# Completely meaningless phrases that are common **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120 "2014-03-19T22:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/1 "2014-03-19T22:47:44Z")
What are some phrases that have no meaning because a) almost everyone uses them in the same circumstance; and/or b) are completely unverifiable/obvious/empty? Here are examples of what I am looking for: “Highway miles” - You see this all the time in car ads, usually for cars that have atypically high miles for their model year. Sometimes it’s in dealer ads, where they got the car in trade and have no way of knowing if it’s true. In any case, it’s unverifiable AND empty, since no one knows what percentage constitutes “highway miles”. Could be 90%, could be 40%. “Free to good home” - Obviously some places are very picky about to whom they adopt, but it’s still meaningless because it’s always assumed to be true. Have you ever seen an ad that says “Free to bad home - we really hate this pet”? I though about adding “How are you? Fine” to this, but sometimes people actually answer this honestly, so it’s not quite meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/2 "2014-03-19T23:46:54Z")
“One piece only” on a bucket of Halloween candy, left on the front porch by somebody who couldn’t be there to answer the door. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/3 "2014-03-19T23:52:37Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > “Free to good home” - Obviously some places are very picky about to whom they adopt, but it’s still meaningless because it’s always assumed to be true. Have you ever seen an ad that says “Free to bad home - we really hate this pet”? I wouldn’t quite agree. What you might instead see is “Free kitten”. I’d say “Free to good home” is almost but not quite meaningless because the current owner is rarely going to check. The author of the sign is basically saying “We really do care about Mr. Snuggles. Please take care of him.”, as opposed to “Would you like this cat? OK. Here.” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/4 "2014-03-19T23:54:12Z")
Back to the OP - “Lightly used” ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/5 "2014-03-20T00:20:13Z")
On the death of a loved one: “S/he is in a better place now.” (WTF?) On some spectacularly shitty turn of luck in one’s life, usually uttered in a chirpy tone: “Everything happens for a reason!” “Conveniently located at…” No, not convenient to the vast majority of viewers. “Carpentry (insert service of choice) and More!” More…_what_? Interpretive dance? Dental surgery? Floral arranging? Then there is always the ever-popular “save up to 50 percent off of retail!” Which is so utterly, absolutely meaningless that I am gobsmacked this phrase still works, except it must because I’ve been seeing it for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/6 "2014-03-20T00:21:06Z")
“supplies are limited so call within the next 20 minutes.” “the check is in the mail.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/7 "2014-03-20T00:23:55Z")
Saying somebody “died instantly”. Everyone dies instantly even people who have been sick for a prolonged period - one second you’re alive and the next second you’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/8 "2014-03-20T00:27:49Z")
_“Prices reduced up to 50% or more”_ - think about it. _“Up to 50%”_ means any amount at or below fifty percent. And _“or more”_ means any amount above fifty percent. So all you’re really saying is the item has a price. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/9 "2014-03-20T00:43:52Z")
**I hear what you are saying** - Of course you did…I just said it **It is what it is** - Probably the most useless homily ever spoken. Of course “it is what it is”…what else would it be? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/10 "2014-03-20T00:45:06Z")
“Free gift with purchase.” Are gifts not, by their very definition, free? And if one has to make a purchase in order to receive a gift…it’s not a gift! ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/11 "2014-03-20T01:00:42Z")
New and improved! Now twenty percent more free. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/12 "2014-03-20T02:05:36Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > On the death of a loved one: “S/he is in a better place now.” (WTF?) > On some spectacularly shitty turn of luck in one’s life, usually uttered in a chirpy tone: “Everything happens for a reason!” These two are the worst. And then there’s “He’s gone to meet his maker.” Oh yeah? Is he finally getting that tune-up and transmission work he’s been putting off? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/13 "2014-03-20T02:26:26Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > “Highway miles” - You see this all the time in car ads. . . . Original miles, too. “Yes, this cream puff has only 8,000 _original_ miles on the clock!” But 350,000 on the original odometer, over there in the dumpster. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/14 "2014-03-20T02:56:37Z")
“condition: brand new with shelf wear” or variation thereof is increasingly used for online sales ---
**Author:** ![Teddy\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Teddy\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teddy_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/15 "2014-03-20T05:34:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Saying somebody “died instantly”. Everyone dies instantly even people who have been sick for a prolonged period - one second you’re alive and the next second you’re dead. Not useless. If you fall into a vat of molten steel, you die (basically) instantly. If you dip your toe in the steel and a fire slowly consumes you, you don’t. Sure, the actual “point of no return” happens in an instant, but some deaths happen faster than others. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/16 "2014-03-20T05:45:49Z")
Two examples from Raymond Smullyan, from the book _What Is The Name Of This Book?_ Silly remarks seen on restaurant menus: (1) Extra charge for anything extra. (2) Good food is not cheap. Cheap food is not good. Smullyan points out that these two statements are logically exactly equivalent and thus, redundant to have both of them. (They both say that there is no food that is both cheap and good.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/17 "2014-03-20T05:50:07Z")
See also that nearby thread on [Worst case of manager-speak](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=718199). Plenty of examples there! ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/18 "2014-03-20T06:01:26Z")
On ebay: “near mint”. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/19 "2014-03-20T06:14:10Z")
“All-natural” . “Clinically-proven”. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120/20 "2014-03-20T06:54:28Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Now twenty percent more free. I saw on a can of Pringles today-- "20% more\* \*than the 161 gram size" Additionally: “Part of a complete breakfast”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/completely-meaningless-phrases-that-are-common/684120.md?page=2)