Phrases you hate...

"slippery slope…"
"as it were…"
"if you will…"

"let's touch base"
"I hear what you say"

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PS - Check out Bullshit Bingo.

- "Know what I'm sayin'?" -- Tell ya what, if I don't know what you're saying I'LL FUCKING ASK! Until then, let's just assume that I do.

- "Taking things to a whole `nother level" - Why must life now be reduced to a giant game of "Donkey Kong"?

- Just triple-checking (never seems to check or double-check, though)

- Would you mind— and if you do, that's totally fine, just tell me, it's 100% perfect if you don't want to— but, could you possibly...

Going back to the very first one, my boss's boss is also inclined to talk about 'ticks in boxes'. I have tried to use "putting ticks outside of boxes" as if it represents a highly desirable combination of creativity and getting the job done, but no one is really buying it at the moment, presumably because they know me.

these two always come up in "phrases you hate" discussions. what's wrong with them?

pretty much

This one isn't a phrase but it confuses me:
"Excuse me" being used by people walking in your general direction who aren't going to crash into you & you're really not posing any kind of obstacle to them going on their merry way, which leads me to assume it's an attention-getting device, as in "Hi I'm walking past you now, saw you weren't really noticing me, don't freak out at my proximity to you". Very weird, uniquely American convention that I haven't quite grasped yet.

Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...
Things you're sick of hearing: Single words, cliches, and tired phrases. Don't read if you hate pedantry.
Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug you
Most irritating cliche/phrase/expression
Four Words: Use Other Words Please
"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"
Use other phrases please
Banal phrases that pepper everyday office conversation - report them here

alba, youre everyones fact checkin' cuz

Repeating the past isn't necessarily bad... especially if there is no past for a newcomer.
Is this a semi-private board of stuffy folks bent on wanking off only in the company of fellow stuffy board members or what?

Yes. Precisely! For example, if you were burning to discuss bicameral vs. unicameral legislative bodies, there is already a thread for doing exactly that. Why start any more?

The slowness of full-text searches isn't anything to do with your internet connection speed, btw.

2. The best thing to do when a string is redundant is to jump right in and announce the fact you have identified it as redundant instead of ignoring it, right?

3. After a three hour recovery period I am perfectly sober again.

4. Boo!

This sends me into fucking orbit for some reason.

"He's burning both ends of the same candle"— I don't know what I hate about it, I just do.

"They're just talking" as a euphemism for two people not in a relationship fooling around up to but not including sex. I actually preferred "being with each other," back when that was the thing to say.

Also, in a previous phrases-you-hate thread I mentioned hating "Can I get..." when asking for something. The only time it should be used is by a Southern Baptist preacher asking for an Amen.

Woot woot

you gotta be a cold mf imo to hate on "forever home" / "forever family"

I think it's dumb and overly corny

Forever Home is definitely on some rainbow bridge fur baby shit.

The concept that pets are part of your family and not disposable is not at all novel to me, though. I guess it's meant to appeal to people who are overly sentimental yet also shitbags to animals

it's for use with sheltered or fostered pets who will be destroyed unless someone takes them in

I know what it's used for, and I approve of finding permanent homes for animals who are in danger of being destroyed. 'Permanent home' or even simply 'home' seem like reasonable words for this.

that's cool, i think that's a reasonable position to take. alls i said was getting ticked off at a bit of schmaltz that's trying to generate empathy to save animal lives makes you a cold mf.

I hate it so much I just put my cat in the trash can

he liked it too much in there and I had to pull him out

"in this space" or "in the (x) space"

e.g., "We're the only company playing in this space right now," or "Next year we're looking to increase our presence in the home and garden space"

Also "robust," but I see that was called out above

Pictures/stories of pets finding homes, particularly any animal saved from an abusive and/or life-threatening situation, are heartwarming. Forever just hits as an unnecessary, treacly superlative to a story that's good enough without it.

