I have had enough of people talking about how 'devastated' they are about things. Just because you got booted out of whatever reality show you are on does NOT mean you are devastated. You might be upset but I think devastated is just a bit over the top. I also can't stand hearing about the fact that they are on a 'journey' (in respect to reality tv shows) grrrr it drives me up the wall!

It was on South Park! Which isn't one of ours...

One word that I find irritating, especially on news and current affairs programmes, is "issues". They over-use it instead of more appropriate words like problems or concerns. On the radio station I listen to, when reporting on the traffic, they frequently say "Avoid a particular area because there's been an accident that's causing traffic issues" and I feel like phoning them and saying "It's not causing issues, it's causing problems".

Oh but MotherGoose, it's ever so much more amusing when you pronounce it "isssssssssssues" : )

Flopsy: priceless response(s) lol.

TriviaPaul: I absolutely adore BS (oops Buzzword) Bingo. Well, except when we get caught passing around the cards during a seminar!

My sister has an irritating habit of saying "and so on and so forth" approximately every 4 sentences. But I guess it's not ALL bad, because sometimes I'm grateful that she chooses NOT to elaborate : )

I'm also not fond of the "Wassup?" question/attempt at a "greeting". I thought it would have wandered off into obscurity by now, but apparently not. So when people ask me "what's up?" I either respond "the sun", or "if you're a guy, probably the toilet seat" ~~~

The only way to get beyond these problems is with some CLOSURE.

"Thanks for the heads up"??????What the heck is that?

neccesary evil. There are really no alternatives?

Does anyone else really object to: " I love him to death"?
To me that's really creepy.

"From the get-go". It's a horrible imported phrase (I won't say from where it originated) which has begun to creep in here. Don't they mean "from the start"?

And while we're at it, how about "upscale boutique"? That is surely a contradiction, as the literal meaning of "upscale" is to make something bigger. "Upscale" is increasingly used to mean "Upmarket" or "Exclusive"

Loads, but two particularly get on my nerves, the very new 'going forward' which so many business hacks say in news interviews as if it means something at the end of every sentence, and the very old but equally irritating 'if you will', again which means absolutely nothing. If you're going to use cliches at least use ones which add something to what you're saying...

"It is what it is." Really? Like I thought it was "It is what it isn't," you know what I mean?

I would ban any phrase containing 'synergy', 'enable', 'facilitate', or 'outcomes'. If I hear the phrase 'Enabling synergy to facilitate productive outcomes' one more time, I may snap and throw a thesaurus at someone It isn't even a whole sentence!

I'm irrationally biased against 'to all intents and purposes' after a colleague kept getting it wrong - 'to all intensive purposes' just isn't quite right :P

TV shows that talk about "the journey" do my head in. "You've been on a journey". No, they've been on a TV show. Frequently, they have barely moved at all.

Snowman, I've seen food critics talk of a recipe that was on a journey. I understand what they mean (I think) but it does sound a little silly. "Closure" irritates me too but I think it irritates me more because I can't think of a better word for it. As soon as I have a substitute for "closure" that I like I'm using it.

Or perhaps we should all repeat the mantra I have in my head at times which lets me calm down when I see or hear English being murdered... "It's a living, changing language. It's a living language..." Over and over again until I relax.

On trend, that is one which drives me crazy. What is wrong with fashionable?

I don't understand when people say things like: "She's very nice... not!" Can't you just say "She's not very nice"?? The "not" at the end of the sentence makes it sound so silly!

Yeah but no but it was indeed Little Britain, and the character was the glowingly eloquent Vicky Pollard.

Vicky Pollard in court

In the same vein, 'on message', as in 'she's very on message right now'. I hear that on the news a lot when anything remotely political is happening.

Hmmmmm, "on point" is getting a bit overdone too"

It's just occurred to me that if a dish is "on a journey" then perhaps the critics were saying it's fit to be airline food

"Exactly the same". What's wrong with just "the same"? That's a pet peeve of my father and he passed that one down to me.

It drives me nuts when people use the word literally incorrectly. If they say "I literally died", then I expect them to be in a crumple at my feet. On the news last night the newscaster said, "It was literally hell on earth". Well, no, it wasn't. Throw in "ironical" and I start breaking out in hives. Literally (ha).

Has anyone else noticed the relatively new habit of people ending a sentence with "so..."
"I'm going to the party so..."
"She's buying a green car so..."
"He's not wearing his identity badge so..."

So what?? End the sentence. Don't carry on as if you're about to say something else. Meanwhile I go back to my mantra of "It's a living language. It will change. It's a living language. So..."

Bubbles, I was going to make a post about "literally" last night but I fell asleep before I could. You literally took the words right out of my mouth (just kidding, pass the calamine lotion).

One phrase that really makes my skin crawl for some reason is 'Let's touch base later' or words to that effect.

or "let's do lunch". Sheesh, just have the guts to say "Goodbye". It's a short and simple word and usually doesn't lead to any expectations of further contact.

If it's 'needless to say', then don't say it!

Jakeroo, does that mean we'll have dinner together instead of lunch?
'Your place or mine?'
'Never a dull moment'
'Sawbuck for your thoughts' (an old one adjusted for inflation)
'You won't believe this.' Then why tell me?
'Pardon my French.' Mais oui...not the English.

Great minds think alike.
No, great minds think like me. Joking, but the phrase really does upset me. Did DaVinci think like Freud? Are Einstein and Rutherford dopplegangers? I think not.

In this week's "Private Eye" (a British satirical news magazine), there's a cartoon showing a man putting his foot violently through his television screen. In the background one woman is saying to another "I think someone said On my watch again". For my part, I can't afford to destroy TV sets, but I switched off earlier this evening when someone talked yet again about being kept in the loop.

The good news for all of us is that these verbal fashions nearly always disappear as rapidly as they arrive. The bad news that others take their place.