Here are some phrases that make me grind my teeth:
Business-stupid phrases that may have once been fine, but now are hackneyed and annoying:
“At the end of the day…”
“… make sure we’re on the same page …”
“… let’s touch base …”
Faux-hipster phrases that people use to make stupid things sound cooler than they are:
“Get your ___ on.” [E.g., “Let’s get our drink on”, instead of “Let’s have a drink.”]
“throw down ___.” [For context, see every other post on Engadget. E.g., “Sony threw down two new camcorders today, …”]
And I’m not even thinking of phrases that are stupid and hate-worthy because they are simply incorrect. (“All intensive purposes…”; “I could care less…”)
I have others, I just can’t think of them because my mind has shut down after just seeing someone say (on another site) that it was “time to get [his] drink on.”
Heh. I hate the phrase “at the end of the day” and yet, it slips out of my mouth far too often. It’s actually just a useful phrase that I haven’t found a decent replacement for yet (hint hint – give me one that works just as well in as few words!!).
My list?
“here’s a head’s up”
“irregardless” (yeh, I know, more along the lines of just incorrect)
I am sure there are a lot more, but right now…can’t think of any.
I can’t think of one that’s as concise as “at the end of the day”. “When all’s said and done” might be close-- but doesn’t quite work in as many contexts.
Not a phrase, but the word “Whatever” really makes me see red.
I hate the expression “Let’s do…” as in “let’s do lunch”, “let’s do a movie” et al.
To which I always think: “‘Asshole’ makes an ass out of you. And a hole.”
Mind you, it is a good sentiment. Or so I assume.
“There’s a piece of work around…” is one I encounter frequently. This means “Someone needs to do this work, but it ain’t going to be me that does it, and I’m using the passive voice to absolve myself of responsibility.” It irritates me a great deal.
I stopped watching The Apprentice when I lost count of how many times the phrase “at the end of the day” was used in a single boardroom. How completely annoying that was.
Didn’t this used to be “All intents and purposes…” until the ignorant of the world took a hold of it?
I can’t think of any work-specific phrases at the moment. My boss is especially fond of the ellipses. All of her e-mails look like this:
“Good morning folks… Hope that you will have a restful holiday weekend…Please see me regarding the [insert current cause of work drama] before Friday if you have questions…Thanks…”
Oh! I hate the acronym “COB” for “close of business.”
Struan, I confess that I use that all the time - in my world, there’s no other word that describes “websites that actually do stuff rather than sit there”. Can you suggest an alternative?
Another hackneyed phrase from The Apprentice: “Step up to the plate.” You could make a nice drinking game by taking a swig every time someone on The Apprentice uses one of these phrases. Everyone would be blotto by the end of the show.