"libtard" is another, unrelated one that makes me wince - even "liberal" as a pejorative. So much for a respectful debate, sir/madam.

"that can be debunked"

*posts link to video*

"claps back"

laughably lame, also strongly connotes 'ineffectual action of a powerless person performed for a day's worth of facebook likes and then forgotten by larger society'

Basically all phrases used by salespeople for software-as-a-service companies and other vendors. "Hey, Phil, when would be a good time to connect and hop on a webex to see how our service might fit into your marketing stack?" Like, we live in a world where people have to talk to other people like this.

"If you have a voice, use it"

it's has all the empty platitude of a politician. when spoken by a famous person this advice boils down to "Other people should say something"

"Rare interview with Thom Yorke"

breaking news

(that doesn't mean shit)

Anybody who isn't a gangsta rapper who refers to someone as their "ride or die".

Just call them your friend, you're a 57 year old school teacher

"illegal votes"

“on point”

"I was today years old when I learned that cats have scent glands in their paw pads"
"I was today years old when I learned that cats have scent glands in their paw pads"
"I was today years old when I learned that cats have scent glands in their paw pads"

"it just hits different"

you will love this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJlMkMtK7-8

i like sza

it's just 38 year old blue wave twitter dorks using it in earnest like "the second episode of mandalorian just hit different" or some shit

'cuddle puddle'

ums otm about 'hits different'. like, i will hit u, even more different

"I work hard, and I play hard."

fuck you, alpha male poser, just do your goddam job and leave the rest of us out of it.

'bragging rights'

^don't hate the phrase, hate the smug assholes who use it literally instead of playfully

i recoil with disgust at the entire concept of "bragging rights" because i think bragging itself is ugly behavior.

I think the phrase "weaponize (anything)" can be dropped down the memory hole.

"wow factor" on any UK makeover or competition programme. It especially annoys me when people say "a wow factor" instead of "the wow factor". Like "I used this special kind of door to give it a wow factor."

I hate dad-phrases that are money-based, such as "I'd pay TOP DOLLAR for blah blah blah", or "they won't get ONE THIN DIME out of me anymore."

otm

Real dads don't talk about the money.

I think the phrase "weaponize (anything)" can be dropped down the memory hole.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, August 15, 2023 6:18 PM bookmarkflaglink

why? it's a legitimate thing that happens and probably the easiest way to sum it up. like the Jonah Hill situation.

Jonah Hill has been weaponized?

In aerosol form yes

It's overused, especially by the right. I heard someone--a Republican strategist--on ATL public radio last night talking about how the GA indictments were a "weaponization of the justice system."

What she really meant, of course, was that she was unhappy it was her people getting in trouble.

“let’s make some memories”

Seeing it a lot at the moment.

I am not fond of that one either.

*Goes on a camping trip with the kids* "Ah, yes. You're making memories."

Shit, I might have dementia one day. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment now, THANKS.

I've worked in local advertising for years and yeah "making memories" is extremely overused, but it is useful in some contexts; like, I think it is important to remember to make memories - we can fall into repetitive patterns where it's the same old same. If you don't make an effort to make new and interesting memories, you're not really living

we can fall into repetitive patterns where it's the same old same

Ok, hadn't heard the "making memories" vs "memorization" argument yet.

For a while almost everything I read about pop culture contained the words "banger" or "slaps" or "liminal." Now I'm seeing the word "horny" in basically everything, too.

hella baller

Gave them their flowers/gave him his flowers/gave her her flowers

Been hearing this crop up a lot lately. My understanding is that it means to give public praise and acknowledgement, perhaps to someone whose work has gone unrecognized. I don't know the origin. It just irritates me.

lol I only know that phrase from Friends, meaning something completely different

Flatt & Scruggs - "Give Me Flowers While I'm Living"

Won't you give me my flowers while I'm living
and let me enjoy them while I can
Please don't wait till I'm ready to be buried
and then slip some lilies in my hand

“victory lap”