Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...

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Lately, "veggies" has been bugging the shit out of me... too flip, too Australian sounding. Also, "At the end of the day..." is being heavily abused by politicos... a new catch-phrase with no meaning.

Now, a small cadre of philistines in my office has been using the word "outreach" as a NOUN... "Were you able to establish some outreach with the printers?" etc.

What language abuses have been rubbing you raw lately?

― andy, Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

"TURN BACK YOU POXY FULE"

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:35 (twenty-one years ago)

what?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

That seems like it'd be right up your alley, TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

My friends got into saying "P-word" as a jokingly PC way of saying "pussy" .. i.e. - "so-and-so is a p-word." I tried to explain that it's a real pussy move to be afraid of saying pussy and hypocritical of anyone then to call anyone else a p-word. I think it fell on deaf ears.

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

my p hurts!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

If my dad wants to agree with something you've said, he says "This is true." It really, really gets me annoyed, for no other reason than overuse as far as I can think.

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

"Have a Cool Yule!" - I haven't actually heard this lately but because of the season I remembered this the other day and darkly mulled over its wankiness.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)

using "Cool Yule" seems like it should automatically warrant a knife in the face.

― El Santo Claus (Kingfish), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

My father met Cheech Marin while drunk and got his autograph. My father is not the autograph type, but kept it because it is a small bar napkin that says "BE COOL FOOL, CHEECH." A man of few words, that Cheech.

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I cant stand it when I hear someone say 'impactful' is that even a word? Impact is not a property, its created.

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

It must say something about ILX that this is the most repeated topic of all time:

Four Words: Use Other Words Please
"Use other words please."
Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug you
Most irritating cliche/phrase/expression
"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"
words that annoy
Words that should earn the author a slap
PROVERBIAL and other tip offs to poor writing

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm getting really pissed of with american interpretations of 'Liberal', 'Libertarian' and 'Conservative'

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I also get upset about "N-Word" as well. If you're using it in a critical context, people will understand that. If you're not, then you should have the conviction to let people hear it if you want to say it.

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I hate "touch base" and "metrosexual"

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

OH come on, let's touch bases.

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Tuesday, 23 December 2003 23:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, "metrosexual" is possible the lamest noun of the new millenia.

― andy, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Or is it an adjective? I don't know.

― andy, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

If my dad wants to agree with something you've said, he says "This is true." It really, really gets me annoyed, for no other reason than overuse as far as I can think.

-- caitlin (wpsal...) (webmail), December 23rd, 2003. (caitlin)

Oh yes, yes yes. I second that one. And the people who say it, say it over and over.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:02 (twenty-one years ago)

But Ed, those words have different interpretations in almost every country in which they are used.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I blame the consolidation of global political power and the diminution of class mobility on people who write in the passive voice.

I also have a horror of people who write prolifically in all caps.

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"It must say something about ILX that this is the most repeated topic of all time..."

This is true.

But, this is a topic that should be dealt with routinely and harshly... the only way we can correct the language and suppress it's organic growth is by exposing and banning every new usage as it occurs... Isn't that what the French do?

― andy, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Least favorite (mis)usage ever - "ON accident..." it's BY accident you fucking moron!!

Also: 'fridge,' girls who refer to each other as 'girl,' proactive...i'll be back when i think of more....

― roger adultery, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I know, oops, but still it pisses me off.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:54 (twenty-one years ago)

The recurrence of this topic is always accompanied by the recurrence of complaint about its recurrence.

― the music mole (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 01:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Space. All this crap about needing space. Fuck off, then.

― Roderick the Visigoth. (Jake Proudlock), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 03:19 (twenty-one years ago)

All girls must now refer to one another as "guy"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 03:30 (twenty-one years ago)

ok?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 03:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Using "Sexy" in a business environment that has nothing to do with sex. As in "this is a very sexy proposal for our company". Well, I guess, if ripping people off is what turns you on.

― BrianB (BrianB), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 05:26 (twenty-one years ago)

'exact same'.

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"bird" instead of "girl" or "woman". AAAAAARGH.

― Melly E (Melly E), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

When people call each other 'babe' and the completely inappropriate use of the word 'literally'. Also can I add at this point, even if it may not be entirely relevant, the unjustifiable grammatical error in Rachael Stevens' song 'Sweet Dreams My LA Ex' : "accuse me of things I never done." And I've listened hard for "I've never done" to try and give her the benefit of the doubt but she doesn't say it.

― barbara wintergreen, Monday, 29 December 2003 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

"Begging the question" and "chomping at the bit." The first is almost always used incorrectly, and the second should be "champing," Goddamn it.

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Monday, 29 December 2003 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

or "bits"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 29 December 2003 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

'any way shape or form'. Most heard in full-media-glare denials of misdeeds. Used by dodgy sportsmen who have been 'coached' by their minders for the occasion. It immediately strips the first dozen layers of credibility from whatever statement is being made.

'poetic justice'. Used by the lazy to describe all 'justice' the speaker approves of, instead of a particular type. The adjective is rendered meaningless.

