'Unrefined' words / phrases

[brideyb]

I'm a little... rough around the edges

But I want to be seen as more sophisticated and grown up at work (prof services) and socially. I catch myself saying things that my colleagues never do and want to train myself out of it in order to progress and be seen as a shit together adult. My vocab seems to be stuck in my teenage years, I can't think of the words right now but I know I do it - things like ' cool' and ending a call with see yaaaa laterrrr'

Middleclass Mumsnet and senior professional woman - what phrases do I need to cut out?

Start listening to and watching Keely Hawes…? Try and ensure that only your questions rise at the end.

Yes, @Geamhradh
Hadn’t you ought to explain?
Please

I never use the word ought!

@EsoNoSeHace

Yes, *@Geamhradh* Hadn’t you ought to explain? Please

He said, "I ought to go, --- I?" And two of us confidently wrote "didn't". And he said "you're from a 5-10 mile radius of Chesterfield". She was from Chesterfield and I'm 10 minutes down the road. Most people answered "oughtn't". Some answered "shouldn't" There were a few others but I can't remember.

He used it as an introduction as to why language shouldn't be prescriptive, but descriptive. And quoted David Crystal saying "if it's used, it's correct".

And no, nobody is saying that "should of" is correct because it's used- but people who are genuinely interested in why people say "should of" ponder it, and realise it's simply pronunciation interference transferred into writing.

@brideyb, don't use words like like and literally.

Instead of saying 'He was literally standing in front of me' say ''he was standing in front of me'.

Instead of 'I was, like, going to call you later' say 'I was going to call you later'

One I see in print and hear in speech and don't like is actual.

'I went to the actual shop' when 'I went to the shop' is enough .

Using of instead of have really irritates me.

A little pedantic, but sentences ending with a proposition are something i'm not keen on.

Missing out 'g'
eg 'talkin'
Very annoyingly done by a BBC presenter covering Olympics :)

When meeting a new person, say 'How do you do?' - not 'Pleased to meet you'.

Just say, 'Excuse me' if you need to give a reason for leaving the room. Never say 'I am going to the toilet', or even worse, 'I'm going for a wee/poo' - really, really embarrassing.

I'd say "I ought to go, oughtn't I?'

I once met someone, and he'd only said a few sentences and I said 'You're from [Northern town with a population of about 16000]. He was.

I'm not sure if it was just a lucky guess based on accent.

I

@MagicSummer

When meeting a new person, say 'How do you do?' - not 'Pleased to meet you'.

Just say, 'Excuse me' if you need to give a reason for leaving the room. Never say 'I am going to the toilet', or even worse, 'I'm going for a wee/poo' - really, really embarrassing.

I think ‘How do you do?’ would be a bizarrely stilted way to greet people in a professional situation for most people these days.

When I meet someone new, and someone says 'ILove this is Margaret', I say 'Hello Margaret'.

Repeating the name help me remember it.

A little pedantic, but sentences ending with a proposition are something i'm not keen on.

Is this a joke?

My in-laws always announce when they're going to the loo. ' Going to empty my tank' is the worst. I hate it.

If you agree with someone, nod sagely and say ‘indeed’
If you want to say ‘cool’ say ‘super’ instead.
I agree with ‘my goodness’ instead of ‘my god’ - some people also say ‘my word’

If you disagree with someone nod sagely and say ‘interesting’

Ooh and loo instead of toilet or ladies

@MagicSummer I would NEVER announce I'm going for a wee / poo

I usually just say 'I'm off to leak my rat'

@whistlers, not a joke, but I worded the sentence to illustrate the point, and it should have said preposition.

[quote ILoveShula]**@whistlers, not a joke, but I worded the sentence to illustrate the point, and it should have said preposition.[/quote]
Shame. Was excellent otherwise!

[quote brideyb]@MagicSummer I would NEVER announce I'm going for a wee / poo

I usually just say 'I'm off to leak my rat' [/quote]
Is this a joke?

@whistlers sorry yes it was!

@cariadlet

Something that really grates for me, is people using "was" when it should be "were" eg "We was going to the shops" or "What was you doing?"

This annoys me so much!

I don't think it matters about accent and/or idiosyncrasies and individual foibles of speech. Colloquialisms can be fine, depending on circumstances. No one speaks in formal, complete sentences all the time; you'd sound like a character in a D H Lawrence novel and people really don't speak like that!

The common mistake of 'would of' clearly comes from mishearing the contraction 'would've' - which in speech sounds fine. In writing, it looks terrible.

PPs have made good points about not speaking too quickly, or peppering your speech with hesitant-sounding fillers (um, err). It's better to have a pause in conversation, which often comes across as far less noticeable to others than we think it is.

PMSL at 'emptying my tank' and 'leaking my rat'. I've never heard either of these: must have lived a sheltered life! (Where I come from it was 'off for a slash ...)

I think it’s always ‘you was’ but ‘he weren’t’.
All question tags with ought sound either wrong or posh.
Sorry, it’s gone a bit off topic.

I dislike “turned around” as in “So she turned around and denied everything!”
It just sounds a bit gauche.

[quote brideyb]@whistlers sorry yes it was! [/quote]
Oh thank goodness 🤣🤣🤣

@EsoNoSeHace

I think it’s always ‘you was’ but ‘he weren’t’. All question tags with ought sound either wrong or posh. Sorry, it’s gone a bit off topic.

you were and he wasn't.