What words or phrases would you like to do away with? Slang words, trite phrases, whatever. Here's one to start - "...to die for" meaning the most fabulously delicious (usually food) item one has ever experienced.

What are some others?

Issues. People use this word when they mean 'problems.' 'Issues' are neutral, 'problems' are negative.

The word "snarky".

AnywayS

Where did that 's' come from and why is it THERE?

And I agree about "snarky" it's tired, and so is the "snarky" attitude.

Oh yeah, and I'm fed up with everything being "subversive" especially if it's done by a female of any age.

Oh for puke's sake, we've been able to vote for years now. Holding ones head up and answering a question, or writing a song, or reading the freakin' phone book is NOT "subversive"

Play some real gutsy ball, and risk expressing an unpopular/unhip opinion if you want to subvert something.

'Fierce' should have a decade's moratorium.

PerfumeMe, thank you for adding "issues." That one's on my list too.

Nouns used as verbs. I was ranting about this last night. Examples:

"Do you journal?" NO, but I write in a journal.
Also, "Please partner with us!" I don't think so. Maybe I'll BE a partner with you. But I rather doubt it, now that you've offended my sensibilities.

And I know everyone says this, but I can't stand it: "He gifted her with perfume." Why not say "He gave her perfume"? Or, if that's not obvious enough, he gave her a gift of perfume.

Can't think of any more along that line, but here's an oldie that many of us are sick of :"No problem!"
I didn't think it would be a problem; that's your job!

Also, "destination," as in, "Such and such is a destination university."

"Lay" used for "lie." Example: "I'm gonna go lay down!" Inexcusable.

Give me a ruler. I'm ready to rap some knuckles!

Soooo lately I've developed a terrible habit of starting every phrase and sentence with "so." Probably because I hear it all around me, all the time. When I notice it, it drives me crazy. So I find I'm happier if I just try to tune it out.

Believe it or not, I just now noticed that I started that last sentence with ...

LIKE!!!

It is probably way too late to object to this now, but...
...the phrase "was like" does NOT mean "said"!

I was like, "no" and he was like, "yes" and then she was like, "maybe".

Also, it bugs me when people use "like" for things that are not at all a comparison; it's just a verbal tic such as "um" or "y'know":

"I, like, did my internship last semester." Huh? Either you did do it last semester or you didn't, unless you are saying you did something like an internship but it wasn't really an internship...or you did it but it wasn't exactly last semester, or what the H#LL are you saying anyway?

I DON'T LIKE THAT!

Ooooh yes, that reminded me of the dreaded "all".

"I was all, You can't come in here!"
"and he was all like, Why not"?
"So I'm all, because it's the girls BATHROOM!"

And let's not forget "goes" because when I go, "I don't like those words" someone else always goes "Well, I DO"

I think "like," "goes," and "all" came from So. California valley-girl speak . Some val-phrases are now immortalized, for instance OMG in text messaging. I keep hoping that val-speak will pass away eventually, but so far, no such luck. That really sucks.

So, OMG, I, like, use some of these.

I don't mean to sound snarky, but OMG! Some of us have issues.

Anyways....

'My bad."

My bad WHAT??!!

BTW, I must say that I really appreciate how almost everyone here really makes an effort to spell decently and use proper English. ("BTW" is proper English, now, isn't it??? )

I'm getting tired of "at the end of the day."

Oh, yes! Just another word for "rude"!

Baby daddy. blah!

"Good evening. My name is _________ and I'll be your waiter tonight" Despite years of ridicule, this is still in use.

Also in a restaurant, I cringe when friends of mine (all women in our 60s) are addressed as "Guys." I've been "guy'd," surprisingly, in the best of them, most memorably at Per Se, in New York, by the 20-something sommelier.

Hipster.

Here's one I am really getting tired of: "and the take-away message is ..."
You hear this on television a lot.


Rebecca, the baby is getting cuter all the time!

Young, as in "80 years young." So patronizing.

Thank you, A! She is on my profile page, smiling.

I actually like the word snarky, lol!

May it long live to annoy others...

O.k., here's a word a hate , and if I never hear it in my house again, it will be too soon - POOP !! (and no, I'm not going to explain, lol! )

English people have gotten into the bad habit in recent years of overusing the phrase "at the end of the day" (meaning, in effect, "when all is said and done").

