A hill Im willing to die on. A saying that needs to end.

[CurlyWurly321]

AIBU?

Ten times the dozen is a mistaken phrase.

If you want to says 'doing something very quickly' the phrase is 19 to the dozen.

10 to the dozen means 'most of a thing'. Like "Squashed bread rolls are 10 to a dozen in that shop" means most of the rolls are squashed but you can find some unsquashed ones.

Often it refers to ugly or stupid people in one place, one family - and you'd be talking about the 1 or 2 who aren't stupid or ugly.

"In that family stupidity happens 19 to the dozen, but their Martha went to University"

It's just 2 very similar sayings that get mixed up!

I don't mind it as an expression, but then I do use it sparingly. I can't think of a lot of issues I'd use it for - right now the right to safe legal abortion is the only one I can think of.

Ok, sorry badly worded. I meant it was a similar kind of phrase in that they both use battles as a metaphor. Of course 'choose your battles' means don't put effort into fights not worth having. 'Hill I'm willing to die on' is a fight you think is worth putting effort into.

My husband started saying "...and everything else." on the end of approximately 80% of his sentences. It was driving me to the point of wanting to murder him. Then I overheard one of his work Teams meetings. His boss does it too, so I think that's where he's picked it up from.

He is another fan of "devils advocate", and as far as I can see this translates directly as "I'm going to argue the toss with you purely to be a dick".

Good grief - vast majority think you are being UR. I am surprised.

Cliches are lazy language - formulate what you want to say in your own words.
The saying in the OP is a huge cliche, overused and a lazy way of saying, well ... you formulate your own words of what it means!

You call em clichés, others call them idioms, I'm sure Shakespeare used the occasional idiom or was he just being lazy?

I know it isn't the point of the thread at all, but this about picking and choosing your battles is quite good

thebloggess.com/2011/06/21/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/amp/

You probably say things that get on other peoples nerves as we all do.

@Macncheeseballs

You call em clichés, others call them idioms, I'm sure Shakespeare used the occasional idiom or was he just being lazy?

I think he was so inventive with language that he invented the cliches himself, so they weren't cliches then. He invented 1700 words.

“Hill you’re willing to die on” comes from Christianity and Jesus dying on a hill doesn’t it?

I hate “it is what it is”. I used to go to court a lot in my job, and they’re always saying it, bizarrely!

Don't mind the odd cliche, it just the people that use them tend to use them all the time, which becomes quite tedious to listen to after a while.

My ex used to all say 'best of british' at the end of a conversations to other people, that used to get on my tits. I don't know if it was him, or the phrase that was the source of the annoyance.

@Macncheeseballs

I don't understand people getting upset about phrases, they're just words

Did you forget? Getting upset about ridiculous things is what we do on MN. Without it, there'll be no us.

I've always thought of it quite literally.
*Christ died on a Hill (Calvary)(.
So, it is something you feel strongly enough about that you would 'die' rather than change your stance upon it (like Christ was given the chance but chose to die for our sins).
But maybe I am quite wrong and it has nothing to do with that?

No , that's how I would interpret it - something you feel so strongly about that you won't compromise your beliefs .
Be it your DC wearing their seatbelts , never eating meat or any other personal view .

My hated phrases (only ever seen on MN)
"I cannot get worked up about this/simply hven'y got the energy to get worked up about this"

Now I know it means I'm a lazy sod and I just CBA expending any effort
But in my mind its I am so much more chilled and laid back that you , it wouldn't figure on my radar . Take a chillpill

Subjective - so you want us to make up our own clichés/idioms rather than use timeless ones that communicate ideas quickly and succinctly?

Basically at the end of the day it is what it is to be fair

@Macncheeseballs

Subjective - so you want us to make up our own clichés/idioms rather than use timeless ones that communicate ideas quickly and succinctly?

This.

I love idioms, especially the ones with a historical background…. Brass monkeys, tenterhooks etc. And they do work as a useful verbal shorthand. I have some European friends who love learning British ones.

It’s the modern forms “living your best life” or anything beginning “hashtag” which annoy me.

[quote girlmom21]@CurlyWurly321 Is this really a hill you're willing to die on?

It is shit and if someone used it in real life you'd know they're an MNer! [/quote]
I've heard it plenty of times in RL, including my dh and I know he doesn't read MN. Computer programmers' forum, yes. Not MN.

Is there ever a saying that has universal approval and so not subject to critique?

This is just one of those crappy 'unpopular opinions' threads again, isn't it? Created to criticise anybody who isn't you, the OP?

I wish these threads would dry up.

'You sound like hard work'
'Hope that helps' (or HTH, even worse
The shrug emoji
'If that's all you've got to worry about'
'You've got a problem'

MN popular phrases that really annoy me.

I'vea a colleague who says "It is what it is as they say on Love Island". I've never seen Love Island and I think this was from the 2019 one.

I like the expression, "Hill to die on", it's a more intersting version of pick your battles.

I also like "Between the jigs and the reels", which means "to cut a long story short" and "I've no dog in this race" which is another version of "not my circus, not my monkeys"

@LukeEvansWife

Actually finding it annoying that people can’t put quotes around that part of the title is a hill I’m willing to die in

Yeah? Best have a word with MNHQ then, because quotation marks or "quotes" as you put it, don't work in titles on Mumsnet.

Flyingantday- me too, there are some great idioms in the English language (no doubt other languages too), love a good idiom

“You sound like hard work” - nearly always addressed to a woman - really irks me.

"I've no dog in this race

Or "I've not got a dog in this fight" (I was istening to LBC once and this amazing Liverpudlian caller came out with so many great phrases I wish I'd recorded him .)

My MN picking would be Cuntychops . Best not said out loud but ok if I'm driving with the windows up and they cannot lipread ! "