# Phrases you hate **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990 "2010-09-16T18:12:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/181 "2010-09-22T22:41:19Z")
> [@Taenia\_spp](#): > > “I could care less” > No, you mean _I couldn’t care less_. If you could care less, then you’re not at your most apathetic, are you? Meh. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/182 "2010-09-22T23:30:36Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > > [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > > > If this was brought up earlier, I don’t see it, but the one that irks me the most is “It may or may not be possible” or other phrases of its ilk. Of course, that is always the case. A very wordy way of saying absolutely nothing. > > I disagree about this; It’s essentially the same thing as saying “I don’t know if it’s possible…” Meaning “I have a solution, but I don’t know if we can actually use it.” Hence, the solution…may or may not be possible. Is it excessively verbose? Maybe, but it’s not meaningless. All right, maybe not meaningless. Useless. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/183 "2010-09-23T03:09:11Z")
> [@pyromyte](#): > > > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > > > I’ve often wondered why some of the Indian tribes call themselves a “Nation”, despite the fact they really don’t have many of the things that one thinks of in association with being a “Nation”. > > I can understand that it you find the usage of “nation” annoying and pisses you off (because sports casters certainly overuse the term), but it’s not improper, is it? Or are you objecting to the capitalization? I personally consider myself a member of the Big Blue Nation (U of Kentucky sports fans) and think it has more of a positive connotation that Big Blue Mob or even the word fanatic. Must be a cultural thing, because I’ve only ever generally heard “Nation” used as a synonym for “Country” (with the exception of the various Native Indian tribes). And countries get to do things like issue their own currency, set their own laws, sign treaties with other countries, control their borders (and who gets to enter the country), have standing militaries, and so on. Now, I can sort of see how the idea of a “Iroquois Nation” (for example) would be perfectly cromulent in the early 19th century when they really were a “Nation” and it’s a polite courtesy extended to them today as a result of various unpleasantnesses which kind of stopped them continuing to be something we’d recognise as a country today- but I’ve never heard _sports fans_ describing themselves as a “Nation” and frankly it just sounds bizarre. > [@](#): > > “I beg to differ!” When someone says this to you in an argument, it sounds a lot like “Well, F\*\*\* YOU!” Because that’s basically what it’s a polite form of saying. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/184 "2010-09-23T03:25:42Z")
In the US Native American nations do have sovereign powers. The have their own judicial and law enforcement systems, they sign treaties with federal and state governments and can issue their passports. Nation was not just a cutesy term but descriptive. Red Sox Nation on the other hand… shudders. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/185 "2010-09-23T15:42:50Z")
I hate it when people refer to a non-fast food restaurant as a “sit-down” restaurant. Last I checked, most of the McDonalds’, Burger Kings, Wendys’ and other similar fast food establishments all provide tables and seats where one can plant his or her posterior to consume meals. I prefer to make the distinction between the two by calling them “full service” restaurants. “What have you”: This one makes me want to slam my fist straight into the teeth of the person who says it. “Y is the new X” and its evil cousin, “Today’s Y is yesterday’s X”. Gray is _not_ the new black (or vice versa); they are two distinct colors! Just to keep people on their toes (and I’m sure someone out there probably hates this phrase, as well as parenthetical offsets such as this), I’ll rephrase common cliches. For example, “the whole nine yards” becomes “the entire 27 feet/324 inches”. “The whole ball of wax” becomes “the entire sphere of paraffin.” I know it’s been mentioned, but I can’t leave this list without including my seething and unabating hatred for “my bad”. “Bad” is not a noun. I don’t care if some modern-edition dictionary declares such usage as valid, I refuse to say it. We already have plenty of good, established words for this: mistake, flaw, defect, error, oversight, goof, flub, blunder, fuck-up, etc. Before too long people will probably make it into a verb (e.g. “I badded the project.”). I’m glad I don’t spend much time around teenagers and twenty-somethings because most of them have forgotten the word “said”. Instead, they say “like” and “all”. _And I was like, “You’re going out with Bill?” And she was like, “Yeah, what of it?”_ Since I just used it in my example, I’ll include “What of it?” This phrase, like so many others, does not parse grammatically and its usage should cease immediately. “I could care less.” I know this one has been argued to death on this board, and I’ll concede that it’s not going away, but I still refuse to accept it. “Coke” as a general word for “soda” or “pop”. I know this is mostly a southern thing, so I don’t hear it much around where I live (Idaho). A childhood friend of mine always referred to his drinks as “Cokes”. One day he said that he couldn’t find where he set his Coke down. Ten minutes later I heard him say, “There it is.” It was a 7-Up can. Had he said it was a 7-Up I would have spotted it for him right then and there and his drink wouldn’t have gotten warm on him. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/186 "2010-09-24T16:54:57Z")
I’ll echo “I could care less,” and add unnecessary pronoun syndrome. “The Pope, **he** went to London,” or “The Lions, **they** couldn’t score if the other team walked off the field,” or “Kelly McGillis, **she’s** a lesbian.” It’s grating, even it’s not a particular phrase (as in “I could care less”). I don’t know the grammatical term, but using the preposition “of” in the middle of a phrase makes me vomit, mainly because it’s…I don’t know, but to me, it sounds too passive, I guess. Examples: “tears of joy,” “jaws of life,” etc. There are only a few, and those two are the most pervasive, but every time I hear that type of word arrangement, I feel like I should smile and look at someone lovingly like the characters do in “Airplane!” when Randy starts singing to the sick girl. Finally, and it’s not used as often anymore (thank the…of your choice), but any story, particularly in the news, about a cat had to be “purrrfect”, and about a dog had to be “dog-gone”. Examples abound, and most of us are probably old enough to recall those, so I won’t inflict them on you, and if you happen to be young enough to not know what I’m talking about, holy shit, you’re lucky. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Luggage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@The\_Luggage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Luggage)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/187 "2010-09-24T18:42:49Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Actually, “that ” is sufficient as a noun phrase, at least in my grammar. Consider: > > That you’re going to the store is good. > That you would even think to use that logical fallacy shows how feeble your argument is. > > It’s just omitting the superfluous phrase “the fact,” so “I love [the fact] that you’re going to the store.” > > Heck, while “I love you’re going to the store” sounds a little weird, it’s not wrong to me either. I have spent a day or so getting increasingly cross about this, and conclude that you are probably right. However many ways I do it, the noun phrase explanation that you suggest might work. So I will take refuge in simply disliking it. I think it can reasonably be said that for clarity, a noun phrase ought to be pretty short. The “I love…” structure tends to end up with long NPs that clutter understanding. So maybe my complaint should be expressed so: do not add stupidly long NPs to your “I love…” sentences 🙂 Not sure I’ll be happy at the end of that, but I’ll certainly have less to carp about. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/188 "2010-09-24T19:26:46Z")
Hey, dislike all you want. 😃 It’s just the “ungrammatical” part I felt compelled to respond to. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/189 "2010-09-24T20:25:50Z")
I nominate any phrase where you never hear someone say the opposite. There’s the ubiquitous “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” and “I like to laugh.” Really? How informative. I’ve never heard someone go “When I’m angry, I’m generally ineffective. It’s comical, really,” or “I hate laughing. It gives you wrinkles.” And God help you if you start talking about how much you’ll defend your kids. So what you’re saying is you’re a sane human being? Well gee, I thought, since you like to laugh, that I’d just start kicking your toddler. That isn’t funny? Oh, OK, nevermind then. > [@Askance](#): > > “of a”, as in “It’s not that big of a deal”. No, “it’s not that big a deal” or “it’s not a big deal”. Wow. I’ve never actually heard someone actually \*advocating \*an incorrect usage before. Why are you encouraging people to drop needed pronouns? Would you say that someone is “a shadow their former self” or “a shell a man”? What about “The top the table is broken”? What in God’s name makes you think “big a deal” is correct? > [@Ibanez](#): > > I hate “are you sure ?” You do realize that it’s common to refuse something the first time you’re asked, right? I mean, it’s pretty common to go: “Do you want the last piece?” “No.” “Are you sure?” “Well…ok.” > [@jjimm](#): > > And where I come from, “lary” means aggressive. Well where _I_ come from, Larry is the guy in the third cubicle over. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Must be a cultural thing, because I’ve only ever generally heard “Nation” used as a synonym for “Country” (with the exception of the various Native Indian tribes). And countries get to do things like issue their own currency, set their own laws, sign treaties with other countries, control their borders (and who gets to enter the country), have standing militaries, and so on. Nations don’t have to have political power. Those entities with militaries, borders, and governments are called “states”, not “nations”. A nation is a large group of people that identify with each other by lineage, language, and/or territory. Many don’t have accompanying states, like the Kurdish Nation, the Palestinian Nation, and of course the American Indian nations. You’ll find stateless nations pretty much anywhere where there was some land taken over by another sovereign. BTW, there’s also the Steeler Nation, of which I’m a proud member. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/190 "2010-09-24T20:28:37Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Wow. I’ve never actually heard someone actually \*advocating \*an incorrect usage before. Why are you encouraging people to drop needed pronouns? Would you say that someone is “a shadow their former self” or “a shell a man”? What about “The top the table is broken”? > > What in God’s name makes you think “big a deal” is correct? In certain contexts it is permissible to omit words. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/191 "2010-09-25T00:13:52Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Nations don’t have to have political power. Those entities with militaries, borders, and governments are called “states”, not “nations”. The two are also largely synonyms IME. You can be a state but not a nation, but I don’t think you can be a nation and not a state, barring exceptional circumstances. And being a member of your local football team’s supporters club doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/192 "2010-09-25T02:08:14Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > Nations don’t have to have political power. Those entities with militaries, borders, and governments are called “states”, not “nations”. > > The two are also largely synonyms IME. You can be a state but not a nation, but I don’t think you can be a nation and not a state, barring exceptional circumstances. And being a member of your local football team’s supporters club doesn’t count. The two correlate often, but they’re not synonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/193 "2010-09-25T02:27:24Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > > > The two are also largely synonyms IME. You can be a state but not a nation, but I don’t think you can be a nation and not a state, barring exceptional circumstances. And being a member of your local football team’s supporters club doesn’t count. > > The two correlate often, but they’re not synonymous. They correlate often enough to be near enough to synonyms to make no real difference IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![CTburns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@CTburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CTburns)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/194 "2010-09-25T02:30:44Z")
“It’s all good!” No, no it isn’t, lots of things suck! ---
**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:** [September 25, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990/195 "2010-09-25T05:15:12Z")
I wish people would learn the difference between affect and effect so they could stop overusing “impact”. “I myself” sounds stupid. I wouldn’t have thought you meant “I, someone else” if you hadn’t said myself. Some people say “actually” or “actual” just to sound fancy and end up sounding foolish, in my opinion. Yesterday, my sister said “I’m going to drive up to the actual sidewalk so Mom can get out. I’m not actually going to get out because I’m going to actually move the car after she gets out.” These may be repeats, but “share” doesn’t (well, shouldn’t) mean “tell” and “feel” doesn’t mean “think”. I was in a high school science teacher’s workshop and the State Science Lady asked if anyone wanted to “_ **Share out** _”. She caught hell from three or four of us for that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-hate/553990.md?page=9)