Comments on: Oxford Scholars Name Top Ten Irritating Phrases

By: Jaigin

Jaigin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:34:40 +0000

Here are some of the main irritations for me:

“My aunt she did this; those people they know better” (which ungrammatical statements are always quoted verbatim in the media, thus searing the mistake into the language.)

“Grow the economy”

“There’s two”

“The people on the ground”

By: kione

kione — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:08:38 +0000

flammable and inflammable

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:58:43 +0000

When people say un-thaw. “Please take the steak out to un-thaw” literally saying please freeze. I always want to point it out but have learned my lesson over the years, it just leads to blank stares and confusion.

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:47:20 +0000

“To be quite honest…”

Whenever anyone says this to me I always want to ask, “Have you been lying about everything else you’ve said up until this point?”

Also, I know it’s not a phrase as it’s only one word, but “irregardless.” I have to fight the urge to smack people when they use it. The fact that it is in the dictionary makes me cringe.

By: Silvia Vilches

Silvia Vilches — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:29:03 +0000

dialogue… when used as a verb. As in…”lets dialogue about that…” or, in class, “Let’s dialogue about current events…”

By: Claire Southpaw

Claire Southpaw — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:32:36 +0000

“The fact of the matter is…”

By: Ricky Barnes

Ricky Barnes — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:59:53 +0000

I suppose we all have our pet peeves when it comes to language – I detest the overuse of the word “utilize” these days, as I like to say, I never use the word “utilize”, I instead utilize the word “use”. At any rate, language is nothing more than a tool for conveying meaning. The point to all communication is the faithful passing of meaning from one to another. Certainly, there are phrases that get used repeatedly and, as much as one hates this one or that one, one’s prejudices against some bits of language are a deterrent to one’s receptiveness to meaning. As much as we’d all like others to use language in the style we ourselves prefer, the greater responsibility is to be open to the meaning the communicator is so desperately attempting to convey. We must let our childish prejudices against language patterns different from our own subside. This includes the silly and unwarranted expectation that all of those you encounter must speak your language and speak it well. Without these prejudices, I believe we’ll find meaning much more easily discovered, conveyed, and appreciated. Genuine meaning is what we’re after.

In other words, grow up, criticize much less and listen a good deal more. Utilize whatever phrases you wish and, in spite of the snobbery surrounding you, never stop communicating.

By: Gale

Gale — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:46:28 +0000

Sport analogies like “Step up to the plate”

By: cody

cody — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:48:02 +0000

i believe a whatnot is a shelf for knick-knacks.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:02:46 +0000

-”basically”
-”interface” as a verb
-”whatever”
-”hopefully”