I listen to UK talk radio and, gee, if I had a quid for every time some phone-in caller says this!

We've had this thread...under a different title..a couple of times before. Each time, I'm amazed by how annoyed folks are. In this area (God knows, I'm not implying in others) I am decidedly mellow. Habitual poor grammar, tired phrases and hip slang words that are overused don't bother me, really. I notice and I mentally roll my eyes, but I'm mostly amused - it never gets to the point of bothering me.

I like snarky! SNARKY! SNARKY! SNARKY! I like making up new phrases and using nouns as verbs. I like how language can evolve over time because that makes it more interesting for me. I don't like it as much when poor grammar and street slang impoverish instead of enrich our language, but sometimes a little slang can be fun, though I suppose that by the time a street word trickles up to the over-educated elite, it has already lost its hipness. My baby-daddy better gift me with some bling - MY BAD!

I am the same , if it is overdone I pause a bit , but it does not matter a great deal .


except one , just one itty bitty thing that sort of hangs my munchkin ...

It's normality damnit, not the other.

ok , all better now

Well, my first one is neither a word nor phrase – it is the letter aitch being pronounced as “haitch”

Words and phrases I do not care for…

Actresses being called actors – why bother to have a Best Actress Award at The Oscars?
Biccies for biscuits
Brekky for breakfast
Bubs / bubby – babies / baby
Buck for dollars
Can I pick your brain?
Champers for champagne
Cheers in place of thank you
Clucky / broody for wanting a baby
Did you receive the invite? – for invitation
Frickin’ and freakin’ – just sounds so ugly – I would rather hear the full swear word
Gifted – gift / present
Guesstimate
Hey for hello or a greeting
I’m good instead of I’m well (when asked how are you)
Kids – children
Liking / loving – example: I am really liking this book, I am loving this lipstick
Living legend
Loved up – in love
Moving forward – I hear and read this term in the office a lot
My bad
My biological clock is ticking - I think it is just the word "biological" that sounds ugly to me
Niche being called nitch
Partner for husband / fiancé / wife / fiancée
Pash – kiss
Snog – kiss (makes me think of two grunting humans with snouts like a pig have a drunken kiss)
Strong women – applied to any women
Touch base
Very unique
We are pregnant / When we were pregnant – I usually hear this from the female partner – have not heard the male say it yet
Whatever / whatevah - seems to be said by people who lack complexity of thought or with limited vocabulary

Somehow, I think these words and phrases are all here to stay.

A useful distinction is lost when the word hung is used to describe both a means of execution and male anatomy. A person is hanged, as in from a gibbet; he is hung, as in from his crotch.

I think that, too!

I have always hated the word "whatever". My friends in college would tease me by saying it, knowing it made me mad when someone said it "for real".

Veering off topic, I really really hate hearing cussing all the time. I actually like that this board is censored even if it seems ridiculous sometimes, because it is just "nicer" that way. There are too many boards out there where anything goes.

I am not a prude. It is not that I never swear, my husband really doesn't like it and gets after me when I do occasionally. (Like when I whacked myself upside the head with the ceiling fan, or fell on my face tripping over a baby gate.)

Sometimes we are in a public place, like WalMart, and sometimes we see someone talking at the top of their voice, drawing attention to themselves, saying something like "yeah, I told that 3333in' ***** that she can 3333in' kiss my 3333in' @$$".... My husband and I just look at each other and wonder if they know what they look and sound like or would they even care?

The word "panties" should be banished in favor of pants or underpants.

The diminutive is cutesie and coy and why do women's undergarments need to refered to in such a manner? One doesn't call comparable men's garments panties, after all. Although a man in panties.... *ahem*

Then we could also lose such distasteful phrases as getting one's panties in a wad.

Funnily enough, I've only heard "getting one's knickers in a twist". For some reason it's preferable to the wad imagery, to me.

The "Seriously?" bit that I think formed from an SNL news sketch. Please, please let it be done.

In one of my previous workplaces there was a girl who began every phrase with the word "actually". I could have strangled her!

Aaaarrrghhhhh! This is VERY popular here in Germany (business language) as well, in german it is "am Ende des Tages". There were times when I thought I would be going to kill the next person who uses this phrase. But I discovered my new balance in the meantime and since then I am using it sometimes myself, but with a very ironic/sardonic 'undertone'.

You should 'OF' done it this way - ack
You should 'HAVE' done it this way is the correct English.

