactly'

Surely a top ten entry?

I am shocked, shocked, by Mark Wright's November 07, 2008 use of "at this moment in time" when he means "at this point in the time frame" (Said by a Bush appointee trying to defer her sworn testimony to a congressional investigating committee by another 0.7 seconds.)

"Think outside the box."has my nomination since it's a semantic nil as well.

Make your way instead of "go"

Defining moment
Historic (used for virtually any event nowadaays)
Very historic

When anything unpleasant happens these days we are 'devastated'

In fairness to me (or you or indeed anyone else).

Safe as houses

- actually you don't hear that very often anymore...

When anything unpleasant happens these days we are 'devastated'

In fairness to me (or you or indeed anyone else).

"Y'nowameen?"
"Innit?"

Not a phrase, but there are too many people who confuse "were" with "where". For example: "We where out walking."

Misuse of the the word "enormity." Barack Obama take note that "the enormity of the task ahead" is nonsense unless you are planning evil!

American, perchance?

" The ONE thing that drives me insane is the insertion of the word "and" into numbers.

"One hundred AND one"
"Two thousand AND eight"
"Four hundred AND twenty-two thousand"

I always ask them if they are "Twenty AND six" (or whatever) years old. "

One (of several) things I find irritating is the opposite of the above. Another is omitting the "on" before a day of the week: "The President announced Tuesday..."

"There's" instead of "There are"
"Bear with me"
"Like" instead of "as if"

about a dozen times a day, a colleague of mine says "it's all fun and games", when it clearly isn't all fun and games.

"fit for purpose"

"I hear what you are saying" - which translates to -> "I don't give a damn about your opinion and I want you to shut up; in truth I ignored you in order to remember what I am about to say and I think it is more important than whatever it was you were bleeting on about"
and ...
"statistically speaking" with no mathematical qualifications.

'Almost Exactly'

Surely a top ten entry?

"absolutely"....I hate that word and people on TV chat shows use is all the time...gets on your nerves after a while..

"I'm loving it"
It seems to have gained popularity from a cetain fast food advertising campaign.
I've heard TV presenters use it, radio DJs etc.
"Love" is a state verb and, therefore, has no "ing" form.

I are celebrating.

I really hate "brainstorming" and "Slashed... as in share prices or interest rates or fuel costs" but, like most of the "phrases" listed, these are words not phrases. An interesting oxymoron is "NewsPaper".

'Almost Exactly'

Surely a top ten entry?

@Stephane
on November 09, 2008
at 02:23 PM

You have got some serious definition problems.

I think it is quite possible for people on both sides of the political spectrum to agree to similar definitions of you terms. You seem to be of a right wing particularly racist/homophobic bent, so it surprises me that you include terms like "War against Terror" that Republicans came up with themselves.

Just a few things out of many:

7) neocon (used to smear conservatives) When most people say neocon they are actually attempting to distinguish the William F. Buckly style Conservative from the Bush style Conservative. The major difference being neocon favor concentrating large amounts of power in the executive branch as opposed to favoring smaller government.

10) community (as in "gay community" or "Muslim community") many people also describe the conservative community or the pro-life community. Are you opposed to these usages? I think the term is accurate in that is describes a group of people who share ideas

14) sex workers (for prostitutes) This phrase is used because it encompasses more than conventional prostitution. It can mean sex phone work, stripping, professional domination with out sex, and more.

17) indigenous Americans (for Indians. This makes immigrants of all Americans who arrived after the Indians.) Actually it is factual to describe all Americans who arrived after the Native American's immigrants or descendants of immigrants. I don't know what cut off in time you were envisioning for the label immigrant. 1700? 1800? 1900? I don't know what possible justification you could make.

18) peace activists (for terrorist-sympathizers and supporters) Seriously? Most people who support peace are against terrorism as it is VIOLENT!

My manager keeps suggesting some really stupid things during discussion with a phrase "I'm just thinking aloud". Which we always keep thinking "dont think aloud, just think properly" :)

My pet peeve is "exact same". It makes me crazy.

"it was surreal"

Describing something as ironic when it is clearly sarcastic.

The phrase "New and Improved". How can anything be both?

"I myself..." makes me want to cover my ears and run away.

I have a few observations and linguistic peeves:

1. "going green" turns me green every time I hear it.

2. "Where do you stay?" is actually more correct than "where do you live?". The answer to the latter question from any non-deceased person is presumably, "everywhere".

3. To Robet: the phrase "Let's put some lipstick on this pig and call it a day" means "let's take a farm animal home and celebrate the end of the workday in private" (don't ask).

4. One time I heard a friend say "So, I AXED him", and I responded "Omigod, you mean you used a real AXE! Was there a lot of blood?" Unphased, he clarified, "Nah, man, I mean I AXED him a QUESTION". Unintentionally hilarious!

5. Another friend enquired of me "Can you borrow me $10?", to which I replied "Sure, I will pay you back really soon". I found her momentary confusion amusing.

6. The word "prolly" to mean "probably".

7. "I landed a job" is trite (except possibly for newly hired aviators). Try "I got a job", "I was hired for a job", etc.

8. PC-induced ungrammatical constructions, e.g. "It's every person's right to defend themselves" (ignorant-sounding, failed attempt to include both genders).

One final note, y'all: it's just fine to be droppin' your final g's when speakin' in the American South, honeychild.

"MY FRIENDS!"

The phrase that drives me nuts is "my bad"

David appears to be looking for excuses to strike "subalterns."

Incredible...They are just words and as such just tools to get you somewhere,why blame on tools when you can blame on boogie?
what is all this fuss?

I am sorry to tell cr that I frequently see "should of" and "shouldn't of" in written work, even by law graduates.

Just one word - 'Well'.....Listen to how nine out of ten pundits start to answer a question and you'll get the point!

The university scene in America is littered with "Classic", "Epic", "Epic Fail", "Epic Win".