Agree re 'bird' for woman/girl, and lament its threatened return. Stinks of 'I'm being un-PC, where's my medal?'. Also the C-person uses it, which kinda ends the argument.

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Monday, 29 December 2003 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

optics

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

also photonic inplace of optic

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"the....(insert superlative)...in pop."

― barbara wintergreen, Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

To return to the top of the thread, I still after 20 odd years gag on 'outreach' as a VERB....

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

the mightily empty "i could care less" variant on being unable to do the same

― ermes marana, Tuesday, 30 December 2003 01:47 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

People who pronounce the word "presentation" as "PRE-sentation".

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:29 (twenty years ago)

since i was reading some VICIOUS anti- rachael ray sentiment last night and i'm still feelin' the love: "E.V.O.O. EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL"

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:32 (twenty years ago)

"YUM-O"

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:33 (twenty years ago)

cf.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 18 August 2005 07:34 (twenty years ago)

Also: 'fridge,'

Wait, huh? Fridge is the thing you put food in, whats wrong with it?

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 18 August 2005 08:01 (twenty years ago)

Saying "it impacted on me" instead of "it had an impact on me"... well that's annoying enough but, just recently, I've heard people say "it impacted me" - which surely would only make sense if the speaker was a molar?

― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 09:10 (twenty years ago)

'fridge,'

I'm picturing him saying things such as "Would you like me to remove another beverage from the refrigerator for you, whilst we watch some association football?"

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:29 (twenty years ago)

bougie, instead of bourgeois. heard it four times last week.

― naus (Robert T), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

"Chav"

― Diddyismus (Dada), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

bourgie?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 11717 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Again it’s the automation that is the annoying part… and the juxtapositions of closing and message content that are annoying but sometimes lol

― sarahell, Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:49 (one week ago)

where I work the sig files run to like 12-16 lines so I just sort of ignore them entirely, close salutations included

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:50 (one week ago)

i dont mind almost any “thanks” even when emptily or not appropriate due to my non-delivery of assistance prev to that time, but “thanks in advance,” gets like NO FUCK YOU in my head, and i likely will assist issuer only actual duress.

― beige accent rug (Hunt3r), Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:51 (one week ago)

that said, mine is

Accept the ordeal and all it entails,
Hazel

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:51 (one week ago)

Like there was one leftist community center volunteer whose automated closing was like “Love, Light and Laughter for All!” and this person’s emails were all humorless complaints and accusations.

― sarahell, Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:52 (one week ago)

where I work the sig files run to like 12-16 lines so I just sort of ignore them entirely, close salutations included

I never thought people even registered email signatures and the like until my supervisor at my current job told me that someone else had complained about me listing my title as "Word Janitor" and demanded that I change it to "Communications Specialist."

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:52 (one week ago)

With Great Gladness!

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:56 (one week ago)

xp
No one likes stolen valour

― rob, Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:56 (one week ago)

Takin It… To The Limit,

Tracer Hand

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 23 October 2025 17:57 (one week ago)

I trust you will do the needful.

Herewith fail not at your peril.

I remain

Yr. most humble & obdt. svt.

- Bob Marley

― putting the cad in decadent (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 23 October 2025 18:03 (one week ago)

Did not know there are still people out there using quotes as e-mail sign offs. Will have to reinstate my old Gucci Mane sig.

― a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 23 October 2025 18:06 (one week ago)

Thankfully my employer about a decade ago laid down the law about Bible quotes in signatures and all that

― This dark glowing bohemian coffeehouse (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 23 October 2025 18:33 (one week ago)

"Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture."

― jmm, Thursday, 23 October 2025 18:47 (one week ago)

"Did not know there are still people out there using quotes as e-mail sign offs. Will have to reinstate my old Gucci Mane sig."

That takes me back. When I was a student in the mid-1990s my email signature was the end of Einstein on the Beach. Formatted in stereo. I remember wondering how I could show off my cleverness in a way that didn't use much vertical space. So I decided to go horizontal.

It was something like "oh these are the days / insert my email address here / impossible, you say?". That's specifically the end of "Knee Play 5" from the original four-CD recording of the opera. There's actually more libretto after that. The original recording cuts it short.

Mendacious might have been mentioned already. Commentators on The Guardian's comment love that word. It's one of those newspaper-type words that no-one uses in the real world.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:24 (one week ago)

best wishes obv smh

Ya but I didn't understand why you wouldn't write that. I was a teenager and it just seemed like he'd just stopped typing his email closer halfway through. Like "best..... pfft whatevs". I admired it!

― kinder, Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:27 (one week ago)

i actually like "Many thanks" also i think it works with either a bollocking, a swipe or a genuine request for appreciated assistance

― tuah dé danann (darraghmac), Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:35 (one week ago)

i don't know that i'm going to change what i do in this instance, but i am curious what people think about this.

someone asks me a simple, standard thing via email.
i reply "got it" or something similar.
they respond "thank you so much!" or something similar.

i stop emailing there. instead of responding "you're welcome" or whatever. which would make me cringe. this is ok etiquette y/n?

― she freaks, she speaks (map), Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:44 (one week ago)

imo yes. anyone expecting a further response doesn't get enough email

― rob, Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:49 (one week ago)

Too right.

