10 of the Most Irritating Phrases in the English Language

I have a new pet hate, or rather had it thrust upon me to remind me.

"I couldn't agree with you more" and its equally common Chinglish companion "I couldn't agree with you any more" that are used here as if they were the same thing, all the time.

I just did a week of dialogue tests. This was the front runner of 'the thing I would most like to kill people for using'.


(not sure where another thing comes from that was common, about travel 'broadening your eyes'. I gather its an english transliteration of a chinese idiom similar to open your eyes or broaden your mind)





I will assume world tour is making a joke, rather than what would be the other conclusion.

"No offence byt..." that is just a stupid phrase. I mean, you know you will cause offence, saying you did not mean to does not cause less offence. "No offence, but I would rather jump into an active volcano than spend more time with you"..see...it is still not something one should say to the boss...

The 'mythical' charge of -
Driving with undue care and attention.

"No offence byt..." is a very stupid phrase.

Just saying.

It's Turkish, and makes whatever sense it will as such. It translates as "I have swallowed a torque wrench."

All 3 of these will be "against the wall" offenses once I rule the world.

(Utterly offensive statement), no offense.

(Vicious and unsupportable statement), just saying.

(Deliberate malicious action) My bad.


I am offended.  You did say it.  Yes, you are bad and deserve public execution for thinking that "my bad" somehow is worthy of the same level of forgiveness as "My deepest apologies for being a total piece of . I take full responsibility for my misdeeds and I will now dedicate my life to being a better person.  If you ever see me act in such a manner again, I beg you to kill me on the spot for the good of society."

"Oh my God" to express surprise or despair. People who believe in Him and worship Him do not use His name this way.
People who do not believe He exists: why call Him "my God"?

nicely said, Ruth
My preferred responses to "Oh, my God!" are "Yes, that's me. What can I do for you?" and "In this room, thou shalt have no other gods before me"

Oh, and the phrase 'on the hoof', i.e. "More and more people are eating lunch on the hoof, due to stressful working days".

Thank you. The phrase "people are eating lunch on the hoof" is the funniest thing I've seen today, even better than the things my students come up with. Are people actually stupid enough to say that, though?

Also, just to be picky, you've hit one of my lesser pet peeves, using i.e. (that is) where you should have had eg. (for example).

Americans' use of 'real quick'.

"Can I get a cigarette real quick?"

That grinds my gears!

Quote from: Arnold J. Rimmer on April 10, 2012, 12:43:43 AM

Americans' use of 'real quick'.

"Can I get a cigarette real quick?"

That grinds my gears!

Why?

I don't really know 

These kinds of things are generally irrational, right?

I dislike the phrases:

 "They slept together and she got pregnant."  Sleeping was the last thing they were doing  . They might have slept afterward, but prior to that they were wide awake and doing the nasty.  I sleep with my wife every night, but it doesn't mean we are doing anything.  For that matter, I have slept with many women and we didn't do a darn thing except keep each other warm because we knew and understood the risks.

"Firstly"  I hate that word  , I tell my students I don't want to see that on any paper they write for me.  They can use "First" or "Primarily," followed by second or next.