The Figure of Speech That You Dislike The Most

[Cuppa' Tea]

I dislike the phrase "whatever floats your boat" because don't all boats float in water? So instead of meaning "whatever you like" it just means "this one thing" I dunno. I've just always had a hard time with that one.

 

[dwc780]

One I encountered in junior high quite a bit: "a million and a half".

Apparently it means 1,500,000. Funny, but it sounds to me like 1,000,000.5, which is rather oddly specific.::

See, I would interpret that statement exactly as you did. A million (1,000,000) and a half (.5). I would interpret "one and a half million" as 1,500,000, but not a million and a half.

 

[Geordie]

"As you can see..."

Some things may not be that apparently obvious to others.

"Last, but not least..."

An argument or a point lives as long as the length of time we get to see the words, on print, or on phonographic records.

 

[King_Oni]

Well, there's one I recently ran into a lot more (proabably cause someone used it a lot) which got me all shaking in disapproval. It's a dutch expression, but I'll translate and explain what it's about

"Water bij de wijn doen", which means "to add water to the wine". It's used as a form of compromise or to meet in the middle about something.

This expression bothers me, because... it leaves me with dilluted wine. In ancient greece they thought it was wrong to do so. The entire notion of dillution your goal and adding stuff to compromise with something you don't want, to begin with, feels wrong to me. I feel it's like replacing strawberries with raspberries and then saying "sorry, you didn't get your strawberrycake... here, have some raspberrycake... but at least you had cake." If I wanted "any" cake, I'd ask for "any" cake... if I emphasize strawberry, I think that if anything, I'd have a problem with it not being those, rather than it not being a cake for example.

It also feels like having a 100% aim and being told "settle for less". It's ridiculous... and even moreso if mental health professionals use if as it's the most normal thing ever.

 

[Christian T]

I see what you mean. I think that expression applies best to politics myself, where people end up following through with only a small percentage of the ideals and plans they originally had, in order to get ahead of their opponents and gain more power.

To express compromises, I prefer "to meet someone halfway" and I do think this is a good one for mental health professionals to use, as it's really what aspies and NTs need to do if they are to co-exist peacefully - both need to make an effort to understand and accommodate the needs of the other.

A figure of speech that's been bothering me lately appears is in sentences like "They stole a number of jewels from the shop that was left open."

I don't doubt that they did. People tend to do a number of something, but what's important is what the number actually is. Is it 43? 2? 1001? 0? -70 (did they give the shop +70 jewels)? These are all numbers.

Saying that they stole "a considerable number" or "a sizeable number" makes more sense, but without an adjective this is a plain stupid expression, or, following the logic of "a number" maybe I should just say "this is an expression". Yes, why not?

""To have or have done a number of something" is an expression!"

That's surely the most emotive statement ever written.

 

[thecherrie]

When people call on the phone and start with "Im giving you a call...." I can tell that from the device we are communicating on that its a phone call but hey thanks!
Also repeatedly saying 'actually' before stating what action you will be taking "what we will actually do is, actually walk down the street, and actually purchase a loaf of bread"

 

[Flinty]

To continue on Christian T's thought...

"It's a fraction of..." Well, if you're speaking in real numbers, that of course is true, or close to it.

 

[Aalo]

In Finland we have a saying "menneen talven lumia", snows from winter passed. See also how funny it's to write Lumia (snows) with a big capital in honor for Nokia smart phone, because every Finn loves Nokia, right? No. Funny though, that I don't dislike nearly as much the phrase of something being old water under the bridge, which pretty much has the same connotation.

Rote learning can also be told as "learning by heart". Where's the hart in dull repetition, I just ask. If that means someone is so deeply passionated about subject concerned it still won't make this specific method to be any closer to one's heart. Or might here be some physiological connection I didn't get?

"I'm 101% sure." "No, you're a moron."

Also "on the other hand". You can have specific opinions without parting them by your limbs. What if you run out of fingers? But I know I too have used this and some others that I don't really like when communicating in English. And my reason is purely not being skillful enough to totally avoid using words in a manner of tautology without using these at times.

 

[Lector Tiberius]

"It is what it is "

I depise this figure of speech. It's often used by my father as a passive way of excusing others actions ..

 

[Ylva]

In Finland we have a saying "menneen talven lumia", snows from winter passed. See also how funny it's to write Lumia (snows) with a big capital in honor for Nokia smart phone, because every Finn loves Nokia, right? No. Funny though, that I don't dislike nearly as much the phrase of something being old water under the bridge, which pretty much has the same connotation.

What do you dislike about water under the bridge?

I do agree that "snows from winters past" is much better. I will use that one from now on.

