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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Annoying buzzwords/phrases.

144 replies

WheresThatCatGoneNow · 01/08/2026 11:15

I keep hearing people say that they "reached out" to a another person or a company/ business/organisation etc.

Why don't they just say that they contacted them? Which is what they actually mean!

It really sets my teeth on edge.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
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iamme21 · Yesterday 20:32

I heard a terrible one in work yesterday, a ‘drumbeat of meetings’
WTAF?

ilovepixie · Yesterday 19:09

Use your words
indoor voice
going for food
reaching out
touching base
it’s giving

iloveanearlynight · Yesterday 19:00

Mokel · 05/08/2026 06:57

Brew is a northern term

Show quote history

So what? Still a very irritating word.

Mokel · 05/08/2026 06:57

WhistlerKimono · 04/08/2026 08:27

Yes, but it’s marginally better than ‘brew’, which I find inexplicably horrifying…

Show quote history

Brew is a northern term

MrsShawnHatosy · 04/08/2026 10:29

Cosyblankets · 03/08/2026 12:44

If someone can't bring themselves to use the word died about their loved one that's absolutely fine by me

Show quote history

And me.

Puddledaf · 04/08/2026 08:29

when somebody says low key in a sentence that is low key annoying 😀

WhistlerKimono · 04/08/2026 08:27

Mokel · 03/08/2026 14:09

Cuppa

makes my skin crawl

Yes, but it’s marginally better than ‘brew’, which I find inexplicably horrifying…

WhistlerKimono · 04/08/2026 08:25

RumNotRun · 01/08/2026 12:13

I hate it when people use "ain't" to make a point. The rest of the post won't be as informal but then there will be one sentence such as "he ain't worth it". It always feels incongruous and reminds me of Jeremy Kyle.

But that’s what they’re referencing! Jeremy Kyle or one of those Eastenders fights where someone holds someone back from a fracas, shouting ‘’E ain’t wurf it, love!’

sammylady37 · 04/08/2026 08:18

I saw ‘uncomfortability’ in an Instagram post today. Seriously? Stop making up words. The word you needed is ‘discomfort’.

BEAchDays2 · 03/08/2026 15:52

A few ‘bits’ meaning buying new clothes for either holiday or for a new season. It makes me shudder.

ChessieFL · 03/08/2026 15:47

‘If you know, you know.’ It comes across as ‘you’re not special enough to be in our gang’.

‘Tell me x without telling me x’. It’s such a lazy way to put someone down.

‘That tells me everything I need to know’. Don’t know why this one irritates me but it does!

InTheMiddle23 · 03/08/2026 15:37

Broke his/her silence

No, they commented on something for the first time. If they were asked for comment and chose to stay silent for a while, that would be “breaking silence”

LightningTree · 03/08/2026 15:33

My truth.

Mokel · 03/08/2026 14:09

Cuppa

makes my skin crawl

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 03/08/2026 13:31

Not really buzzwords, but ‘mash potato’, ‘pack lunch’ and ‘ice tea’ really make me want to slap whoever wrote them.

It’s mashED, packED, icED!

Cosyblankets · 03/08/2026 12:44

oldestmumaintheworld · 02/08/2026 22:36

The most annoying for me are:
Passed. As in someone passed. No they didn't. They died.
Super as in super excited.
Upcoming instead of forthcoming.
And something that my daughter says is 'like' three times in a single sentence. It drives me nuts. Please make it stop.

If someone can't bring themselves to use the word died about their loved one that's absolutely fine by me

HelpMeGetThrough · 03/08/2026 10:41

sohereforit · 03/08/2026 10:29

When people talk about their ‘lived experience’.

Ah, I got myself in a bit of bother at work with this one. A colleague said this and I said “well you aren’t going to have a dead one are you”.

Talk about overreaction on their part, what a palaver!

sohereforit · 03/08/2026 10:29

When people talk about their ‘lived experience’.

SquashPenguin · 03/08/2026 09:17

People who suggest you add “a pop of colour” by putting some teal/ burnt orange/ dusky pink cushions into your living room. It’s about an unimaginative as you can get. That phrase drives me up the wall.

DriveVerySlowlyPastNumber23IWantThemToSeeMyHat · 03/08/2026 09:12

Wholesome - 'We've had a wholesome weekend'

sammylady37 · 03/08/2026 09:07

wordywitch · 01/08/2026 11:29

The singular use of what should be plural words, especially as it relates to fashion or beauty. A red lip, a flared jean, a black pump, etc..

‘Go in with’ (said almost exclusively by influencers doing beauty stuff or cooking food) instead of ‘adding’ or ‘using’

ooh yes!
The worst example I heard was a lady talking about dungarees who called them ‘a lovely dungaree’. I actually haven’t been back to that shop since, it irritated me so much.

sammylady37 · 03/08/2026 09:05

“I was today years old when I realised …”.

Just stop it. It makes no sense. ‘Today years old’.

I think I should have a free pass to shoot anyone who uses that phrase.

StressyMcStressFace · 03/08/2026 08:46

"It's ok to be not ok". Not It's not! If you are not ok that is not ok!

KettleOn919 · 02/08/2026 23:33

Clothing websites have suddenly started describing sleeves, necklines etc as "considered". I think Toast started it. What does it even mean?

iloveanearlynight · 02/08/2026 22:50

Cosyblankets · 02/08/2026 13:27

Shop staff saying are you OK instead of who is next or next please

Yes, this. I never understand it. Just sodding say hello, how can I help? Whether I'm OK or not is irrelevant.