Other American head-scratchers include:

"It's a doggy dog world!" (Originally "dog eat dog world")

"Long Story Short"

"He's the spitting image of his father!" (Originally 'spirit and image')

"From the get-go"

"I'm gonna piggy-back on that statement"

"Be safe; make good decisions"

"What" as used in TV game shows.

What actor played ... in ...?

Much better would be:
Which actor ...

The use of the word "power" to mean electrical power, as in "Half the residents of St. Louis are still without power." Maybe they should register to vote!

"What" as used in TV game shows.

What actor played ... in ...?

Much better would be:
Which actor ...

Y'all need to chill the f*ck out. I couldn't give a flying flip what words someone uses to express something as long as it's intelligible.

"World Class" Most of the world has little class so how is this a good thing?
"Gots" as in He gots to do something.

"Alls" as in alls you have to do...
All and got do not have an "s".
"Take and..." You just do something, you don't take and do it.

I was having a gloomy day until I read these comments. Now my belly hurts!
The ones I hate:
been there done that
tongue in cheek
nothing as a free lunch
no f$%##@ way!!!
lemme add my 2 cents
I'll be a happy camper
stunningly beautiful
that's hilarious (when said with a serious expression in reaction to something that wasn't even mildly funny)
Overuse of adverbs - totally, absolutely, literally, incredibly.
In the USA, one has to tolerate the "like, oooohmeegawd, i mean, you know" in that high-pitched annoying tone, since it is the speech of 90% of the female population. "Like, I mean, totally everyf$%#one!"

Brilliant comments. Brilliant, just brilliant!

are you full?

fed up!

"politically correct" The phrase itself has become a euphemism.

"I could care less." Really? How much less?

"Not to offend/insult you, but..."

"from soup to nuts"

I hate the so called phrase "so called..."

Why can't people pronounce the word "CUTLERY". One of the UK's top quiz personalities always pronounces it as "CUTELRY".

what about "don't disrespect me", "so and so and myself will attend" (I used to get that one from executives) and "my bad"

"the likes of" - why not "people like...?"

"Going Forward"
"Singing from the same hymn sheet"
"Touch base"
"There's an issue with..."
"Customer excellence"

I dislike the verbitization of nouns.

I think that what many of these experts miss is that English is a conglomerate of latin and every other language on earth. I submit that English incorporates "foreign" words and phrases more readily than any other language, and by its nature lends itself to word invention. The English language is going to suffer these mutations as long as it is in existence.

English rocks.

I read MANY of the comments, while laughing throughout.

The ONE thing that drives me insane is the insertion of the word "and" into numbers.

"One hundred AND one"
"Two thousand AND eight"
"Four hundred AND twenty-two thousand"

I always ask them if they are "Twenty AND six" (or whatever) years old.

...and remember people, the "t" in "often" is SILENT.

Yes we can.


Change we need.

"He or she turned me on to ..."

The one that gets me is "NO PROBLEM" when thanking someone for help I always want to ask was it a problem or was it going to be a problem.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned "for free" which now seems to be obligatory almost everywhere.

"quantum leap" used accurately by advertisers to mean the smallest possible change in a product that lets them advertise it as new. They don't *mean* that, but that's what they say. It annoys me because they think they're saying something else.

Like...Wow, you know.

"Sea Change"

Personally, I hate the phrase "seems to" when it refers to something that actually is. You can see this in Mr. Butterfield's, "We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often � an anecdote, a joke, a mannerism � and the same seems to happen with some language."

He really meant, "We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often � an anecdote, a joke, a mannerism � and the same happens with some language."

A wake-up call

"do you know what i mean?"
it's not the phrase that's irritating, it's the fact people use it repeatedly in the same couple of minutes, if not every sentence.

spreading democracy

From Wales: "I don't mean to be funny, but (insert something that is explicitly not funny)"

People who respond to a simple statement with the words "exactly" or "correct."

P.S. Steve's comment at 8:46PM is Ab Fab. Clever! Clever!

If you want to escalate that argument, this is a good one (to be used with caution): 'take a chill pill'

during an TV interview: " LET ME ASK YOU THIS QUESTION ABOUT THIS OR THAT"
just ask the damn question !!

"Let's take this offline"
"I'm across that..."
"Just touching base"
"Synergies"


ARGHHHHH!

"I'll be right with you." An implicit lie.

Anything PC and any office jargon.

what about 'all important'? Usually used of something which is of no importance at all - such as lottery numbers.

Call me old fashioned, but Absolutely is a word and not a phrase. Where was, 'I'm thinking that...'?

The word hero, when describing sportsmen and their equally unheroic ilk.

"At this moment in time" instead of "now".

"top ten" is pretty irritating - a clear indication that something extremely fatuous and useless is hoving into view

"Shocked and saddened" to describe a tragic event. It's used so often that it makes me doubt the speaker's sincerity.

Change we can believe in.

The illiterate Oriented instead of Orientated who seem unable to use google.

At the end of the day, what does it really mean? I personally think it's fairly unique if an individual can speak eloquently using any phrase, let alone these. However, at this moment in time, English language use is awful. It is absolutely horrifying what you hear today... it's a nightmare! They shouldn't of put this list out; instead, they should of focused on intelligible sentences by college graduates. I mean come on, using the English language is not rocket science, millions upon millions use it 24/7. With all due respect to the authors of this report...we're good to go, IMHO.

"Free Gift"

Often used as an incentive to a costumer to make a purchase.

Gifts, by definition are "things given willingly, without payment."

People who say....

"Bless".

"Give me a lend" (of a book) as opposed to "Can I borrow"....

"I got it 'off of'..."

"Joolery" as opposed to Jewellery

People who pronounce the letter H as "hate-ch" as opposed to "a-ch"

Gotten is a useful word and is not going to go away. Like the IRA. The peace process was a fertile source of flabby prose and flabbier moral attitudes and produced pscho-babble like. " At the end of the day and with all due respect to those who deplore doing deals with terrorists, we shall have to sit down and talk to them-that's a no brainer. "

Noo-kill-er for nuclear - why invent an extra syllable?

Mute point instead of moot point

Awesome! It has come to mean everything and nothing, annoyingly conveying meaninglessness.

