Posted on 05/29/2007 2:17:17 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
Readers have responded in their thousands to The Daily Telegraph's call to select the worst phrases in the English language.
Since our invitation was issued in February, more than 3,000 of you have submitted personal inventories of the damned, containing the phrases, aphorisms and clichés that irritate the most.
High on the list of grievances was the increasing use of slang, poor grammar and the incorporation of Americanisms into everyday speech.
Many of you shared frustrations over the misuse of "forensic" and "literally", while management jargon such as "downsizing", "brainstorming" and "thinking outside the box" also received plenty of nominations.
The Daily Telegraph has responded with its own compilation of annoying phrases, and She Literally Exploded: The Daily Telegraph Infuriating Phrasebook is now available on Amazon.
Here is a selection of your comments so far:
"It's not rocket science". Rocketry is engineering, not a science. - Tony
The phrase "up close and personal" was irritating to start with and has become hackneyed and meaningless e.g. I went on a river trip and was thrilled to get up close and personal with a crocodile - Margot Lang
I can't stand "to die for". Nothing's that good and even if it was, you'd be dead and wouldn't be able to enjoy whatever it was. - Vivsy
"Pushing the envelope" always conjures up for me some ridiculous scene in a mailing room or post office. - Nigel Brown
Why, when someone famous dies, do tributes always "pour" in? Also, when a plane crashes in the sea, the media is quick to remind us that the waters are always "shark-infested". - S.Winrad
Only £1,999.99. - P.H.Heilbron
"This door is alarmed". Is it really frightened? - Alan Lawrence
The infuriating rising inflections at the end of sentences that make everything sound like a question? - Steve Grant
I hate being addressed as "hallo there". My name is not "there". And why have all the cookery books and frying pans disappeared? What is a "cook" book and a "fry" pan? - Susan Byers
When the waitress plonks the plate in front of you and says, "there you go". Where do I go? Where's there? - Ken Clarke
"It will be in the last place you look". Well of course I'm not going to continue to look for it when I have found it. - Tom Batt
2. "Inside the box/outside the box"
“Ending sentences with prepositions”
Yes, that is something up with which I will not put.
That would be a reduplication.
Nothing wrong with that.
And it's not high pressure.
Heh, I had an ex who used to talk about the “puppy dog” close. “Just take it home with you for 2 days - 3 days - a week ...”
Really, last I checked a. we have NOT melted into "one race", nor will we ever and b. the majority of our population ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS.
That’s a cop thing. If they use suspect, the person of interest must be Mirandized, must get an attorney, and may sue, a la Richard Jewell.
Or “fittin’ to,” as some say
Remember when “synergy” was the term of the moment?
“Like” this topic is so, like, amazing”, like, give me a break”!
Where does one start? The english language has always evolved via pop culture. It has always interested me to learn the root of long used slang. The “like phenominon I blame on Moon “valley girl” Zappa. Like ya know?
***I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.***
Or, as frequently seen on FR, “Move along now. There’s nothing to see here.”
.”me and Julio” - it’s rude to put yourself first in the list of people and it’s also wrong to use the objective “me” as the subject of a sentence
.”awnt” for “aunt”
.”absolutely” as an answer for everything
.”go with” instead of “go with you or whomever”
.”they” to describe one person
.”T-boned” as in “the car was T-boned in the crash” - I have no idea what that means
.”busted” instead of broke - a local news anchor uses it every time - “someone busted in the door of the home”
.”left” instead of “let”
.”ditn’t”
.”anyways”
.”oh-mawj” for “homage”
True. My guess is that the term derives from behavioral psychology, as in stimulus/response; stimulator/learner.
Behavioral psychology dominates ed schools. It amazes and saddens me that the modern model for teaching derives from Skinner's rat experiments.
I'm not a stickler for perfection either (I've ended sentences improperly before. ;) ), but, there are times when improper usage indicates something other than effectiveness, such as with the Spanish teacher mentioned by Red Boots in post #133.
What's wrong with "right now?" That stilted phrase makes me almost as crazy as "viable alternative," another entry in the Dictionary of Trite and True Bureaucratese.
“Low Hanging Fruit” are the prey of the “bottom feeders,” aren’t they?
“Bottom feeders” always brings to my mind a picture of a kuhli loach in my aquarium, practically vacuuming up all the fish flakes that fall to the bottom.
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