"Never say never" is extremely annoying to me. You can't always avoid saying never, even if you try to avoid generalisations, but you can at least avoid saying a word twice in a sentence that explicitly forbids you from saying that word.

 

[King_Oni]

In Finland we have a saying "menneen talven lumia", snows from winter passed. See also how funny it's to write Lumia (snows) with a big capital in honor for Nokia smart phone, because every Finn loves Nokia, right? No. Funny though, that I don't dislike nearly as much the phrase of something being old water under the bridge, which pretty much has the same connotation.

Excuse me while I butcher the Finnish language

this expression will forever resound in my head to state someone has an outdated phone model. Lumia from winter passed... or just... a phone from years ago.

 

[Aalo]

What do you dislike about water under the bridge?

I can't say it isn't a beautiful metaphor. Maybe I just haven't seen enough bridges for being able to empathize. This time there's no scientific ranting from me.

Excuse me while I butcher the Finnish language.

Feel free, I'm an android user and I've never, ever owner Nokia.

 

[buckyboy14]

This didn't bother me before, but I've realized the amount the word is misused is sickening. The word is "literally." Before completing this post, I was waiting for somebody to use it incorrectly to provide an example. It didn't take long: "It literally took me thirty minutes to read the first chapter." Why not just say "It took me thirty minutes to read the first chapter"? The word is being used for emphasis, which is not what it is intended to do. The correct usage of the word is to specify that a term which is usually figurative is literal. If a person actually lost their life because they were laughing so hard, "he literally died laughing" would be an acceptable term. I'm sick of hearing this word used incorrectly.

 

[SallySlips]

I hate it when people ask a question ending with "or..." Such as "Would you like to go to this place or...?"

Just finish your sentence, or don't end it like that! So frustrating.

 

[DTFrontMan]

I'm not sure when, but "it's like finding a needle in a haystack" started bothering me. Other random comparisons bug me too but mostly this because it's used so often. They're meant to give people an understood basis to help people understand something else. I don't personally know how hard it is to find a needle in a haystack tough, I mean the Mythbusters did it but how many of us can say we've tried? Mythbusters made machines that did it for them, which to me made finding the needle seemingly easy lol.

"The ship weighed as much as 16 elephants!"

"Am I supposed to know how much 16 elephants weigh...?"

 

[Christian T]

There are a lot of idioms like "finding a needle in a haystack" that were thought of many years ago in very different cultural settings. They have also spread to other countries, so in the distant time and place where these idioms were first used, they would have been useful, comprehensive analogies, but since none of them have been updated, and have become cliches, they are no longer an effective way of getting your point across. Today, if you've never heard "beat about the bush" been used, someone will need to explain early bird hunting techniques in order for you to understand it.

I think it's much better when people use their imagination and think of a modern day example, like maybe "pile on the adverts" which would refer to the agony of sitting through ads in the movie theatre.

 

[Fox]

"Remember, there's always somebody out there that has it worse than you."

^I absolutely HATE when people say this to me, or to others. In my mind it sounds like you're trying to dismiss the severity of my problem. Now, I accept and recognize that many of my problems are not severe, but when I have an issue that's weighing heavily on my mind that I need to talk about, and somebody says that to me, it makes me feel even worse than I was already feeling. For one, who made you the judge of how good/bad my problems are compared to others? What is nothing to you, is something to me. A problem is a problem, and the fact that someone out there is suffering worse than me does not change the fact that I'm suffering. It makes me feel even worse, actually, because it's true, and a lot of those people seem so strong in the face of adversity, and when I think of these people and their mountainous issues, I feel weak and inferior to them all and 1000 times smaller than every single one of my molehills. Which just magnifies the problem even more.

 

[DTFrontMan]

I think it's much better when people use their imagination and think of a modern day example, like maybe "pile on the adverts" which would refer to the agony of sitting through ads in the movie theatre.

I agree, that kinda sounds like a fun idea for a coffee table book actually. Bunch of old sayings with modern versions done Urban Dictionary style

Honestly though I think it bothers me because it undermines intelligence to a degree. In regards to the ship weighing 16 elephants it feels like that's said because 192,000 lbs would confuse people, to me that seems like simplifying information. I'd be happier and understand easier if they just showed me 192,000 lbs, I don't need comparisons to tell me that's heavy lol.

 

[Jacki Cucinotta]

I think it's much better when people use their imagination and think of a modern day example, like maybe "pile on the adverts" which would refer to the agony of sitting through ads in the movie theatre.

That's a great one Christian! Love the originality. And yes, those ads are sooooooooooo annoying when they run for more than 10 minutes (that's how long I think it is before the movie starts, but my estimation might be wrong depending on the movie theater).

 

[Aalo]

"Being in a spotlight." Because life is not a cabaret not am I a tap dancer.