It is what it is.

1. "we're good to go"
2. "old school"
3. "my friends" (thanks to John McCain)
4. "awesome" and/or "fabolous" (when used to describe anything that is truly mundane-i.e. a tee shirt...)
5. "ghetto"
6. "back in the day"
7. "no-brainer"

"not an option"

'Agree to disagree'

"Order of magnitude" as used to describe a change, sometimes big, but usually some banal event.

"not an option" and "humungous"

'Literally' isn't a phrase. But my vote for most irritating utterance would also go to a single word - iconic. Icon is Greek for picture or image. So what does iconic mean? Dopes of all varieties use the word when they ought to say 'widely known' or 'famous'. The war against clich� will always rage.

"Is it just me," or should "preventative" in place of "preventive" be "a no-no"? Otherwise, why wouldn't the corresponding noun form be "preventation" rather than "prevention"?

People who say 'an history'.

'An' might be ok in front of an 'h' if you're a cockney street urchin but for anyone else it is affected and pretentious. Get that BBC newsreaders?

Giddy-Up

In business terms, especially American companies 'Centre of Excellence' I know few Americans' who really know what it means.

And also 'Lets put it this way' - of which I am guilty your honour.

"Closure". Usually spouted in situations where "closure" would seem to be well-nigh impossible.

"It's all good."

A subaltern said this to me and I nearly struck him.

'haunting', 'poignant',
'tragic', 'it sucks', 'like..''done good or done brilliant', i'm loving', 'enjoy' 'go see'

I've read the whole lot above and THOROUGHLY enjoyed it. My vote goes to.... "Your call is important to us" and Abbey PLC can beat ANYONE with this!

1) get over it
2) bell curve
3) outcomes
4) have an issue with
5) the bottom line is
6) leverage
7) neocon (used to smear conservatives)
8) fundamentalist Christian (used to smear all those who oppose gay marriage, late-birth abortion etc.)
9) war against terror (it's against radical Islam)
10) community (as in "gay community" or "Muslim community")
11) sexy (applied to high-tech gadgets, computer software and other consumer items)
12) hands-on
13) progressives (for liberals)
14) sex workers (for prostitutes)
15) French youths (for Muslim rioters who hate the French)
16) you guys (addressing a mixed group of males and females)
17) indigenous Americans (for Indians. This makes immigrants of all Americans who arrived after the Indians.)
18) peace activists (for terrorist-sympathizers and supporters)
19) gobsmacked
20) paradigm change
21) post-modern
22) militants (for terrorists)
23) fighters (for terrorists)
24) the noble Koran
25) PBUH (guess who)

These are only a few which immediately come to mind. Why does the media inflict so many of these barbarities upon us?

"Restored to it's former glory" - used in relation to property renovation. It's not used incorrectly, just too often - it makes me cringe. Any suggestions for alternative phrases?

"Going forward"

"Restored to it's former glory" - used in relation to property renovation. It's not used incorrectly, just too often - it makes me cringe. Any suggestions for alternative phrases?

The phrase 'you know' in teh middle of every sentence and then at the end as well...!
And then the word basically - usually used in the same way as the phrase 'you know'.

IF YOU WILL , interjected in sentences .

Its obvious that when somebody states: "With all due respect" it means they have no respect for your opinion whatsoever!

The most irritating phrase is surely "Political Correctness" particularly when used by idiots who complain about too much "Political Correctness" when what they really mean is that they are upset because they can no longer get away with the obnoxious and lazy stereotypes and prejudices that their grandparents generation revelled in.

Greatly irritated by usually empty headed young females exclamatory "HELLO!!" with the of expression of `wake-up' `where are you coming from' and that ghastly Americanism "..touching base" or their corruption of the collective noun `folk' into `folks'.

�My current bugbear is not a phrase, it's a word. Coined by our American cousins and heading for the rest of the world, it's the ridiculous, nonsensical, abhorrent 'gotten'. 'Got' is already past tense, why invent a paster tense?�

Gotten does exist. Its "paster tense" is the past participle, following the pattern of "I forget", "I forgot", "I have forgotten" ("Got" can function both as past tense & as a past participle, which I agree is the more common and acceptable usage in Britain.)

The Americans didn't invent "gotten", it's much older than that, and it remains with us in other formations such as the adjectival "ill-gotten gains".

Relax people. (Which happens to be one of *my* irritants!)

Almost Fatal.....Come on?

Alternate (meaning alternative).

Instead of using one of these phrases, use an *alternate* phrase.

"What the problems is was", What the problem was is", "What it is is", What i do is that I".....

Me thinks the author of this article has done brilliant. I'm sure he'll a quadrilogy of great articles...

Americans now using "hey, you!" for hello or hi. I guess it's hard to get our attention.

News readers, using the phrase half of one percent. why?
Half a percent is sufficient

'Out the window' or door for that matter.

People who say....

"Bless".

"Give me a lend" (of a book) as opposed to "Can I borrow"....

"I got it 'off of'..."

"Joolery" as opposed to Jewellery

People who pronounce the letter H as "hate-ch" as opposed to "a-ch"

The one that really annoys me most is "Duh!"

Quality service? Quality product?
Useful for businesses needing to disguise the truth about their "poor quality".

"Read my lips", a phrase regularly used by the rude and arrogant boss I used to work for whenever staff disagreed with him.

Comprised of

The use of the word 'tsar' to mean 'senior administrator' by respected news organizations running semi-serious language-usage surveys - see this morning's Telegraph headline...

The most annoying saying used is "back to Back" which is actually slang for "at the same time" or "together" but is being used instead of "consecutive".
Not only are three words being used instead of one but for totally the wrong meaning.

" I hear what you say"
Really means. " Don't give me facts that refute my preconceptions".
a favourite of junior government ministers, parish council chairmen, QUANGO Chairpersons, overpromoted exectutives and other havens of the narrow-minded.

My pet hate is "Almost Exactly". What does that mean?

To be fair, I think most of these comments are vaild. And do you know what? I think I agree.

