There's a handful of phrases, sayings and statements so cliched, corny and plain baffling, that I would rather be fed my own ears on a skewer than have to ever hear them again. Instant shoulder cringers like....
"How goes it/the Battle?" - We're in the Digital Age, not the Dark Ages.
"Do the Math." - *shudders*
"Go Figure" - *gags like a cat with a furball*
"Surely." - as in "you surely can." What's wrong with "Yes"?
"Discuss." - When barked as an order at the end of some dreary theory.
"Back in the day." - What day? When??
"Bailiwick." - As in "it's not my Bailiwick". I've only heard this wheeled out on one occasion, but it was used three times by a repeat offender during one meeting. Unforgettable and unforgivable.
"It was all I could do." - What was all you could do? They never say!
There's a few more cheesy nuggets on my list, but I'll have to stop before I go cross eyed and faint from the horror of it all.
11 comments:
When bored at home on Saturday evenings our household amuses itself by having a pointless competition to see exactly how many times Radio London DJ Gary Crowley can say 'back in the day' in his 2 hour show. So, by our reckoning since he says it at least 5 times a show, 'back in the day' must be by default, the early 80s (when Gary went out with Siobhan Fahey's sister as he likes to remind us).
So yes, it is a most annoying and stupid phrase. As Gary proves repeatedly every damn week.
"Passed away". Ugh. So English to run from the truth. Saying this doesn't hide the face that someone has died.
Cocktails - that sounds like the perfect basis for a drinking game, one sip every time he says it.
FC - and the wispy wishy washy version "passed over"
"Comfort Break" - that's another one I can't stand either.
I'm confused the yanks say math instead of maths but "play sports" instead " being crap at sport".
"Going forward" annoys.
"hard working famillies" is meaningless.
Cocktails: With you on "back in the day" although in GC's defence he is old I hate it more from 20 years olds, what you mean when you 15.
I'm sad but it still rankles when people use quantum to mean very large instead of it's true meaning of very small.
oh and the random use of "organic" and "chemicals".
I bet some adds "random"!
* goes back to pedants corner*
Now look here Mondo, I hav eto say that back in the day we never had digital age type stuff, it was all made from tin and wood. So for us old fogeys who have yet to pass over, back in the day still means something such as things were better when we never had a telly and so forth.
Cocktails - you sound like my cuppa tea. I used to love playing radio phone in. You can play this with as many people as you like/know from your own homes. The rules are that you must all listen to the same phone in show and each person that calls must have his or her catchphrase which MUST be inserted into the call. Bonus points are awarded for the length of the call as are points for how boring you can actually be without being dumped by the host. A pal of mine once waffed on for hours on a late night show pretending to be a flower seller that the host claimed to actually know! He then went on to win hands down by playing his Joker which was "Hitler wasn't such a bad bloke after all..." Sublime.
Who knew how many excellent time wasting ideas you could get from one cliche - drinking games ,radio phone ins... my Saturday nights are fixed forever.
I just thought of another phrase I hate, much beloved of Word reviewers - 'lovely'. Each month I guarantee that at least two people in that magazine describe a record as 'lovely'. What's a lovely LP exactly? Would you describe any classic albums as lovely? It just sounds like something I wouldn't want to buy.
When you ask someone how they are, and they respond
'Livin the dream'
Grrrrr
Wind up phone calls in reverse - what a top idea.
Agree with all the suggestions for the rotten role call, and I'll add.
"Not three bad". !!!!!!
And anyone who says "Greetings", I actually heard someone say this today. Incredible.
basicly mondo, at the end of the day, you nailed it. end off.
LOL
Rob how could I have overlooked those clunkers ?-I've got a few more lined up for a part 2, so check back soon.
PM: went to see los campesinos (the sound of young cardiff!) and they have a song called "don't tell me to do the Math (s)" it's very good as are they, you can download it from bbc wales website!
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