Fun Stuff, Terrorism
We here at Pensito Review pride ourselves on our ability to toss about the well-worn cliché with the best of them, but even we have a limit to what we can stomach in polite conversation or, worse yet, everyday basic communicative writing that is intended to convey meaning and emotion. Hence our joy at seeing that Oxford University — famed for its dictionary and shoe style — has published its own list of the top 10 most annoying phrases.
We mostly agree:
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
While we consider the Oxford list to be an excellent starting point, we have a few more that we would like to see added to a longer list of obnoxious phrases:
In order to
When all is said and done
Going forward
Same difference
Six of one, half a dozen of the other
In the final analysis
Drill down
Reach out
Do you have some phrases that are pet peeves? Leave us a comment and, at the end of the day, we’ll add them to our list of banned language.
On the table, off the table, under the table, anything to do with the freakin’ table.
“try and”
as in I’m going to try and get it done
Here’s the one that irritates me most:
“To tell you the truth…”
Every time I hear that now, I tell that person: “Wait a minute…does that mean you’ve been lying to me all the rest of the time?!!?”
My other pet peeve is the mispronunciation of nuclear a la G.W. Bush & Sarah Palin…NUCULAR!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! I just want to rip their tongues out when I hear that!!
My friends. Need I say more?
“Run it up the flog pole” “no Brainer” “w”
“heavy lifting”
“It is what it is.”
What is it? What???
Doh! I forgot “low-hanging fruit” and “best practices.”
One phrase I can’t stand–”I’ll need your license and registration, sir”.
My irritants are found in TV ads.
One: “Patent Pending” as in “This revolutionary Patent Pending ingredient is guaranteed to….”
Doesn’t “Patent Pending” mean that they haven’t been able to get an approval on their patent submission. Why are they having trouble getting an approval? How is that a good thing?
Two: “Real People” as in “Our Stomach Exerciser is made for Real People who need to lose Real Weight” or one that advertises “Real Discounts for Real People on all of our trucks”.
Its not you, its me.
My additions gleaned from past co-workers:
1. “We here at”. (See the lead in to this topic on this page). Where else would you be? Maybe “There there at”?
2. “At this particular point in time”. Is there a unparticular point in time for you?
3. “Interestingly enough…” Which is a sure indication that what is about to be said is not interesting.