By Elaine Viets
You know, some words and phrases are getting on my nerves. Most people would say it is what it is and at the end of the day, let it go. I know, right? But I’ve been doing some online research. There are certain sayings that tick people off. And readers are people, too. You don’t want to turn off your readers with annoying phrases. Just sayin’.
These outstandingly irritating phrases are garnered from various corners of the web.
Think carefully before you use them in your writing. You may want to save them for your most hateful characters.
Just sayin’. The winner! Nearly everyone hates this redundant phrase. I mean, you’ve already said what you were going to say, right?
Literally. I confess I’ve used this one and thought it was pretty clever – the first time. Then I noticed that word in every novel I picked up – literally.
It is what it is. This meaningless phrase is enough to send me screaming into the night. Please don’t use it.
At this moment in time. What’s wrong with “now”? Can this pretentious phrase.
Everything happens for a reason. Usually said after some meaningless tragedy, and meant as consolation. If you don’t have that comforting belief system, this phrase triggers an urge to slap that person silly. Also avoid this phrase: Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window. I had a roommate like that. Very annoying.
Honestly. Often a trigger word indicating the person using it is lying. Use it carefully.
My bad. A cutesy way of glossing over a mistake. This phrase says, “I know I did something offensive and I don’t care.”
I want 110 percent. Right, boss. Except your math doesn’t add up.
No worries. Some people find this phrase a little passive-aggressive. In other words, when someone says, “No worries,” they’re really telling you that you should be worried.
At the end of day. As in, “At the end of the day, getting a new CEO won’t make any difference. This company is doomed.” This crutch will cripple any sentence.
With all due respect. The warm-up to an insult. “With all due respect, even in your prime you weren’t that good.”
That’s my list, and it’s pretty good, in IMHO (oops, there’s another one.) Now’s your chance. What tired words and phrases would you like to see retired?
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“I take aspirin everyday as a preventative.”
Grrr!
I feel your pain. And no aspirin can cure it.
Myself – as in:
• “Elaine and myself went over the edge…” – “Elaine and I…”
• “I, myself, never say such things…” – well, I’m certainly not yourself am I? Would Issac Asimov have written I, Myself, Robot?
Along with “No worries” I’d add “No big deal…” and/or “No biggie…” – because it usually is…
And “No problem” in response to “Thank you…” – whatever happened to “You’re welcome”? (I find the rote/robotic “My pleasure” at a certain fast food chicken chain equally annoying – myself… 😋)
I myself find “my pleasure” also annoying, especially since I myself would never find it a pleasure to dish out chicken.
“Back in the day” meaning “the past”
“Have a blessed day!’ instead of “Good day to you”
“I have no idea” instead of “I don’t know”
Yes to all three, Hedley. “I have no idea” sounds just plain rude.
I just had an unsolicited call from my health insurance wanting to know my blood pressure reading. After telling her this was not a good time to stop everything and do it, she ended the call with “Have a blessed day.” That’s a peeve of mine, too.
I remember when it was just “Have a good day” and my dad would mutter, “Don’t tell me what kind of a day to have.”
My mother-in-law used to say the same thing as your dad, Terry.
Or, “I have no clue”… 🙂
“Blessed day” shows that the speaker is most likely a Fundamental Baptist or is around a lot of fundamentalist Christians.
“Like” stuck in every few words. Time to bury that ancient Valley Girl speak.
“No worries” and “sorry, not sorry” get on my nerves.
“To be perfectly honest” as opposed to “imperfectly honest”???
Like gets on my nerves. I have heard like more than once a sentence in an interview on NPR. Some of these people are professional speakers. You speak, some write, for a living. How can you need a “like” twice a sentence?
Grrr to “sorry, not sorry.” that’s a middle finger,
I hate, “Everything happens for a reason.” and “Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window.”
F that. The same with “why did Gd allow (insert tragedy here) to happen?
This past year my wife and my mother have died. I know the reasons. Mom was 91. My wife didn’t take her meds. I am not looking for any new windows to open.
Maybe Gd did open a window. I know a lot about ordering tombstones now.
Alan, you’ve had a brutal year. I hate this phrase but what else is there to say: Sorry for your losses.
Those are particularly stupid and insensitive responses, Alan, and I’m sorry you had to hear them. You’ve had a horrible year.
Sorry for your loss, Alan. That’s more grief than one person should have to handle in a single year. {{{hugs}}}
My condolences, Alan.
That particular phrase irritates me, too. The version I usually hear is, “When god closes one door, he opens another.”
My response is always, “Yes? Well, it’s hell in the hallway.”
I like that comeback, Cyn. Thanks for stopping by.
“Catch you later.” What am I, a fish?
A good catch?
🙂 🙂
Here’s the thing and beginning sentences with the word So.
So, I can see why those would be annoying, Kelly.
“At this moment in time.” Where else would a moment be?
And by the time you finish the phrase, the moment is gone.
So, like, I literally LOL’d reading some of your remarks, Elaine. Basically, at the end of the day, all we have is laughter. Just sayin’.
“LOL” after an offensive comment irks me, as if adding that makes it okay. It’s passive-aggressive for those who don’t have the balls to stand behind their words. Seen more on social media than in books.
Let’s hope LOL stays on social media, Sue, where it’s easier to delete.
Tops on my list is “My bad”, as mentioned above. I started hearing that from co-workers years ago and hated it then.
What a stupid way to apologize for saying or doing something stupid. What should the response be? If someone says “I’m sorry”, the response is “I accept your apology”, or something like that.
“My bad”? I guess I could say, “Yep, it sure was.”
Rant over.
Have a word day everyone!
“My bad” is a poor excuse for an apology, taking no responsibility.
You are missing the nuance of “just saying.”
Example: It would be pity if that pedophile tripped and landed in a wood chipper. Just saying.
Meaning: I’m just saying what most people think and hope will happen.
I like your explanation, Marilynn.
“Second to none.”
WTF? I think it’s supposed to be a compliment, but if you come in second to nothing, doesn’t that make you pretty worthless? Maybe it means that you are second to no one person or thing? I really hate words or phrases that have become so obtuse in over-usage that the lose all currency.
Like: “hellacious.” It can mean either great or really bad. Thus is means nothing.
Or “fulsome.” Back when words really meant something, this was negative, meaning “offensively flattering or insincere.” But now it’s become a compliment, as in “full,” “generous,” or “abundant.” So it is now meaningless.
As Elaine sez, Grrr. Rant over. Thanks. I feel better now.
And don’t get me started on what’s happened to “hopefully.”