OzTennis

At this particular moment in time it's at the end of the day! You know what I mean like. With all due respect to anyone who disagrees.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...939703026.html

Most irritating phrase
March 24, 2004 - 3:02PM

"At the end of the day" has been voted the most irritating phrase in the English language.

Second-equal worst sayings were "at this moment in time", and the constant use of "like", as if it was a form of punctuation, according to supporters of plain English.

"With all due respect", came fourth.

The Plain English Campaign surveyed its 5,000 supporters in more than 70 countries as part of the build-up to its 25th anniversary on July 26.

Spokesman John Lister said over-used phrases were a barrier to communication.

"When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message - assuming there is one!" he said.

"Using these terms in daily business is about as professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ringtone on your phone.

"George Orwell's advice from 1946 is still worth following: 'Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print'."

The following terms also received multiple nominations:

24/7; absolutely; address the issue; around (in place of "about"); awesome; ballpark figure; basically; basis ("on a weekly basis" in place of "weekly" and so on); bear with me; between a rock and a hard place; blue sky (thinking); boggles the mind; bottom line; crack troops; diamond geezer; epicentre (used incorrectly); glass half full (or half empty); going forward; I hear what you're saying; in terms of; it's not rocket science; literally; move the goal-posts; ongoing; prioritise; pushing the envelope; singing from the same hymn sheet; the fact of the matter is; thinking outside the box; to be honest/to be honest with you/to be perfectly honest; touch base; up to (in place of "about"); and value-added (in general use).

Further contributions welcome!
OzTennis

Fuzzyness

well at the end of the day its only a phrase isnt it?

but i agree its painful listening to footballers saying it over and over again when they get interviewed post match.

Vegemite Kids

At this moment in time, and with all due respect, I would like ask you to bear with me whilst I address this issue and say that fact of the matter is, bottom line, I hear what you are saying and in terms of this issue agree that 24/7 we are basically singing from the same hymnsheet like.

lostkiwi

Look, basically, at the end of the day, you like, learn the language when you are young then, like, "the man" starts, like moving the goal posts, about like what is like pukka and what aint, I mean, with all due respect, I think "the man" sucks yeah. I talks proper like, and basically, I, like, hear what he is saying, but like, I take life one day at a time, and if "the man" dont, like, like it, well basically he can litterally shove it. Its not rocket science...

EssexNobby

You've got to look at both sides, it's a game of two halves

Marlo

It`s hard to know what to say without being annoying, but a good thread started here, here`s just a few of mine that I can think of at the moment.


Innit, man (seperate or together), you with me? I can relate to that, that`s different/that`s interesting (when someone doesn`t want to admit they don`t like something eg. the way you`ve decorated a room), I`ll come with (not finishing the sentence).

That`s all folks!!!!

walaj

"I'm off to Australia tomorrow"
"the beach is a 6 minute walk from the house"

most irritating when stuck in the UK, but one day hope to say those irritating phrases myself

debio

Most irritating:

'It's doing my 'ed in'

:scared:

OzTennis

Excellent contributions. Strangely, as pointed out already, a lot come from football:

'We hope to get a result' (excuse me but a loss, a draw or a win are all results)
'The lads'
'Over the moon'
'The boy's done well'
'He's went by two defenders'
'He's sat on the bench'
And a couple from listening to Ron Atkinson last night - commentating on the 'brilliant', 'to be fair' match between AC Milan and Deportivo La Coruna.
'Create scoreboard pressure'
etc, etc

Some other ones you don't want to hear:
'I've got a headache'
'Game, set and match' (to my opponent)
'Time, gentlemen, please'

Keep them coming, you know what I mean like, ya know, ye ken, OK yah, (and all the different ways of saying it).

OzTennis

OzTennis

And, Weapons of Mass Destruction.

OzTennis

OzTennis

And it was a terrible thing and an outrage and all that but 9/11 is getting a bit irritating (or 11/9 as it would more correctly be known in UK or Oz). Isn't that Microsoft auto-completion of dates annoying too - 2004-03-24 etc popping up when you don't want it to, it just needs to say 'have a nice day' as well to really irritate.

OzTennis

Vegemite Kids

The ones I really hate are all the business buzzwords, such as "we have to pick the low hanging fruit"

We've found a way to make concalls and meeting fun now by playing Buzzword Bingo. For those that havent heard of it click the link below and have some fun at the next boring staff meeting or whatever.

http://isd.usc.edu/~karl/Bingo/bbbingo.html

The other one we have great fun with is http://www.outofservice.com/buzzword/
Grab a phrase off here and then the challenge is to find a way to work it into a concall or meeting in such a context that nobody challenges you but just nods wisely. The best is if you can get somebody to re-use it in another meeting.

OzTennis

Ah, wait a minute, 'I know your game'. If I take part in this you are going to 'downsize', 'outsource', 'rationalise downwards', 'concentrate on core activities', 'focus on the customer' or something like that aren't you?

You might even report me to the Human Resources Department (which used to be known as Personnel) or get one of those Operations people (used to be known as Production) to 'see to me'. Even worse would be the guy in Transport (sorry Logistics).

And concall? Is that when a salesman (sorry salesperson or sales executive) phones you? Ah, I think I'm 'getting the hang of this', it's conference call.

OzTennis

Vegemite Kids

PMSL. Sussed

seang

find the use of "well basically" extreme irritation