# Expressions I hate **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620 "2022-04-10T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Yelnick\_McWawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/839c29/32.png) [@Yelnick\_McWawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yelnick_McWawa)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/121 "2022-04-22T21:43:59Z")
“Sales event” Businesses (especially car dealers) don’t hold “sales”, they have “sales events”. What is a sales event? It’s a meaningless phrase because their goal is to sell as many items as possible while trying to imply that the customer is getting a reduced price. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/122 "2022-05-08T09:53:16Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I believe my “wheelhouse” is my area of competence and comfort. Thank you. I have often wondered when I hear the expression, what it actually means. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/123 "2022-05-08T10:49:00Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > “To be honest…” > > Wait. When did you start being honest? So everything else was BS? I have a co-worker who frequently starts a sentence with “I"m not gonna lie.” 1. Thank you for not lying to me this time 2. Wait…how do I know you’re not lying now? mmm ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/124 "2022-05-08T15:03:13Z")
“Pre-owned” We had a perfectly good word for “second-hand,” but they doubled the amount of letters and stuck in a hyphen and now it sounds suspicious and pretentious every time I hear it. And if they re-make that Kurt Russell movie and call it, “Pre-owned Cars,” I’m gonna lose what’s left of my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/125 "2022-05-08T15:28:08Z")
So you work with my daughter! (see post 97) 🙂 Surely there can’t be two people who use this phrasing…CAN THERE? ---
**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:** [May 8, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/126 "2022-05-08T15:32:07Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > “To be honest…” > > Wait. When did you start being honest? So everything else was BS? I made the mistake of saying that in an argument to a judge once. He stopped me right away, “Counsel, I would expect you are _always_ perfectly honest with the court.” ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/127 "2022-05-08T16:30:51Z")
“No problem” and “No worries” have been mentioned, and I hate those as much as anyone. I don’t agree with ChicFilA on most things, but I do on one. It’s reportedly company policy that a “Thank you” spoken by a customer must be responded to with “My pleasure.” I’ve always used that when someone thanks me for something I’ve done for them. It’s friendly. I might also say “Glad I could help.” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/128 "2022-05-08T19:26:09Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > “To be honest…” This is an idiom for “This will be tactless or at least, more blunt than usual,” that has become merely a filler phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/129 "2022-05-09T13:58:01Z")
“what with. . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/130 "2022-05-10T15:51:12Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > This is an idiom for “This will be tactless or at least, more blunt than usual,” that has become merely a filler phrase. I know what it is. Read the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/131 "2022-05-10T16:04:14Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I know what it is. Read the thread title. ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/132 "2022-05-10T16:06:05Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > ouch. I don’t want to cause ouches. And I see your perspective. It is valid. Just not for me. ---
**Author:** ![Esturionette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9d8465/32.png) [@Esturionette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esturionette)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/133 "2022-05-11T20:57:54Z")
“Go in with” in instructional videos. Nothing wrong with it as such, but it is so overused that at this point I bristle internally whenever I hear things like: “I increase the heat and then I go in with the beef” “After the paper has soaked, go in with the blue paint.” “Now go in with the eyeliner.” ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/134 "2022-05-12T02:28:28Z")
Whenever a cashier says “You have a good one!” to me, I always want to say “Hey- Thanks for noticing!” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/135 "2022-05-12T03:15:22Z")
I’ve been watching sports at a local tavern, and I can’t believe the drivel. I’m sure it comes from the announcers having to fill hours of sportsball with trivia on the players, and recycling the same reactions whenever something happens. Aside from the usual clichés like “Need to step up” or “Taking this one game at a time” or “They have _got_ to generate some energy here”, it’s professional basketball playoffs now, and one loud commentator loves the verb “to stick”: “He _STUCK_ that one!” “Okay… the Warriors need to stick this…” “The Bucks needs to find a way to _stick_ it to the Celtics defense.” "I can’t believe he’s trying to stick this from 25 feet out… _annnnd… he STICKS IT!"_ For over two hours… ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/136 "2022-05-12T14:30:04Z")
Good-bye, Mr. Spaulding! 😄 ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/137 "2022-05-14T14:49:50Z")
I hate the term “wifey”. It’s a dopey infantilizing word that reeks of gooey ownership that makes the user sound like a clown. Ugh. It bugs! Call her your beloved, your dearest, your main squeeze, your heartbreaker, your true love and one and only but not wifey please! At the end of the day, make no bones about it, circle back if you must but say her name not wifey! ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/138 "2022-05-14T22:04:50Z")
Agree, but/and I tend to find “the wife” or “this one” (yes, I’ve heard both used _way_ too many times) even more grating, demeaning, chauvinistic, … choose your adjective. Blecch. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/139 "2022-05-15T03:31:22Z")
Hey, any of them are better than “Dick Holster”, ugh. I prefer “my darlin’”, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620/140 "2022-05-15T12:15:24Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > My daughter is fond of starting sentences with “Not gonna lie…” > > It strikes me as very peculiar. Why would I expect otherwise? I don’t much like this expression either. But I find it more palatable if I translate it to “To be honest” or maybe even “Frankly…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expressions-i-hate/962620.md?page=8)