22 Common Phrases We All Secretly Hate

[Locutus]

What makes a phrase cringe-worthy?


We asked HuffPost editors which sayings bother them the most, and found that the common thread among the responses was uselessness. Often, the phrases that we find off-putting are those that serve as conversational fillers, implying that the speaker is vapid or has little else to contribute to the conversation. "Just sayin'" is the perfect example; why, exactly, do you need to verbally acknowledge the fact that you just said something? Why not, to borrow a popular phrase, "just say it"?


Business and Internet jargon ("There's no 'I' in team" and "This. So much this," respectively) are irritating in their own rights, but phrases said in day-to-day conversation can be the most grating.







get some:


22 Common Phrases We All Secretly Hate

 

[petros]

A very short list. Does anybody have anything to add? The ball is in your court..

 

[Blackleaf]

"Blue sky thinking" is annoying.

The most annoying, though, is when a Brit says "touch base", forgetting that we're hardly a nation of baseball lovers.

An annoying WORD is the word "snuck". Not annoying for Yanks, but the British equivalent of that word is "sneaked". Yet it seems to be fashionable at the moment, in the south of England at least, to use the word "snuck" instead.

Whenever I hear some posh, toffee-nosed cow from Surrey on the telly saying something like "I snuck out at 3 am..." rather than "I sneaked out at 3am..." I wish I could find out where she lives so I could give her a good slap.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Sneak. . . snuck. . . have snought.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Whenever I hear some posh, toffee-nosed cow from Surrey on the telly saying something like "I snuck out at 3 am..." rather than "I sneaked out at 3am..." I wish I could find out where she lives so I could give her a good slap.

Would it be okay from some low rent snaggle-toothed sow from Hull? Language evolves, words move in and out of the common lexicon, new ones are coined, some fade away, meanings change, pronunciation shifts, nothing to be gained by railing against it. But I have to agree, snuck is an ugly word I'd rather not hear either. Another one that vexes me deeply is irregardless. And if there's disgruntled, there should also be gruntled. And flammable and inflammable shouldn't mean the same thing... ah the list is endless.

 

[Blackleaf]

Would it be okay from some low rent snaggle-toothed sow from Hull?

No, certainly not. But the use of the American word "snuck" is mainly a posh Southern phenomenon, often bandied about by Guardian readers at Islington dinner parties, and seems to be one of the modern, trendy fads that I'm sure will pass. A bit like Global Warming.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Don't bet on it, the word's been around for decades and shows no signs of fading away into well deserved oblivion. It's a lazy Americanism--why use two syllables when you can get away with one?--that's penetrated into Canadian usage, I'm afraid it's here to stay.

 

[Blackleaf]

Don't bet on it, the word's been around for decades

Not in Britain, it hasn't.

 

[Twila]

Thankfully, we don't hear how everything/everyone is "on the ground" now.

or "Sh it happens" (no more like somebody made a mistake and won't admit it) "Just joking" No you aren't, you're just to scared to admit you think it.

 

[Locutus]

'have a good one'

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Not in Britain, it hasn't.

There was a time when it wasn't in Canada either. I think you're probably stuck with it.

 

[PoliticalNick]

Sneak. . . snuck. . . have snought.

Is that like sh*t, shat and sh*te?

 

[Twila]

'have a good one'

I always thought this one was kind of crass.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I always thought this one was kind of crass.

Somebody objected to me using that one. So now whenever we exchange comments, I close with "die in agony."

 

[Nuggler]

Just saying"; a neat little phrase used when you have just said something which might offend (heavens no), and offer the phrase to mean you are only repeating something you have heard............or the like........and "don't have a dog in the fight". Another way to phrase it would be "fukk off".............eh.

 

[petros]

Keep your chin up.

 

[lone wolf]

You're either with us or against us. Where's the opt out of making a mountain out of someone else's mole hill?

 

[JLM]

And while discussing the topic I'm going to add what I think is one of the stupidest words in the English language, the word "wellness", up until about 20 years ago the word "health" sufficed very well and means exactly the same thing. Maybe I'm touchy in my doddering years, but that word grates on my nerves every time I hear. Does anyone else feel the same. Another one that is almost as bad is "utilize" which means exactly the same thing as a three letter word- "use".

 

[Goober]

Moving forward - Nah we would all rather retreat to the cave-

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Rape! Rape!