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
“Bipartisanship”
“The fact of the matter...”
“At this point in time.”
Means the EXACT SAME THING as “At this time” yet takes longer to say.
For some reason, it’s impossible for any sort of official to give a press conference without saying “at this point in time.” I don’t get it.
“For all intensive purposes” isn’t annoying, just funny that people mishear “for all intents and purposes” so badly.
Oh ... MY ... GOD ... that is like ... sooooo annoying! I hate thawt.
When the waitress plonks the plate in front of you and says, "there you go". Where do I go? Where's there? - Ken Clarke
I hate it when the restaurant wait person stops at the table to ask, "Are ya still working on that?" For heaven's sake, it's not a term paper. My fellow diners and I are not cows chewing the cud. Just ask, "Would you like me to remove any of these plates?", or something similar.
Two words that irritate me:
1. Awesome...some people apparently know no other word to express their feelings of being overwhelmed by something.
2. More importantly...should be “more important”. Importantly is apparently used to make one feel more important.
Someone ACTUALLY typed all that stuff in. They ACTUALLY collected all these silly phrases.
I always heare that “pre-registration” starts soon. How does that differ from good ole registration? Now that I’ve mentioned it, can annoy everyone else.
Don’t go there.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Importantly \Im*por"tant*ly\, adv.
In an important manner.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 2.0:
importantly
adv 1: in an important way or to an important degree; "more
importantly, Weber held that the manifold meaning
attached to the event by the social scientist could
alter his definition of the concrete event itself"
[syn: significantly]
2: in an important way; "for centuries jellies have figured
importantly among English desserts, particularly upon
festive occasion"
“pandemic”
Thank you for that great laugh. I’m still trying to imagine someone standing up and shouting “____” in a meeting, then getting to explain him/herself.
““At this point in time.”
Means the EXACT SAME THING as “At this time” yet takes longer to say.”
.........and, can be expressed in one word...
‘NOW’
"We're a nation of immigrants."
I hate it when some PC thug is said to “Speak truth to power...”
When I was a youngster, and doing dictionary exercises, we were never allowed to define a word by using the root of the word, or any form of the word in the definition. For example, we could not use “important” to define “importantly.”
“No guts, no glory.”
Using “less” when one means “fewer”.
“There were less people at the party then we expected.”
“Less” is a description for volume, nor a description for discrete units.
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