But this is how people speak. This is the colloquial English of today. It may be an annoying even an unintelligible patois to many but hey at the end of the day that's life however minging so tough man!

To be fair, I think the comments speak for themselves. And do you know what? I think I agree.

Y'all forgot a few..:
"I'm going in"
"What's up with that"
"What gives"
"militants" (for terrorists)
"innocent bystanders"

With all due respect, at the end of the day, your sentiments are fairly unique. I personally use these phrases 24/7, absolutely. At this moment in time I feel you shouldn't of made this list. It's not rocket science!

Somewhere, one day the word "unbeknownst" fell from the sky and became the word.
It was "unknown" to me that this word even existed.

"You mustn't take this personally..." - used by HR and managers who are about to make personal remarks to someone. If it's about you and how you do your job you bet it's personal!

"gob-smacked" (the most vulgar expression. first heard by me from Bet Lynch Coronation St Gob-smacked

Bless! at the end of any sentence
iconic to describe anyone or anything at all that has no depth or historical significance i.e a pop star

different to
comprising of
myriad of

less/fewer/less/fewer/less/fewer

like like like like like like

Fail...

Actually,...

This word is poison in the USA. It is ruining our youths and causing them to sleep together before marriage.

Americans use "You know", "I mean", "Know whut I mean?", "Uhh" in coversation as filler until the brain can come up with something halfway sensible to say next.

Those words also prevent the other guy from interrupting.

"You mustn't take this personally..." - used by HR and managers who are about to make personal remarks to someone. If it's about you and how you do your job you bet it's personal!

Good......as a reply to 'How are you'

Your call is important to us (Really)

'I'll not be a minute'when in a shop or on the phone........TRUE, usually much longer.

When did "gonna" replace "going to"? I can't name one public person who says it correctly.

Does anyone else get annoyed with the now popular:

"Seriously...serisouly...I mean seriously..."

or the when the term "organic" is used in context to business growth or plan (or anything other than plants).

"With that being said..."

It annoys me when people say "supposeBly" instead of the correct pronunciation
"supposedly". Also, when people spell "yay!" (i.e. I'm so happy-yay!!)incorrectly (i.e. "yeah"). "Yeah" means yes.

"With that being said..."

The "shouldn't of" always makes me squirm. The celebration of ignorance. From "shouldn't have"...it morphed into the lazy "shoudn't 'ave"..to the mangled and midirected.."shouldn't of".

Not having read the book, I'm hoping that "omigod" (both the written and spoken form) has made mention in there as well. I was in a store here in Los Angeles and I went through the uncomfortable experience of observing two japanese girls (tourists)use "omigod" repeatedly as an exclamation throughout their conversation and numerous times in a sentence. Almost made one want to commit "hara kiri" to escape hearing it.

#1. "Yes, we can."
#2. (anything involving "change" or "hope").

"bear with me" repeated so many times it is unbearable,instead of "wait please", or just nothing.

"That was a good question..."

"Awesome"

and

"issue" as in "He has issues".

Global Warming.

We in Florida never want to hear "hunker down" again. Or "on the lam."

"where it's at" - stop conjugating!

when people say supposeBly instead of supposedly is annoying.

ass hat

Global Warming.

Tell me how "by accident" got changed to "on accident"?

and the number #1 most annoying phrase; "that's a no-brainer"

Argghh I hate that!

I personally have been subjected to all of these phrases, and with all due respect, it's a nightmare. I'm alert to these awful phrases 24/7, and while at the end of the day some such uses are fairly unique, all should be avoided. At this moment in time I should apologize, perhaps I shouldn't of said some of the things above, but avoidance of over-used language... well it's not rocket science. Absolutely.

1. "Hope and change"
Recited ad nausea by the Obamamites.

2. "PIN number"
What do think the 'N' in PIN stands for!

3. Any sentence containing the terms "diversity", "process", or "greenhouse gases".

4. Ninety percent of anything coming out of a business school.

'On The Ground' !!

Bill Wardens whole comment 7th Nov Here it is; "Almost all of these comments demonstrate a misunderstanding of language. Word meanings and grammatical forms have always been in a process of change. Chaucer and Shakespeare use double negatives, tautology and repetition, mainly for emphasis. Language is not Algebra. Indeed, the 1950s southern England form of English that most contributors seem to think is 'correct' came about as a result of all the 'mistakes' made by speakers of the language in previous centuries. Otherwise we'd still be speaking the language of Chaucer. "
instead of " I am a boring liberal who thinks he is a friend of the people and who repeats platitudes he has heard from others as if it they are revelations"
or maybe he was just joking, in which case,my apologies.

"oh, bless her heart..." (after some womanly gossip)

"God bless you" (who you talking to?)

"amen to that" (amen means "so be it")

so, AMEN to this Oxford research.

MY BAD

Such an ignorant phrase...

Didn't read them all, but has anyone said "It is what it is" ? Useless. A waste of our oxygen.

Funny, an article critical of usage has a glaring dangling modifier.

"As well as the above expressions, the book's author Jeremy Butterfield says...."

The expressions didn't say anything. Just more evidence that our language truly is in decline.

Make no mistake

and

fixin'

Your mom.

How about when someone ask themselves a question and answers it?
" Will it work?" Certainly

"Last time I checked....."

When did you check???

"Cheers" in place of saying thanks. Might as well shout "Motzletopf!"

Pro sports types saying "Y'know whut I'm sayin'?" after every other word.

And where the heck was "WhatEVER!"

Is it by accident or on accident My kids drive me crazy saying "oops that happened on accident"

Clearly you have struck a chord with many readers with this list. I absolutely agree that these phrases are most irratating and I bite my lip when I hear them. You wonder why people can't think outside the box and use meaningful language. Its not rocket science. With all due respect to the talking heads out there, at this point in time its a nightmare. One can only hope that people will realize that the languague they use 24/7 reflects on their intellegence. Whatever.

Lazy ebonics makes my skin crawl.

ax, wif, teef, des, afaleet, biness, I'm fittin to, gimme fitty to buy a forty...

