"O-o-oh d-d-d-dear!"
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
Did you check the dictionary?
When someone says “you know” 17 times in a two sentence statement.
Well, no. I've produced spoken media that has been used all over the world.
Like flammable and inflammable.
"O-o-oh d-d-d-dear!"
Reminds me of a rant I went on once about someone who was continuously doing things that were unethical and not being punished for them.
I was thinking he was “without regard for the law” but I posted “he does blah blah blah *without* impunity!”
*Was my face red,* as Reader’s Digest might “say.”
“My bad.”
And, it always, always brings to my mind, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits.
"Some say..."
and
"...so-called..."
-PJ
Evidence of a limited vocabulary.
yitbos
Am I the only one who is getting tired of the phrase “on the ground” ?
Cool.
In the northeast whenever a blizzard strikes it’s described as “near blizzard conditions” or “blizzard like conditions” but such a winter storm is never called a blizzard.
> whinge intr.v. Chiefly British., whinged, whing·ing, whing·es.
To complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner.
Also used throughout Australia and New Zealand viz: “Whinging Poms” — English folk who move DownUnder then complain all the time about how things were better in Merrie Olde Englande.
Your North American equivalent word is “whine”.
"Lacking gravitas"
yitbos
Embarrassed at receiving a compliment? Wonder how to respond? A simple, "Thanky you" will do. It took Rush years to figure this out.
yitbos
"double double".
"One of the numbers is repeated twice."
There was a clue on a radio station when I was in college. The contest was to come up with the combination to a safe, 13 digits. The first caller to correctly identify the combination won the contents of the safe. One clue was broadcast each day. Our college team was on top of every clue and were the first to solve the problem. We submitted our solution after the fourth clue. The radio station had to retract one clue. "Clue #4, 'one number is repeated twice', should be 'one number is repeated'." We were not happy.
I don't like double negatives, either.
yitbos
"Ms."
yitbos
“The wrong place at the wrong time.”
If a fellow employee bursts into our office at 11:00am then starts shooting the joint up and I am shot would I, sitting at my desk during working hours be “in the wrong place at the wrong time”?
No. I am exactly where I should be. Not a good day for me though.
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