Words and phrases that drive you insane...

[Ducksbehindthesofa]

Certain words (usually nonsense or pseudowords) and phrases really grate on me, sometimes to the extent I don't bother reading the rest of a narrative if I stumble across a word or phrase on my hit list, halfway through something.

There are plenty, but a few to kick off:

Holibobs. It's not even an abbreviation for goodness sake.

Chillax. Just why?

"You do you" - this seems to be the in phrase at the moment, especially with the younger generation. It always sounds vaguely condescending to me

Chrimbo. Please, no

Nom nom nom. This one is right up there with holibobs!

Your turn......

Because if you said "Please may I have" in our local shops they'd think you were being very pretentious. Hyacinth Bouquet-esque.

We must have a different sense of humour. I'd probably say something like 'A black coffee, please.' or 'May I have a black coffee, please?'

I can't see why a polite request would be seen as pretentious unless you used a patronising tone of voice.

She was Hyacinth Bucket.

Oh bugger, I didn't notice that before I clicked 'post'!! I normally check before doing so but it was late and I was on my phone...makes me look like a real numpty, oh well!! 🙄

Another one which I am noticing more and more is 'To be fair .....' - pointless expression!

Reaching Out is completely unacceptable.

Unless you are a member of The Four Tops.

Manifesting - drives me nuts

@NamingNoNames it's just regional differences. I'd be perfectly polite here if I said, "Can I get xxxx please" whereas people from elsewhere would think it was rude.
"May I have xxxx please" is perfectly normal to you but would sound pretentious to us.
Hope that makes sense.

I'm aware her name was Bucket but I used Bouquet because I was talking about being pretentious.

I love that for you

😱

I'd be perfectly polite here if I said, "Can I get xxxx please" whereas people from elsewhere would think it was rude.
I wouldn't think it was rude, just that 'May I...' would be better.

The two eye emoji...... it's like talking to a teenager! 👀👀👀👀

Well let's just agree to disagree. "Can I get" is what I've been saying for 60 years and I'm happy with that.

To use a hideous phrase mentioned on this thread- You do you.

Well let's just agree to disagree. No. You may be happy about saying it like that but I still don't know why you found it funny. I no longer care.

I absolutely hate "give your head a wobble"!!
Another annoying one is "living your best life"

Neither do I. I've tried to explain but have other things to do with my time.

But then I would say what did you order at McDonald’s so you’d end up saying the same number of words. I’m going to McDonald’s, you can’t have a McDonald’s it’s a company. Well if you were a former franchisee I suppose you’d could say I had a McDonald’s .

Routinely heard in the 70s Ne Scotland
Ma can I get ,oh gon ma can I get and so on and forth till ma told you to wheesht gie me peace.👍

But the type of people who’d think you were pretentious saying that aren’t really ones whose opinion i would be concerned about! Well im not that bothered about anyone’s really.

But what I would say is that the “may I “ has resulted in free ice cream for my now teenage child from a lovely Australian bar owner in Singapore.

Can we add that stupid Four Tops joke that's always rolled out on threads like this to the pile of awful expressions? It's just as annoying as "reach out" and the other clichés people are moaning about.

@ThePrecisionsifthisislove I heard a woman in the butcher's last week saying, "Gie's a steak pie" - even worse than "Can I get" 😮

You don't need to say "please may I have ..." they will probably say "what can I get for you" and just reply "a flat white please" or whatever it is you want.

The difference is that the barista (in a coffee shop example but the same anywhere) gets whatever the customer wants. The customer would only get it if it was self-service. So you get it yourself in a supermarket, but you don't have to ask anyone.

It’s not.

Unfortunately some people seem unaware of all of the meanings of the verb ‘to get’ 😉

Hint: it means ‘to receive’ when used in this sense @dailyconniptions and people do add ‘please’ you know.
Nobody is implying they help themselves by using the phrase. Some of MN, bizarrely, seem unaware of this. See the previous post 😉

It’s regional as @RaraRachael said.
‘May I’ is rarely used where I am. That’s why it would be seen as pretentious here too if said by a local (different for visitors of course). It’s not the usual, normal pattern of speech. It would be affected (for me, not for you obviously).

A cuppa gets me ... cup of tea just as easy to say

But the type of people who’d think you were pretentious saying that aren’t really ones whose opinion i would be concerned about!

It really is regional.
You’re dismissing whole countries there you know. Interesting how some people think.

I also think you misunderstood PP. I very much doubt they consider others pretentious for saying it if it’s their normal speech pattern.

😂