Oh no he di int.
Oh yeah, I did. Yome sane?

...'to be transparent'

Make no mistake....

and

fixin' as in I'm fixin' to go to the store.

Make no mistake....

and

fixin' as in I'm fixin' to go to the store.

Clearly

Get a life!

why is it always said by people who haven't got an interesting one?

synergy
adding value
celebrating diversity

and the abosolute worst:

my bad

"...that being said..."
"...having said that..."
How about using conjunctions such as "but" and "however"

"gone missing" is this like "gone fishing?"

There's a lot of annoying phrases out there. What happened to the plural: There're (contraction for "there are")a lot annoying phrases.

I could go on forever.

This one bugs me: "needs rebuilt" It is either "needs to be rebuilt" or "needs rebuilding"

My current bugbear is not a phrase, it's a word. Coined by our American cousins and heading for the rest of the world, it's the ridiculous, nonsensical, abhorrent 'gotten'. 'Got' is already past tense, why invent a paster tense?

Had a manager once who was extremly over weight and spoke with a lisp, he loved the phrase, "I have issues with" this or that. Except it always came out "ithues". I want to throw up when I hear "ithues"!

"for reals?"

i hate it!!!!!

Sup? - what's up with you too!

its' my understanding... - no it's the guys down the streets!

got your back- you got it? what are you gonna do with it?

kinda pregnant---well you either are or aren't

get's my goat- I don't have a goat to go get!

you're dead meat- that's just discusting!

Sup? - what's up with you too!

its' my understanding... - no it's the guys down the streets!

got your back- you got it? what are you gonna do with it?

kinda pregnant---well you either are or aren't

get's my goat- I don't have a goat to go get!

you're dead meat- that's just discusting!

The most annoying overused phrases in corporate and by the media today:

That said
That being said
Having said that (I think that I got it the first time, thank you.)

Reach out to (instead of contact)

Saying "ta" instead of "to"

Irregardless.

went missing

exactly

inform [as in "how does that
experience inform your work"

basically

if you will

a myriad of

is comprised of

connect the dots

"sort of" used repeatedly after statements in conversation

"it depends" used as response to almost anything.

visa versa

eccetera (when pronouncing etc.)

It's all good

Enjoy!

outside the box

glass half full
glass half empty

heigth instead of height

sooner rather than later

does that make sense

most nouns that are forced into verbs

"An" before a H as in "an istoric" instead of an A

Surreal. This word is overused.

"hot" and of course "cool"
This is a photo of my mum and I.
synergy
at this moment in time
state-of-the-art
buzzword

"moving forward" or "going forward" irks me to no end. and toyota has even made it their slogan.

How about..."Nuff said"

Homeland Defense (as opposed to the attacking another country type of defense)

How about "I could care less." That makes no sense. "I couldn't care less" is already an over used phrase, why butcher it to boot!

"it is what it is" A complete waste of breath. What is the alternative, It is what it isn't?

also

highly possible
definate possibility
maybe, maybe not
yes but no

The most annoying overused phrases in corporate and by the media today:

That said
That being said
Having said that (I think that I got it the first time, thank you.)

Reach out to (instead of contact)

Saying "ta" instead of "to"

improper use of "which," when "but" is more appropriate. "i said i was going to the store, which i didn't go." or " i said i would be there at 7, which i did't get there until 8." arrrgghh!! this drive me nuts, along with the improper use of "myself," especially when used as a subjective pronoun and placed at the beginning of the sentence. "myself, bob, and john arrived first." i hear prominent, supposedly well-educated people doing this as well. do they really think this sounds more polished?

Suss, as in, "Why is he so distant? We suss out the reasons." Most often seen on the cover of women's magazines. Makes me want to run naked down the street, screaming at the top of my lungs.

Suss???? Suss you!!!!!!

How interesting, but my personal non-favourite, used by those in the news media and politicians, us "as we speak', and it's usually a monologue.
lance M. Jefferson.
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

First time I heard it I hated it "I'm a happy camper" still hate it and always will. you know what I'm saying?

And if we're taking that route:

-"dethawed" (you froze it again?)
-"a couple-a three or four..." (whats that? 32?)
-"a myriad of" (the moebius strip of measurement terms)
-sentences that start with "Look," or "let me tell you" (just get to itt, dont tell me youre going to tell me someting- I know, we're having a conversation.)

But most of all:

-git'er done

Stand Up - used to describe the implementation of something such as "We will stand up a new computer system" or the "Rooftop command will stand up next month".
I hear it spoken and in print lately and I cringe each time.

ASAP

African-American. Unless you were born in Africa, you are an American.

Isn't anyone tired of "basically"? I went to a seminar in which the speaker, in a half hour presentation, said basically 157 times. I don't remember anything else he said because I was too busy counting and laughing.

"I don't know", "I can't remember", "I'm not sure", "This call is being recorded for quality assurance/training purposes", "You're call is important to us", "You're satisfaction is important to us", "If this is a medical emergency, where seconds count, please hang up and dial 911...", "and Thank you for being a patient, patient", "Enjoy.", "Please hold for the next available operator", "Thank you kindly", "Thanks much", "Thank you, oh so much", "And now, our feature presentation", "CHANGE", "You can believe in...", "second-hand smoke", "Yes, yes", "I'm an Obama supporter.", "Kyoto", "NAFTA", "terrorism", "Gay-Marriage", "gay-rights", "same-sex", "gay community", "pedophile", "evil-republican", "worse than Hitler!", "climate change", "global warming", "can't afford to/not to", "Putin", "freedom fighter", "Its a GLORious day", "personal assistant", "O.J. Simpson", "Madonna", "American empire", -I could go on and on for days.

The two phrases that drive me up a wall are:

1.) "Waiting on" instead of "waiting for", and,

2.) "A couple more" instead of "A couple of more"

These two phrases are in popular usage, but represent a peversion of the language, just as some people constantly and inappropriately use the word "like" in a sentence.

Yes, "at the end of the day" is one of my bugaboos. But how about "that's a good question" ??

