Posted on 11/07/2008 8:35:19 AM PST by edzo4
Heading the list was the expression 'at the end of the day', which was followed in second place by the phrase 'fairly unique'.
The tautological statement "I personally" made third place – an expression that BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys has described as "the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice."
Also making the top 10 is the grammatically incorrect "shouldn't of", instead of "shouldn't have".
The phrases appear in a book called Damp Squid, named after the mistake of confusing a squid with a squib, a type of firework.
The researchers who compiled the list monitor the use of phrases in a database called the Oxford University Corpus, which comprises books, papers, magazines, broadcast, the internet and other sources.
The top ten most irritating phrases:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Brilliant
The one I hate the most is “Think outside the box..” followed by “Changing one mind (opinion, viewpoint, etc.) at a time”
‘at the end of the day’
Absolutely my hands-down #1.
“Send a message” = #2
“Slippery slope” = #3.
“Myself” used improperly. “Sea change”...”Failed Policy” as used by Brian Williams to refer to all things not-0bama.
Here’s another: “On the ground,” as in “Well, reporters on the ground in Iraq are claiming...”
That makes my skin crawl...on the ground.
“To be honest,...” is my favorite. What, you’ve been lying to me so far???
HOT WATER HEATER.
“At this point in time “
Where have we heard that phrase before? What NASCAR mouthpiece says it every 20 minutes?
I love the word “absolutely”...and that’s what I strive for when I’m doing Historical work...Not opinions...absolutes!!
excellent,
how about “top ten”
I really have to “drink water from a firehose” to understand this post...
When people say “However comma”.
So, what should we say?
Whatever,
Not so much,
Well, duh,
That is soooo last century............
Sooner rather than later...... I HATE that phrase
Another great Southern expression- might could...as in "it might could rain today". If I ever said that in the eighth grade, the nun would have made me write the entire Book of Isaiah. Then she would have torn it up right in front of me.
I can´t believe nobody has mentioned “Yes we can.”
Any phrase that includes, “forward”.
Moving forward, going forward, looking forward, gag!!!
“It is what it is” should be on the list.
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