The Figure of Speech That You Dislike The Most

[GrownupGirl]

"Needless to say..."
If it's needless to say, then why do you say it anyway? If it's needless to say, then you don't need to say it, simple as that.

 

[StephF]

Better to say "I shouldn't need to say X but there is always someone who doesn't pay attention so I am going to say X anyway"

 

[WildCat]

"I'm not trying to be offensive but", "no offense, but" or something similar...

Sometimes, it's pure BS. Were someone to prod you with an anger trident, deep in the back of your mind you wouldn't phrase it so politely.

Yeah, I understand...tactfulness and all that, and sometimes people do mean it...but c'mon. It's a force of habit that's been used a million times over.

 

[Mr Allen]

"I'm not racist but..." And then they proceed to say something racist. LIke I say I'm not racist but I can't talk to non UK call centres, because they don't understand my strong local accent.

Like last night I rang Domino's Pizza at Crookes, asked to pay a maximum of 10 quid for a small Pepperoni, Foreign guy didn't understand, and tried to charge me £15 for a delivered Pizza! I told him forget that, and sent my carer to Tesco for a Pizza, cost less than 2 quid.

 

[DesertRose]

"It is what it is."

What? I may be a bit on the dumb side, but seriously, what does that mean? Of course it is what it is. Unless it's something else.... :confused

 

[Nitro]

"It is what it is."

What? I may be a bit on the dumb side, but seriously, what does that mean? Of course it is what it is. Unless it's something else.... :confused

It means it exists but there is nothing anyone can do to make it different

 

[Mr Allen]

Try saying "It isn't in the Tin", in a Yorkshire accent, sounds like "Tin't in t' Tin"

 

[jacinto]

I hate the word "whilst" ....nothing wrong with the same "while" we've always used.
And I hate when people say, e.g., "I could care less!" instead of what it should be, which is " I couldn't care less."

 

[Fade2black]

"in it of itself," which has no meaning, and the constant misuse and oversue of the word "get." As an Aspie, I'm hypercritical of how people people speak. In my opinion, how a person speaks tells me a lot about their personality.

 

[WolfsRealm]

"It is what it is" annoys me the most.

Everytime I hear it I feel really frustrated. What is the point of a statement that has no point other than to make a comment about something they have no opinion of?!

I think this is a poor translation of "C'est la Vie." There's no direct translation but I believe the closest would be "This is Life". Since this is not the direct translation it does not impart the true meaning of the phrase. I agree there is similarity between "this is Life" and "it is what it is" but at least "this is Life" is grammatically correct...

 

[Reu]

I tend to visualize sayings in my mind. I think I do this to process them. Even After I’ve learned what the saying means, I still picture it first.

So I hate it when people say:

He/she is so anal.

Or

He/she has a stick up their butt.

Not good mental pictures.

 

[GrownupGirl]

The other day I said something that's going to make a lot of people here hate me. I was taking a cab home from the grocery store, and the driver and I let an elderly lady come with us because she was going the same direction I was going. We stopped at my apartment first, and she thanked me for letting her come with us. And instead of "You're welcome", I replied "No problem". And then I added that it was something we should all be doing because if more than one person at a time took a cab there would be more of them and we wouldn't have to wait as long, plus it reduces pollution.

I've noticed that older people seem to have to wait around longer than usual for a cab in my city. Although sometimes I've had to wait for at least half an hour, and if I call them again, they'll say it's coming soon. But of course I don't know how soon "soon" is and it really stresses me out.

 

[stringer]

I hate the word "whilst" ....nothing wrong with the same "while" we've always used.
And I hate when people say, e.g., "I could care less!" instead of what it should be, which is " I couldn't care less."

I agree with you wholeheartedly about "could care less."

However, as a British person I see a rather useful distinction between "while" and "whilst." In British English, "while" is commonly used to convey the idea of "at the same time." On the other hand, "whilst" is commonly used to convey the idea of "although."

For example, consider the sentence "John is often lazy while his wife works hard." And, on the other hand, "John is often lazy whilst his wife works hard."