At the end of the day, at fairly unique day overall, I personally, at this moment in time and with all due respect, absolutely think it's a nightmare when I see an article like this. It shouldn't of be seen on a 24/7 web site. It's not rocket science to believe this!!!!

"Don't go there" Makes me want to barf.

ax- for ask
apposed to- for supposed to
mines -for ownership, as in that's mines
lieberry
anywheres
gonna
hafta

"I could care less"

Actually what they MEAN is they COULDN'T care less!

"You know what I'm saying...." A word string that threatens to cause me a fit of apoplexy every time some lexically challenged dolt uses it.

Where is "It is what it is?" Shouldn't that be number one!

methodology

I think all this is rubish. the point in english is to comunicate so if you understand the phase who cars if its used alot or technically not how it "should be" the very fact you know what it should have been proves you under stood the messege there for the comunication was successful. i admit my english is bad even though its the only langauge i speak but what ever the langauge anyone picking wholes in how something is technically said or written if you understood its meaning is being pedantic langauge evolves through the people who dont follow the rules. all you english perfectionists would be just as useless if you went back far enough in time because they did the same thing as we are now the got slang words the turned to accepted words the got changed again its life its langauge its comminication. unless you dont understand the messege keep your mough shut is what i say

Using the word "further", when they mean "farther". Further means to promote or sponsor, like "to further one's career". You can go farther if you further your career"

"You know what I'm saying...." A word string that threatens to cause me a fit of apoplexy every time some lexically challenged dolt uses it.

Same difference

To "leverage" something

Um...ah...ahhhhh

how about;

the fact that
awesome
totally
to be totally honest
like

"You know what I'm saying...." A word string that threatens to cause me a fit of apoplexy every time some lexically challenged dolt uses it.

Here is one that has sprung up in California recently:

"Back in the day...", meaning in the past.

I agree with the article. "At the end of the day" has to be the most annoying saying of all time.

Potentially dangerous.

ATM machine.

The use of "and" instead of "to". "Try and do it."

I hate it when executives declare that we must "grow the business."

My mother used to set my teeth on edge (hey, that's another one) when she would say, "I suspicioned that he did it."

"Heart-rendering".

"Envision" rather than "envisage".

"Disinterested" rather than "uninterested".

"Community" rather than "some people who have something in common".

And, of course "political correctness gone mad".

"This is news?" How about that one?

"Who cares?" There's another

From the Department of Redundancy Department:

ATM machine

PIN number

I'm going to the Automatic Teller Machine machine and enter my Personal Identification Number number

I hate it when executives declare that we must "grow the business."

My mother used to set my teeth on edge (hey, that's another one) when she would say, "I suspicioned that he did it."

How about "for the record"?

Seriously!? No, seriously.

Transitive verbs used intransitively, eg. spending will reduce next year (reduce what?)

Redundant prepositions, eg. meet with; separate out

Bring, instead of take (prevalent in America and making its way everywhere else along with the infuriating I Could Care Less)

How about "for the record"?

"You know what I'm saying...." A word string that threatens to cause me a fit of apoplexy every time some lexically challenged dolt uses it.

idear instead if idea

"...and moving forward..."

basically, actually
disrespect as a verb ("He disrespected me.")
cement instead of concrete (The former is an ingredient in the latter, not a substitute for it.)
like, like, like
jury-rigged for jerryrigged, a derivative of jerrymandering (Coined long ago when a politician named Jerry managed to get voting district boundaries changed in his favor, resulting in an odd shape on the map that resembled a salamander.) A rigged jury something else altogether.
"I'm good" instead of "no thank you" -- this is rude!

My absolute worst:

SORRY ABOUT THAT

How about:

"It's like..."

"been there, done that!"

Ping me/I'll ping you later/He pinged me.

Aaaagggghhhhhh - that word is so vague and irritating.
In my office it means "contact" by IM or email but sometimes the person means phone or reallife.

How about the stupidest phrase on the planet..."My Bad"

For the record, I don't like "for the record".

Using 'I' and 'me' incorrectly:
Please do not say "Emma came to see Billy and I." It should be "Emma came to see Billy and me."

Secondly, it would be really fabulous if no one would ever say "ginormous" again. Ever.

Last but not least and if I may be so bold and in all fairness, by and large we need some blue sky thinking, or at least up to a point as one might say.

"Whatever"!

I'll add "honing in" to the list. It's HOMING in. Anyone here ever heard of a "honing" pigeon?

I didn't see anybody mention, "There's no I in team"

You missed one of the worst!
"It's the fact of the matter." Every political toady starts their talking points with that phrase.

Not phrases per se, but it bugs me when people can't figure out the difference between "loose" and "lose"; "choose" and "chose."

Just my two cents (where is THAT one on the list??)

See what I'm sayin

park free behind the store and save even more

If it's not on the rack it's in the back

The use of "and" instead of "to". "Try and do it."

Using "I" instead of "Me" thinking it is proper English when is certain instances it is not. Take the other person out of the sentence and decide if it is "I" or "Me". There you go.

I intensely dislike

Correct me if I'm wrong...

as if they know everything already...

REALLY!

"Ideal" incorrectly used in place of "Idea". Or heaven forbid the other way around!

"Same difference" As what? This is so often used when just a single topic is being discussed!

"Pictures" hang on walls; However "Pitchers" disperse liquid. They are in no way interchangeable!!!!!!!!!!!

"My bad" has got to be one of the worst. I can't believe it didn't make the list. OR, 'ya know what I mean', is like nails down a blackboard. That top 10 list is nothing compared to what I listen to week after week.

"At the end of the day, it is what it is."
The most odious expression in our language.
Warning to the British Isles: It is what it is is headed your way!
It ought to have won - hands down!
---
Also, "12 noon" as in "lunch will begin at 12 noon." As opposed to 12 midnight. Which opens up another can of worms for me as well.

Joe the Plumber

"As it were"

"irregardless"

Impacted

"out straight"

aaaerrrrrggghhh!!!

