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
ABSOLUTELY!
Well, I'm a transplant from CA, but I've never heard "y'all" used to address an individual. I have, however, heard "all y'all" when addressing a large crowd.
In Spanish, "you" (singular) is "tu" (informal) or "usted" (formal) and "you" (plural) is "ustedes."
And the winner for most quotes and parens in an FR post....the envelope please....
And I'm stuned!
HELLOOOOOO....
I “only said” that....
rather than
I “said only” that....
.”awnt” as a pronunciation - it’s stilted. I never heard anyone say it until the past few years.
.T-boned is a common figure of speech? Not to me, it isn’t. Is that what the cops and insurance companies put on their accident reports? Why is it a meat comparison? The letter T itself is T-shaped.
Does the car that was hit broadside (what they used to call this kind of crash) have to have formed a curve around the perpendicular car in order for it to be a T-bone? And does the broadsiding car have to hit it exactly mid-length? What if it clips it closer to the front or back - why do news announcers still call that a “T-bone”?
.Homage was originally a French word a couple of hundred or more years ago, which has been adapted for American English usage - and it had been pronounced “HAWmuj” for many, many years before Hollywood started this silly pronunciation, probably by someone trying to show off a stilted French accent. Once again, to my ear, it sounds like a put-on affectation.
Physicality drives me crazy, as well as those who pronounce height “heith” and put 3 syllables on athlete.
Then you must absolutely despise that four letter word ath∙uh∙LET∙ik.
This is English - it doesn’t have to rhyme with those words at all. We spell lots of words unlike their pronunciation.
“ant” is correct. Saying “awnt” is like you’ve only seen the word spelled, but never heard it said out loud by anyone, especially Auntie Mame.
And the answer would be “to go” - as in “good to go.” Ugh!
What's next here, toe∙MAY∙toe v. toe∙MAH∙toe?
If ant or awnt bother you, don't come to Pennsylvania, where one can hear shanty as SHAN∙dee and mountain as MAO∙din.
I hear ya!
And I *smirk* when I see “ya’ll” instead of “y’all”
The word/”phrase” that bugs me the most:
a certain cuss word.
Sprinkled liberally throughout every-day teen lives, not to mention movies and TV.
Ha ha - it sounds like “we, the writers of this PSA, have given you your life and now we want it back!”
Does that word start with “f” and end with “k,” with an “uc” in the middle?
Yes.
I use it too much myself, and have to get out of it.
But I hate hearing people peppering their “normal” speech in public with it.
It’s 1 of the many things (along with charming things such as sagging huge pants) for which I feel like smacking the !$#$!$@# that are doing it in the malls and theaters. ;-)
Y’all yowls when the boat yaws....!!!
It’s just an acronym for friendship, understanding, caring and kindness. No need to be offended.
;O)
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