In British English the first sentence might well be construed to mean that John's laziness comes upon him especially during those times when his wife is hard at work. Whereas the second sentence conveys the idea that John is in general a rather lazy person, but his wife is in general a hard-working person.

The example is not ideal, and one could maybe debate the question of whether the "while" or "whilst" should be preceded by a comma. One could probably construct a better example. But the general distinction of "while" meaning "at the same time," and "whilst" meaning "although," can be quite a useful one.

 

[jacinto]

I agree with you wholeheartedly about "could care less."

However, as a British person I see a rather useful distinction between "while" and "whilst." In British English, "while" is commonly used to convey the idea of "at the same time." On the other hand, "whilst" is commonly used to convey the idea of "although."

For example, consider the sentence "John is often lazy while his wife works hard." And, on the other hand, "John is often lazy whilst his wife works hard."

In British English the first sentence might well be construed to mean that John's laziness comes upon him especially during those times when his wife is hard at work. Whereas the second sentence conveys the idea that John is in general a rather lazy person, but his wife is in general a hard-working person.

The example is not ideal, and one could maybe debate the question of whether the "while" or "whilst" should be preceded by a comma. One could probably construct a better example. But the general distinction of "while" meaning "at the same time," and "whilst" meaning "although," can be quite a useful one.

I did not know that! All this time I thought it was Americans just being pretentious and jumping on the latest terminology bandwagon, but apparently somewhere along the line I've been compromised by redneck ignorance.

God...it's been a minor campaign of mine to discourage using the word in online groups I frequent lately..How embarrassing. I'll have to do some publicity, maybe issue a statement that I've changed my position on "whilst" and now sanction and endorse it's use under certain conditions (which, being still somewhat nebulous to me despite your excellent example, should be ascertained by a learned committee which would of course have authority to execute anyone who fraudulently misuses the term to seem smarter, or when the simple "while" would've sufficed).

I'm almost SURE I never saw it before recently though! And I'm an escapist reader from way back. Well, thanks so much for patiently taking the time to enlighten me. Most people (myself included usually, I'm afraid) would've passed over that post in hopes of finding a less uninformed one that doesn't require including a basic English lesson.

 

[GrownupGirl]

I've noticed that where I live people will say "I'm not too fussy about that." when they don't like something, but don't really hate it either, but they don't seem to be sure. Being fussy means NOT liking things, or being very selective about what they do like. So why would someone say they're not fussy when they're not sure if they don't like something? Maybe "fussy" has more than one meaning around here, but I don't know.

 

[tlc]

describing something as "all get out"
This one just irritates me for some reason. How can "all get out" be a noun?

"wrap your head around it"
I hear this in engineering a lot. If I don't already have enough of a headache trying to understand a new complicated project, I now visualize stretching my head around something like a big rubber band.

"can I pick your brain?"
People say this to me at work often. Just sounds icky and invasive.

"turn of the century"
It was fine once. Now it's almost 20 years into the new century and many people still refer to it as the early 1900s.

"sleep like a baby"
My daughter figured this one out when she was 2. My grandma told her to take a nap, she'll sleep like a baby. My daughter fired back "babies don't sleep really good!"

"haul off"
People used to say all the time "stop that or I'm gonna haul off and hit somebody". So I asked what haul off meant and nobody could answer. Pre-internet days, I eventually found it in an old dictionary. Old sailor's term meaning to draw back out of the harbor. So to draw back for a harder hit. Now it's a joke between us all, my dad says he's gonna haul off on somebody.

 

[Progster]

One that I don't like much is "it gives me the willies"

 

[GrownupGirl]

One that I don't like much is "it gives me the willies"

Should I say, "it gives me the Williams" instead?

 

[Skids]

I hate the phrase 'gone viral' when referring to something popular on the internet.

I think what they are trying to say is 'a lot of people have looked at it' but it doesn't have the same snappy ring to it as 'gone viral'. It seems that NT's love making up catchy annoying phrases.

I also heard the made up word 'McDelivery' on the radio to advertise that the popular fast food chain are now doing home deliveries.

I think if there was ever a thread for single words that summed up why the human race is essentially doomed then 'McDelivery' would be at the top of the list.