How about, "I mean...", to begin nearly every sentence?

I have read all the comments but didn't see this one - "ran me over" instead of "ran over me." Seem to hear this all the time.

How about a BBC weather forecast for "the latter part of the evening"...when the former (whatever that might be in this contect) is not specified?
Also the use of "that" when referring to people instead of "who" or whom".

In regards to "shouldn't of."

When people say it, they're not think of it from that phonetic angle. They're abbreviating "should not have" into "shouldn't've." It's incorrectly abbreviated, but correct word choice.

My boss and my boss's boss always say, "Absolutely" in a long, drawn-out, annoying way. Everytime either one of them says it I want to punch them in the face.

Anything Barack Obama says.

Not a phrase, but what is really annoying is people that get annoyed at other people because of how they talk or a phrase they use. B^)

Using the word "like" for a filler between every other word.
Using "Goes" as a verb, usually to replace "said". "He goes 'Wow!' and then she goes 'I'm serious!'" Where did they go?
Weather reporters saying "Thundershower activity"
"I'm in a good place."
"Grounded"- usually referring to some Hollywood idiot."She's very grounded." Yeah, right.
"Where's he/she/it at?"

"How come" for why.

Bless all of you, I "love to hate them" all... Here are a few that newscasters use:
"negoseeations (negotiations)are taking place"
"Extra Strenth" (Strength)
Any time anchors affect an accent when pronouncing places "NEECaragua"
"He is a man that" rather than who...
entreme anything (makeover, etc.)
sports announcers "they threw him under the bus", "he is a work horse", "I know what he is thinking!", "they want to ice him with this time out"
"he is the go to guy", They have their hands team out there"
I could go on for days...

Physical instead of fiscal

non reflexive 'myself'

The phrase "Been there, done that" makes me incredibly sick.

I'm really tired of hearing people say that they're really tired of something. I've also become really tired of "spread the wealth" and "being your brother's keeper" when the speaker's own brother lives in a wooden crate in Kenya.

here in the US, when a hurricane is bearing down on a coast, we get to hear when it will "make landfall" for hours on end. Couldn't they toss is a FEW different terms? Hit? arrive?

For fun, to make a child go crazy: Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

"CHANGE"

"close proximity" is really annoying

Gay

They don't appear to be any happier than I am.

"Awesome" is right up there, though not a phrase. 24-7, equally putrid. Soon as network TV execs adopt one of these as the title of a show, you know it's bad. "Hey, how about we call it 24-7?" "Awesome."
The world of sports is a gold mine for this stuff. Listen to coaches and players speak in pre and post game press conferences, as in "It is what it is", "He's got tremendous upside" (?), "deceptive speed", "They're better than their record would indicate", etc.

Have you ever heard weary instead of leery? In a commercial the girl is weary (afraid) of trying something until she tries it and likes it! Drives me crazy!

"I did it ON accident"

"We are the change we've been waiting for." - Barack Obama

I hate the way British people speak. I hate how New Englanders speak. North Dakotan/Canadian accents are absurd.

"I did it on accident!" -instead of BY accident
rarrr

Can I tell what irritates me the most? Yes I can.

Do I think it's dumb to ask myself a question and then answer it? Yes I do.

Do I think this is the most annoying habit of the English speaking world? Yes I do!!!

Do you get my point?

In the U.S. so many say "pitcher" when actually referring to a "picture." Also, people say that is "are" car instead of "our" car.

you go girl
that's the bees knees
aint
ni### please
honey child

"footprint" when applied to anything other than the tracks of a human or animal - as in "carbon footprint", or "the teacup leaves a smaller footprint on the counter than the mug"...

"If I were any better I'd be twins."

(and I'm always thankful there is no twin)

I find myself. ....(Were you lost before?????)
Let's do lunch.
That was a good read.
I don't mean to insult you..(followed by an insult.)
My mothers always says, "Old age is hell." I always say, "Maybe I will get lucky and die young."

-KPI
-Variance report (not statistical variance, but A-B
-What if we're here on a weekend
-Over the top
-anything with "proverbial"
-Action Items
-affordable healthcare
-pandora's box
-kobe tai's box

I hate the word global. The word is over used.
Being green is over used as well and natural and organic is over used as well.
Since there is no science in global warming, I call it global whining or global brainwashing.

Also, starting a sentence with "Again" or "Frankly" drives me nuts.

I have a co-worker who always uses "atypical" when what she really means is "typical". She says this multiple times per day and because she has been doing this for so long, we don't know how to correct her anymore without hurting her feelings. Any suggestions?

drill down

Where do you stay?

"basically" at the start of any sentence will mean I won't be listening to the rest of your thought. I will be thinking of how I can dispose of your body where nobody can find it.

Where do you stay?

At the end of the day (just to piss them off even more) who really who cares what the oxford nerds think?

I personally feel that I'm at liberty to say what ever I feel like. It may not be rocket science, but boring boffins wasting their time on this sort of trivia 24/7 need to find more creative ways to justify their overpaid existence. Because if this is the best they can come up with, they should be thrown on the dole.

So not (e.g., "Friends is SO not my favorite show.")

The ever popular "I promise..." followed shortly after an election by the retraction of anything such. Or any politican begining a thought with, "The truth of the matter is..."

People who use the phrase "Quantum Leap" to describe a huge leap forward really annoy me. They're also the type that usually have drool stains on their shirts.

I can't stand the phrase double-speak. It's double-talk. Or how about Yada-yada-yada.Or maybe I'm going over to Bob's house. What? Are you going to hover over his house? I hate the way midwesterners always shorten words ending in "ing". goin, talkin, ridin, etc.

loose instead of lose, or the other way around

Basically I am sick of the overuse of the word "basically". Its nothing more than a proxy for silence while the speaker decides what it is he or she wishes to say!

As a former boss use to say, why stop at irregardless, how about disirregardless!

