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.

@Loopylou6

It goes way way back. You can see it being used in the 1500's.

Horses teeth grow as they age, so looking them in the mouth is a way too tell how old they are. If someone if giving you a horse and you check in its mouth, it's a way of showing that you don't trust that they are telling the truth about the age.

Obviously we don't go around giving each other horses nowadays but it's a way of saying "don't try to find fault with an unexpected gift and don't accuse the giver of dishonesty".

"Chuffed to bits" 🙄 Can't you just be "really happy"?

It actually sounds like one has experienced something unpleasant and I involuntarily make a face when I read that term, even when I wrote it just now.

I'm another one who hates "Everything happens for a reason." No it fucking does not.

"Wee" and "Fanny" are also high on my ugh list.

@NaomiNagata ooh interesting, thank you :)

All of the above. But down here we say 'back along' meaning in the past and I love that one

@Mistoffelees

""We're pregnant" and referring to a bump or a baby as just bump or baby e.g. "I need new trousers to accommodate bump""

Oh how could I forget my utter hatred of the word "bump". I hated it even more when I was pregnant.

I've always hated the term 'overachiever'. It tends to be applied in a sneering way to diligent female students implying that they don't really deserve their success and that they're just faking being bright and talented. The word is singlehandedly responsible for impostor syndrome.

Another saying I hate - or not so much the saying as the way it's misused - is 'the exception that proves the rule'. The way it's often used is a kind of sloppy labelling of opposite examples, depending on the scarcity of 'exceptions' and the abundance of examples that conform to the 'rule'. As in 'Women can't become Prime Minister'. You will reasonably cite the existence of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, then your adversary will pipe up that they are exceptions and therefore two women Prime Ministers prove that women can't become Prime Minister. Great logic.

The original saying comes from a completely different, older meaning of 'prove': to stretch (as in 'proving' dough), and, metaphorically, to test. The exception tests and questions a rule. It does not back it up.

@cariadlet

Use of "myself" when "me" is perfectly good e.g. "Please advise myself" which could be "Please tell me" ... mostly from people hoping to sound more official.

"Reply back" ...arrrg! A reply is a response, an answer. So logically reply-back is a reversed response?

"At the close of play" for anything other than a cricket match. Mostly from middle-managers with little or no charisma.

“Trained up”. Why not just say trained? There’s absolutely no need for the up.