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

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what?

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

my p hurts!

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

I hate "touch base" and "metrosexual"

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

OH come on, let's touch bases.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ok?

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

'exact same'.

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

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

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

or "bits"

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

optics

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

also photonic inplace of optic

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

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

― barbara wintergreen, Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:19 (twenty-two 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-two 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-two 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)

"Yes, sir, I am bougie, I am bougie... etc."

― Win A Lie-Down, Mrs. Davies (kate), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:44 (twenty years ago)

"what the...?"

― jimmy glass (electricsound), Thursday, 18 August 2005 10:46 (twenty years ago)

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"RUN, don't walk, to the phone to buy tickets"

I'm a clumsy man that is not safe

― Abby Gore (Neanderthal), Saturday, 21 February 2026 00:20 (one week ago)

chokkers

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 2 March 2026 13:33 (two days ago)

mayhaps

belongs in the pantheon of cringe millennial humor along w/ "amazeballs" and "totes mcgoats"

admittedly it's not as bad as those two, but something about it just really fucking annoys me for some reason

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Monday, 2 March 2026 17:48 (two days ago)

i’m trying to make “droll” happen

― madame defarge supporters club (Hunt3r), Monday, 2 March 2026 18:25 (two days ago)

someone said "holding paradox" at a staff meeting last week, I wasn't paying attention so I don't even know what she was trying to say anyone heard this before

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Monday, 2 March 2026 18:38 (two days ago)

No but is it the same thing as embracing contradiction / containing multitudes?

― calmer chameleon (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 2 March 2026 18:57 (two days ago)

is that like when you hate your job but you also hate being homeless

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Monday, 2 March 2026 19:01 (two days ago)

Can God make a paradox he cannot hold?

― ledge, Monday, 2 March 2026 19:03 (two days ago)

just heard 'warfighters' again on the radio, ugh

― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 2 March 2026 20:13 (two days ago)

said by kid banging plastic soldiers into each other, I assume

― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 2 March 2026 20:39 (two days ago)

My current pet peeve is "backing in" in contexts other than reversing a vehicle into a parking spot or similar. It feels relatively new and it might be another godawful Australian thing. eg. "The PM was conspicuously eager to back in the missile strikes"; "the government is backing in an aggressively pro-Israel candidate for the role", etc. Where did this 'in' come from?!

― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Monday, 2 March 2026 22:41 (two days ago)

I have never heard this (UK)

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 2 March 2026 23:07 (two days ago)

Okay, cheers. I can't see any mention by dictionaries or language pedants on the broader interwebs so it probably is recent 'strayan ugly-fication, possibly exclusively in speech. I'm hearing it at least daily from industry spokespeople, sport reporters, miscellaneous press conferences...

― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 3 March 2026 00:03 (yesterday)

Yes "back in" is annoyingly all over the place in Australia, but pretty sure it's Australia only.

― Zelda Zonk, Tuesday, 3 March 2026 00:07 (yesterday)

it’s common in usa to refer to parking and it doesn’t sound weird to my yank ears per se, but the cited use does sound wrong to em

― madame defarge supporters club (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 00:22 (yesterday)

I know right!
And thanks ZZ for confirming I'm not hallucinating this abomination.

― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 3 March 2026 01:46 (yesterday)

I've never heard that. If someone said that to me I'd never listen to them again.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 03:10 (yesterday)

pretty sure it's Australia only

please please please do the english speaking world a favor and (to quote an old piece of folk wisdom) "kill it before it multiplies"

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 03:57 (yesterday)

I'll try and back that one in, Aimless.

― Zelda Zonk, Tuesday, 3 March 2026 04:01 (yesterday)

if you succeed I'll see about ginning up some sort of trophy or a medal or something

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 04:10 (yesterday)

I reckon it’s probably derived from horse racing - backing the favourite in the third race, etc.

― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 04:52 (yesterday)

My guess too but it still doesn't quite make sense. You back a horse, where does the "in" come from?

― Zelda Zonk, Tuesday, 3 March 2026 05:39 (yesterday)

I can’t claim any knowledge but I feel like it refers to the odds changing as more people bet on a particular horse.

― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 05:42 (yesterday)

Reminds me of the joke about a guy going into the bookies and asking, "Can I back a horse in here?". Doesn't really work in print though.

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Tuesday, 3 March 2026 07:42 (yesterday)

lol, I think it does

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Tuesday, 3 March 2026 07:44 (yesterday)

mayhaps

see also 'smacks of' and 'doth protest' and things 'icumen in'

just unbearably precious bullshit

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 04:37 (sixteen hours ago)

Hamlet aka English literature's famously unbearable precious bullshit

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 04:47 (sixteen hours ago)

nothing is cool after 400 years

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 05:18 (fifteen hours ago)

mayhaps

see also 'smacks of' and 'doth protest' and things 'icumen in'

Does anyone do this anymore?

I was a big offender in my teens for this sorta shit tho.

― a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 07:49 (thirteen hours ago)

“Smacks of” is a fairly common phrase that doesn’t scan as affected at all to me? Like it’s something you’re more likely to encounter in written than spoken English I guess but it’s not like someone dropping a “forsooth” or whatever

― jus au rascal (wins), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 07:57 (thirteen hours ago)

Yeah smacks of just normal

― Alba, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 08:50 (twelve hours ago)

A colleague keeps saying "I shall now partake of luncheon"

― Alba, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 08:51 (twelve hours ago)

oh god

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 09:21 (eleven hours ago)

many of these are extremely coogan-adjacent

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 09:21 (eleven hours ago)

Also Colin Hunt.

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 09:29 (eleven hours ago)

It’s a fine line between Colin Hunt and Tim Key.

― Piedie Gimbel, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 09:32 (eleven hours ago)

The viz real ale twats too

― jus au rascal (wins), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 09:34 (eleven hours ago)

That's actually the first one I thought of!

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 09:37 (eleven hours ago)

it's the flipside of bougie people using street language fuck em both

― madame defarge supporters club (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 15:44 (five hours ago)

or ivies using shitheel cornpone talk

― madame defarge supporters club (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 15:48 (five hours ago)

look who has rules for diction now-- me, a known offender

― madame defarge supporters club (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 15:51 (five hours ago)

I need to know what shitheel cornpone talk is

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 17:58 (two hours ago)

come to Texas and I'll give you a tour

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 18:02 (two hours ago)

I know what shitbag cornhole talk is, they do that in the parking lot of the VFW near my house

― Cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria de Episcopio, Wednesday, 4 March 2026 18:03 (two hours ago)

what the fucking fuck is this fucking word i hate it

Major airline bans 'barebeaters' across all 24 daily flights from UK airport

― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 19:07 (one hour ago)

I'm going to go a bit wide here but my informal memory says that "backing in" is related to horses but now how you may think. It's not in a racetrack way, but because horses can't see behind them. So if you want them to not see something, or to go somewhere they're not going to want to go, you BACK THEM INTO IT so they can't see it until they're there.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 19:47 (one hour ago)

So it would be like saying, we're going to departmentally do X but we're not going to talk about it openly and just quietly start doing it so that it's in place before anyone notices. Or to do something in a roundabout way without direct attention.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 19:49 (one hour ago)

But it's not used much, so the current Strine preponderance might just be a regional thing.

Speaking of Strine I told someone I could do something in the arvo, recently, and had to go back and clarify. Hasn't caught on here.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, 4 March 2026 19:52 (one hour ago)

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