Several colleagues and I have privately rebelled against the use of "moving forward", a phrase constantly repeated by our managers. Every time they utter these words in the office, we discreetly shuffle forward an inch or two. By the end of a meeting, we are sometimes all leaning hard into the table, having "moved forward" several times...
Another annoying abuse of the language pertains to the abuse of the phrase: "speaking to an issue". The usage may be grammatically correct, it is still annoyingly overused. I prefer to talk "about" things than "to" them. As far as I'm concerned, talking "to" things is like talking to a tree thinking it's the King of Prussia...

The one that grates on me is the continual use of "I mean.." punctuating everyone's sentences. This seems to be a new line that has appeared in the past few years and I even have developed the habit of using it myself - despite trying not to.

Each and every (whatever)is redundant. Example: Each person here... or Every person here...
Not: Each and every person here...

"Be that as it may"
"We need change"---USA
"but that's neither here nor there"
"I can't complain" --when asked how things are going
"There is no 'I' in team"---This one is the worst phrase ever.

I've been tired of the phrase "back in the day" for the last 4 years. It's even more annoying when people in their 20s use that phrase... they can't have had THAT many days to begin with!

How about:
"Let's put some lipstick on this pig and call it a day"

What the heck does this mean!

how about "going forward" just what does it mean?

Whatcha doin?

Guilty too.

Zeeez

you forgot the number one phrase......... "my bad"...

"...paranoid of..." Paranoid does not mean afraid and is not a verb.

1. went missing - why not 'lost'?

2. sleeping in - does anyone sleep out?

What a bunch of pathetic bitches! Get over it!

Hard to believe the moronic 'guys,' which, somehow, includes women and 'like' (as in, "I was all like . . . ") didn't make the top 10.

I hate:

It's the (fill in word here), stupid.

"Back in the day."

My roommate continually ends sentences with "I'm not gonna lie."

For example:
"I love orange juice, not gonna lie."
"This tv show is amazing, not gonna lie."
"I need to pee, not gonna lie."

Why in God's name would you EVER lie to me about that crap?!

My roommate continually ends sentences with "I'm not gonna lie."

For example:
"I love orange juice, not gonna lie."
"This tv show is amazing, not gonna lie."
"I need to pee, not gonna lie."

Why in God's name would you EVER lie to me about that crap?!

Here's a few more...

"Don't be hatin'"

"Literally"

"Trust me"

"Rising to a crescendo"

"end game"
"have that conversation"

Half of you people have one or more of the following problems: an irrational dislike of metaphors, a belief the only proper definition of a word is the first one in the dictionary, too many spelling and grammar errors to warrant criticizing people, or are incredibly conceited.

For instance, this lovely quote:
"It's a nightmare having to listen to these morans [sic] 24/7 using the incorrect phrase."

Well, we all feel sorry for you. I can't imagine how you'd deal with, you know, an actual problem, if the mere act of misusing a cliche is a nightmare for you.

Get a life, people.

#

The worst is using disrespect as a verb. It is a noun You can act disrespectfully (adv.) towards someone but you cannot disrespect or diss someone.
Matt Williams
on November 07, 2008
at 11:54 PM
Report this comment

Dear Mr. Williams:

A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing.

Disrespectful is NOT a noun; it is an adjective: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
dis&#8901;re&#8901;spect&#8901;ful
&#8194; &#8194;/&#716;d&#618;sr&#618;&#712;sp&#603;ktf&#601;l/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [dis-ri-spekt-fuhl] Show IPA Pronunciation
�adjective
characterized by, having, or showing disrespect; lacking courtesy or esteem: a disrespectful remark about teachers.
Origin:
1670�80; dis- 1 + respectful

Therefore, if you are going to diss the phrase or the use of the phrase, please give the correct information, so that others will not be as disrespectful, as to correct you in the future. You know...going forward. :-)

"end game"
"We had that conversation"

"irregardless"

"I could care less" (should be couldn't care less)

"The fence needs painted" (should be needs painting or needs to be painted)

US - like you know (no I don't)
UK - thank you very much, Indeed
(what does indeed add?)

"You Know What I Mean?"

Now that = knives to the ears when repeated after "every single" phrase....

"Thrown under the bus"
When I hear this, I feel like throwing the Person who said it under a bus...

No has mentioned "updation" for the result of "updating", itself an abomination.

Tsunami used for something other than a tsunami.

Another vote for 'have got', 'have gotta', 'has got', etc. It's just 'have' or 'has', the 'got' is stupid.

...and another vote for 'let me AXE you'... it's 'ASK' how hard is it to say when you can say the alternative word for donkey with no problems?

ATM Machine. (It's redundant)
Price point. (Catchy smarty-marketing bull$hit that every writer is copying - as if the item isn't going to 'put you out', rather, it's like a rating.)

"Having said that" or "With that being said"

"That is the sort of nonsense up of with I shall not put " Ending a sentence with a preposition.

'In actual fact.'

If actual means '[e]xisting in act or fact' (Oxford English Dictionary online) what other type of fact could there be except an actual fact? It's a tautology and meaningless.

My Bad
GANGSTA
Ebonics
anyone with "izzle" at the end of there name
African American
Pimp

"That is the sort of nonsense up of with I shall not put " Ending a sentence with a preposition.

i hatde: i'm doing good. good is an adjevtive. doing well would be appropiate

My Father an English master repeatedly corrected me when I said "you know" - but today most people being interviewed use this phrase constantly - sometimes more than ten times in a 5 - 10 minute period

"HI I'M ON THE TRAIN" spoken into the mobile phone - this is by far THE MOST IRRITATING PHRASE, NO ONE CARES WHERE YOU ARE SHUT UP AND READ THE PAPER.

Question for YOU (when there are only the 2 of you talking)

Phrases or expressions that annoy me most have already been posted. However, I do have 3 phrases not mentioned:
1. "very sort of" - I think it is an oxymoron
2. "amazing" - yuck!
3. "our addiction to oil" It seems this addiction cropped up out of nowhere.

aint
axs, instead of ask
nobody instead of anybody or anyone.

PIN Number ....personal identification number number???

yes we can

My personal least favourite is: "We need a result"...er, yes, how about a defeat?, that's a result!