― Webinar in Wetherspoons (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:52 (one week ago)

Yeah, agree. Question, answer, done.

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:52 (one week ago)

Send a winking smiley

― This dark glowing bohemian coffeehouse (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:57 (one week ago)

Best Regards,
Your Name
Important Title

Live, Love, Laugh - Bob Marley

― sarahell, Thursday, 23 October 2025 19:59 (one week ago)

-rhonda

― tuah dé danann (darraghmac), Thursday, 23 October 2025 20:03 (one week ago)

Thank you

for the thank you card

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 23 October 2025 21:12 (one week ago)

I decided early on that I would be a cheers guy and have never given it a second thought because it cannot possibly matter

― fact checking suz (wins), Thursday, 23 October 2025 21:16 (one week ago)

I rotate between "All the best," "All best," and "Very best."

"Best" just isn't enough.

― jmm, Thursday, 23 October 2025 21:19 (one week ago)

Best,

M. Johnson-Watt

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 23 October 2025 21:23 (one week ago)

I had a colleague at a prior job who would usually send me Big Lebowski gifs/memes in lieu of “thank yous”

― brimstead, Thursday, 23 October 2025 21:24 (one week ago)

One of my colleagues uses a hyphenated 'thank-you' in every context ('Thank-you!') and it bugs me.

― Sam Weller, Monday, 27 October 2025 11:56 (one week ago)

OH GOD

It’s as if they’re making their thanks all sing-song and it just looks ridiculously incorrect.

― einstürzende louboutin (suzy), Monday, 27 October 2025 12:14 (one week ago)

I use "much appreciated" or "appreciate your help" as a sign off quite a lot, I guess mainly because most of the time when I send an email it's to a part of the wider digital civil service that I depend on to perform their role in order to help me or my team do things.

Sometimes I appreciate them hugely and other times involving them is more a necessary evil, depending who it is, but I still use this all the same.

― LocalGarda, Monday, 27 October 2025 12:25 (one week ago)

For Great Honour!

Tracer Hand

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 27 October 2025 12:28 (one week ago)

When I sign off with "all the best" I am always thinking about

https://i.postimg.cc/Vk8gqx6j/image.png

― sent a message through the Internet but it rejected (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 27 October 2025 12:31 (one week ago)

Something very satisfying about a well timed “many thanks.”

In my job I’ve noticed a kond of tic during meetings that when somebody finishes a 10-minute presentation that they clearly slaved over the senior person present will say “Thank (x) that’s really helpful” in lieu of anything specific and then move on and it just makes my skin crawl. It’s meant kindly I’m sure but it feels like such a hand wavey response

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 27 October 2025 12:31 (one week ago)

i mean “Thanks (x)”

and kInd, obv

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 27 October 2025 12:32 (one week ago)

that's why I never put any effort into my presentations

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Monday, 27 October 2025 14:00 (one week ago)

For Great Honour!

i wish work were like this tbh

― she freaks, she speaks (map), Monday, 27 October 2025 14:51 (one week ago)

that's why I never put any effort into my presentations

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Monday, October 27, 2025 2:00 PM (fifty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah for real. the only way i can actually do stuff like this is to try and have fun with it.

― she freaks, she speaks (map), Monday, 27 October 2025 14:54 (one week ago)

but usually i can just steal somebody else's work.

― she freaks, she speaks (map), Monday, 27 October 2025 14:54 (one week ago)

I just do my Q&A at the beginning and count on someone's complaints about the process I'm explaining to carry me through my allotted time

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Monday, 27 October 2025 15:14 (one week ago)

good idea, i think i'll steal it.

― she freaks, she speaks (map), Monday, 27 October 2025 15:25 (one week ago)

yeah thanks f hazel that’s really helpful

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 27 October 2025 16:11 (one week ago)

hmm i like that idea

― beige accent rug (Hunt3r), Monday, 27 October 2025 16:40 (one week ago)

it only works at places with really dysfunctional software and processes, so... everywhere

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Monday, 27 October 2025 17:17 (one week ago)

I end up in the opposite position… having to rush because my allotted time was cut short by excessive grounding exercises and intros.

― sarahell, Monday, 27 October 2025 17:36 (one week ago)

But sometimes I will do Q&A at the beginning because there’s too much to cover as is and I don’t want to be the tedious person explaining things no one gaf about

― sarahell, Monday, 27 October 2025 17:38 (one week ago)

the goal is to have a powerpoint that explains everything but burn up all the presentation time by letting people rant about the subject of the powerpoint, then just say "good Q&A! I'll email everyone the presentation for review". this may vary by workplace but where I am an in-person meeting is guaranteed to be full of people who want to air grievances and they are ready to go when you ask for questions.

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Monday, 27 October 2025 17:41 (one week ago)

See I am just trying to get them to understand things so they don’t do stupid things

― sarahell, Monday, 27 October 2025 17:59 (one week ago)

“i just… ran out of time”

what is this weak-ass shit

― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 2 November 2025 15:59 (two days ago)

"divisive"

― sent a message through the Internet but it rejected (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 4 November 2025 13:36 (six hours ago)

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