to get wound up by a completely harmless phrase?and what phrases/sayings get your goat

[mayorquimby]

i know on the spectrum of tragedies this falls solidly on the unimportant end, but still what is life without trivial annoyances?

the phrase? it'e when people say "i personally..."
i mean why put in the personally? obviously if you preface your statement or belief with "I" it is clear to me that you are about to express your views or personal beliefs.

so what things that people say wind you up?

cheap at half the price is another.
and also the americanisation of "i couldn't care less" to "i could care less" because to me it no longer makes sense.

i'm beginning to think i am doomed to spend a jack dee like existence getting pissed off about tribvial things people do and say which have no bearing on the state of the world and which i could easily ignore and live a happier life.

Ha, I was just going to chip in with 'to be fair' when tacked pointlessly onto the end of sentences regardless of all meaning and context...but there are just so many others on here that make me shudder, it's hard to choose which is worst.

But yes, 'impact on' - how did that come to be seen as proper usage? something has an impact on you. It does NOT 'impact you'

And someone else mentioned pronouncing 'vulnerable' without the L - please stop it! It's not hard to say properly!

And what really makes the red mist swim in front of my eyes - people recounting events in the past and saying 'so he's gone, what? and I've gone, yeah? and then he's done a runner'....listen, it's in the past. It isn't still happening!

now a bit obsessed with this thread but don't see what is wrong Bonneville with "Can I get..."

It is grammatically correct. you can get something, you don't have to have something.

Also don't see the problem with "I'll take... " a croissant, whatever.

When you tell someone something and they say

"Aw, Bless" (very over used where I live.)

I hate 'folks'

People who say 'pacific' when they actually mean 'specific'

Also, people (well, my friend Claire) who say I'll 'fetch' that in for you tomorrow
which translated means, I'll bring that..

Oh, and I know its been done already but I do detest 'borrow me' some money.

Notwithstanding calming effects of darkened room and cold compress, I must vent over another thing that drives me completely nuts. People saying 'stomping ground'. It's not STOMPING, it's STAMPING!!

Weeeellllll, jkklpu, attendee and participant are not interchangeable - you can be present at something (therefore an attendee) without actually taking part (a participant).

Yes, my name is Poledra and I am a pedant.

how come all of a sudden everyone is passionate about stuff? urgh.

Chillax = a 'blending' of Chill & Relax!!!

Saying pacific/percific when you mean specific.

We have Questions & Answer documents at work. They're not referred to as Q & A's but as Q n A's I hate that n!!

'little man' for a baby boy.

'peeps' - it reminds me of Harry Enfield doing Stavros in the late 80's....

my DCs have taken to saying 'kk' instead of 'ok' - whats so difficult about ok?!

Was instead of were is used an awful lot by my colleagues (as in Was you at the meeting yesterday?).... and done instead of did. Sigh.

Me: (to MIL) Would you like a cup of tea?
MIL: Well only if you're making one
Me: (in my head) No of course I'm not, I just wanted to taunt you with the idea.

I seen you instead of I saw you ...

The use of months to describe the age of a child over 2.

Basically
Genetical (?)
In any way, shape or form...

Aaaarggghhh!

Oh God Yes hatesponge 'little man' for little boy is truly awful!!

Or even worse 'lil man'

I really hate the phrase "fair enough", I don't know what it is about it, but some people over-use the saying and it becomes a habit. I have a friend who says it a lot when you have a conversation with her, and it gets really annoying.

Also, a new meaning for the word "sick" - instead of it meaning evil or depraved a lot of youngsters are using it if they think something is really good Can't bear it. I've seen it on comments on YouTube a lot i.e "He's such a sick guitar player" Arrrggh!

hatesponge - I fear that the "we was going" etc. may be an area thing - my boss, an otherwise very educated and intelligent woman, was brought up in NE London/Essex, as was her husband (equally educated and intelligent) and they both say "we was" and always have done.

mwff that Passionate about food/cooking thing drives me NUTS!

"at the end of the day"

"literally" e.g. "I literally was sick" - really? You mean you vomitted?

"Like" - "He was like, Hey, and I was like Hey and he was like What are you doing and I was like nothing much what are you doing"

"To be honest" or worse "to be perfectly honest" - oh good that'll make a change

"basically" arrgh

Gossip mags : "gal pal", "baby daddy" and "loved-up" barf

Lifestyle progs : "the wow factor" if everything has the bloody wow factor, it's not very wow now is it?

Reality progs/therapy type things - talking about the "journey"

Goodnightmoon- "can I get a coffee" and "Ï'll take a croissant" are classic americanisms that have a slightly different meaning in British English.

'Can I get'- implies that you are going to go round the counter and pour the coffee yourself, and 'I'll take' sounds like you are going to grab the croissant and run.

Everyone knows what you mean - it't not grammatically wrong, just sounds out of context to British ears, it feels rude.

Ooooh, you have it easy with your 'can I get?' and 'I'll take' - the true American wy of ordering is 'Gimme! Gimme a decaf half-fat caramel latte!' cringe

The one that annoys me is the overuse of 'at all.' My bank seem to do this a lot.

'Have you got your card number at all?'
'Have you got your date of birth at all?'
etc.

"early doors" meaning up early. "girlfriend" for a female friend and I have a friend who says she has a "loving flame gas fire"

I hate 'cheer up, it might never happen' (I'll be miserable if I want to be, thanks)

and I DETEST '24/7' everyone seems to say it, even newsreaders, it's not right

Great thread!

I´m with you yappybluedog I also DETEST "24/7"

Haven't read all the posts yet, but my personal bugbear is 'being honest with you' 'to be perfectly honest'... this always makes me wonder why people need to preface what they're going to say with this statement. Is it a rare treat for them to be honest? Or is this statement a lie? This phrase makes me assume the speaker is a liar on some level.

2nd most hated phrase 'bear with me' from call centre staff. I always imagine that they have a grizzly bear with them and are breaking off from my call to consult with the bear.

MamaHobGoblin - your post made me PMSL, we always say 'up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire' (tongue in cheek) - have absolutely NO idea why and didn't know other people had heard the phrase

'under the radar', 'outside the box', 'blue sky thinking' are all others that make me grind my teeth

'Goodies' instead of sweets

Being called 'babe' or 'hun' (admittedly I say 'mate' which is no better but doesn't turn my stomach for some reason )

'chuffed to bits' - what exactly is 'chuffed'??