Popular phrases / sayings you find inaccurate or just don't like

[SlowlyLosingWeight]

For me there are two main ones:

“There’s always somebody worse off than yourself”. Yes that may well be true Linda, but excuse me for not skipping joyfully from here to San Francisco because so and so’s Auntie’s, Sister’s, Godmother’s Cousin has got problems more depressing than mine. Don’t get me wrong I’m sorry for them but it doesn’t make me feel any better about my own shit. It isn’t a fucking competition.

“Money doesn’t make you happy”. There are absolutely things more important than money. Loved ones and health of course. But let’s be honest... I’d rather cry in a Lamborghini.

'Somewhen' is a word where I grew up - I was very surprised that other people looked at me as if I was mad when I used it in other regions.

I hate all sayings that suggest that in order to stand up for yourself or be assertive you have to act like a man.
so 'Man up'
'Grow a pair'
'grow some balls'
etc etc

Women are perfectly capable of asserting themselves and managing thier lives without having to imitate men, or be 'manly'.

I also hate 'tear him/her a new one' - it's such a crude, violent, almost sexually agressive image and when anyone uses it it immediately makes me think they are a bit out of control, because such violent imagery is totally OTT, and I really don;t want to hear anything else they;ve got to say.
Just say you are angry with someone - everyone understands what you mean without you saying you want to do someone bodily harm.

I also hate 'pearl clutching' - used for anyone who doesn't like your(usually horrible) behaviour. (My dislike of 'tear him a new one' would probably be described as 'pearl clutching' by these people.)

'Snowflake' - used for any child with concerned parents who wants to keep thier child safe. e,g 'AIBU to not want to make my four year old walk five miles to school on his own in December wearing only a swimsuit ?' Answer 'of course you ABU - you are raising a snowflake, a touch of pneumonia will toughen him up',

What goes around, comes around. Hardly ever, I'd say.

"muscle weighs more than fat". No, 1kg is 1kg
I think you've rather misunderstood! Go and look up volume, it will make sense to you then.

'Everything happens for a reason' - yes, and sometimes those reasons are a pile of unfair, badly timed bollocks, or are alternatively because you fucked up. Things tend to turn out OK because humans are adaptable, and the benefit of being in that unfortunate situation rarely becomes clear for a long time, if at all.

At the risk of sounding a bit Forrest Gump, my mum always says "money doesn't buy happiness, it buys opportunities"

*"money doesn't buy happiness, it buys opportunities"

In my experience, what money buys is choices. You just have many more options.

I also often wonder why people 'Hoover' ( instead of vacuum) Hoover is just a brand name , nobody says they are going to Philps/ Beko/ whirlpool when they put the dishwasher or washing machine on .

But they do pick up a biro or grab a kleenex, both of which are brand names which have become generic names (also doona, for a feather quilt, but that might be an Australian thing).

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." No it doesn't.

The phrase is you CAN'T have your cake and eat it. That's the entire point.

Still don’t understand it. What does ‘having’ your cake mean if not to eat it?

Having your cake and eating it means someone wants to have a cake in their hands to look at, show off etc but they also want to eat it too. So they want the possession of a cake and they want the taste of the cake to at the same time.

Same as wanting a million pounds in your bank and wanting to spend a million pounds too. So they want the bank balance but they want to spend it and they want both at the same time, not one or the other.

It means you can't both keep your cake intact and eat it too.

It might make more sense if it was they other way around "you can't eat your cake and have/save it".

Cross post!

It was originally you can't eat your cake and have it too!

And that phrasing, children, is how they sussed out who the Unabomber was.

YEAH

Livefornaps - that is fascinating! Off to google some more

"Life isn't fair" used to drive me crazy when I was a kid. Oh so, if it's not fair you just throw your hands up in the air and accept injustice you have the ability to correct (eg: my sister's bigger piece of cake)!

Said it the other day to my daughter.

Livefornaps - that is fascinating! Off to google some more

Just to warn you. It's a bit too fascinating. I started getting into a whole rabbit hole about forensic linguistics and had to tear myself away or I wouldn't get anything else done.

ThinksTwice and blueheel

Thank you! I’m nearly 30 and have spent my life not understanding that stupid bloody phrase!

You can be whatever you want to be if you just try hard enough - f..k off.

'It makes my piss boil'.

A popular misquote is 'Lead on, McDuff'. The Shakespeare quote is 'Lay on, McDuff'.

Mine is "just be yourself" as advice given or a phrase used to people feeling anxious especially in social situations. It's kindly meant and I get the intention (be confident, don't try and pretend to be something you aren't etc) but as an extremely shy and socially awkward child/young person it was of absolutely no use to me! As far as I was concerned I had been being myself all along (who else would I be after all?) and that self was clearly weird and useless socially, so perhaps if all yoy can do is 'be yourself' I would never have friends

as soon as someone helped me with some actual advice on overcoming shyness and how to talk to people everything was much better!

Ice cold water.

Ice. Cold. Water.

Noooooo! Ice cold water is.... ICE! FFS!

Also - 'real perfume'. What makes one smelly thing real and another not? They both exist. They're both made of chemicals. They're both man made. This one annoys me much less than ice cold water, but it is still very irritating.

Oh, and also - any sign that begins with the words 'polite notice'.

No, you're not being polite. You're being wimpy. Or passive aggressive. Or both. And I am now very much disposed to ignore you.

"You'll meet someone when you stop looking" - In nearly 50 years Mr Right has not just strolled up and knocked on my door so I doubt he will anytime soon!
"There's someone for everyone" - Maybe, but it doesn't mean you'll ever meet them.
"Live, love, laugh" - Ugh, just plain annoying.
"Happiness comes from within" - Tell someone that when they've just lost their job and been made homeless!
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" - Not in my experience!

"This too shall pass". The most unhelpful, patronising, useless bit of advice.

I'm another who grew up with somewhen but never heard it away from that area.

I also hate boils my piss, tear someone a new one, grow a pair, all grim.

'Its not about you' when said to someone in a distressing situation where they are not the main protagonist.

You are still allowed your feelings. You can't help your feelings, only how you behave. As long as you are not causing extra problems or venting to the main affected people, you are allowed to be upset/angry and venting this elsewhere can be helpful.

E.g. a parent finding their underage daughter is pregnant is allowed to be shocked and upset. Provided she vents it away from the daughter.