Also, a phrase that I hear everywhere that is on overload is "Rock your world".

Agreed, PM--and now they've uped the ante to an even more positive spin word for problems: 'challenges.'

Also agree on the improperly and overly used word 'like.'

It's annoying to the ear when 'you know' is repeatedly inserted into a person's speech.

Around here it's very popular for young people to use the words 'f--k' or 'f--king' every second word in a sentence. They think they're being cool but it sounds like verbal clutter and lack of vocabulary, i.e., dumb.

This thread is too much my mantra. Pat & hip expressions, or the interminable use of words such as "like" make my brain explode through my ears.

Pronounciations irk me more than anything written.


It grates on my nerves when people pronounce the word realtor as "reel-a-tor". I've even heard some realtors say it like that.

Also, "nuk-yoo-ler' for nuclear (ahem, Bush).

And when they say "calvary" when what they really mean is "cavalry": "Send in the Calvary!!!"

Oops double posted, sorry.

Ack! yes! And the misuse of relevent and irrelevent or worse "revelent".

I know I've posted about this before, but here goes: It is my personal crusade to end the use of the word "an" before the word "historic" as spoken by Americans. It is the single most irritating turn of phrase to my ear--more irritating than any curse word or teenage cliche. Some people disagree with me. But despite the fact that it is offered as an alternative by Webster's (or whatever body is in charge of this sort of thing), I maintain that it is incorrect as spoken by Americans.

Initial "h's" on words are aspirated in American English, not silent. The word "an" is only used before a word that begins with a vowel. (Example: A car, a dog, a house; an ant, an otter, an awful house.)

In British English, initial "h's" on words are silent, necessitating the use of "an": an 'orse, an 'ouse, an 'istoric.)

Americans do not walk around saying such things as:

"The baseball player got an hit."

"I had an history test today."

"We bought an house."

"My wife had an hysterectomy."



"An historic" is a ridiculous affectation. I firmly believe that its usage was spawned by someone who was watching a BBC news feed and was impressed by the way a British accent sounds so educated to American ears. It needs to go away!

You posted my favorite!!! I can't stand that phrase, it makes my hair stand on end. I loved English in school and can't stand catch or hip phrases such as "my bad".

I almost forgot, the mispronunciation of the word "jewelry".

I cringe when people say Jewel lery instead of jewel ree.

There is one commercial with a lady using the mispronunciation and I have to get up and leave the room when it is on.

I've heard many say Jer-ley too Chardkay. Again, my brains explode.

There is a whole Briticization of American grammar that has taken over in the media in the past few years and I don't care for it because it makes things more complicated rather than the simplified American usage. One example is the pluralization of adjectives.

"My bad"
"misuse of the words "irony" and "literally"
The combining of a celebrity couple's names as in "Brangelina" and "Bennifer"

Those are my top three.

-Noelle

Double Ditto!!!

Thank you, Rebecca...

I do so hate this. I also hate the ghetto nicknames bestowed on all and sundry: JLo, ARod, etc.

Re: I’m good instead of I’m well (when asked how are you)

"I am good" is gramatically correct. "I am well" is gramatically incorrect (but commonly used, as is "well-baby", "all is well" and other phrases but those are incorrect usages of the word too). Well is an adverb here; if you replace "well" with another adverb you see it doesn't work: "I am happily"? "I am angrily"? "I am very"? "I am sleepily"?

If you replace "good" with another adjective, it works: "I am sad". "I am exhausted." "I am worried."

Sometimes people mean "I am doing well" or "I am feeling well" when they say "I am well" but you need something for that adverb to modify (not a noun, though - here it is a verb) in order for the sentence to be correct.

In some cases the correct wording kind of sounds awkward or "wrong", for example, "This is she." At other times people think, 'if it sounds wrong, it must be right' and then you get sentences like, "He gave it to she and I".

(of course "well" can be a noun too, as in "a hole in the ground to get water out of" but that's different!)

Here's another one I don't like (just because it sounds so stupid,) plastered all over t-shirts and everything else - BABY GIRL.

Thanks Baby Girl.

I cringe when I hear the two-syllable mispronunciation, "car-mel" with the accent on the second syllable instead of the correct three-syllable pronunciation, "car-a-mel" with the accent on the first syllable. I suspect that those who use that pronunciation also say "liberry" rather than "library."