# Phrases you know you use too much **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607 "2014-03-01T16:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/1 "2014-03-01T16:45:37Z")
Do you have any phrases you know you use too frequently? For me, it’s ‘painted into a corner’ (or variants) - I work in a strategic IT role - so it’s quite a useful turn of phrase when we’re talking about avoiding built in limitations or shortcomings, or when we’re trying to unpick a predicament a customer has engineered for themselves due to lack of foresight or organisation. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/2 "2014-03-01T18:48:52Z")
Well, I’m trying to cut back on “Jesus H. Christ on a chariot-driven sidecar!” and just go with “Holy Shit!”. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/3 "2014-03-01T18:57:44Z")
One of our local coffee shop philosophers learned a new phrase a couple of months ago and is driving me nuts with it " Let me qualify that statment" I over use " I guess" ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/4 "2014-03-01T21:20:20Z")
Gee, I can’t think of any. Regards, Shodan ---
**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 1, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/5 "2014-03-01T21:43:24Z")
Mr. Kite: “What did you say?” Me: “I can’t remember.” ---
**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 1, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/6 "2014-03-01T21:45:54Z")
If you know what you’re doing, it’s not an adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/7 "2014-03-01T22:58:18Z")
“Groovy” “Shithook” "I’m not suggesting that (fill in blank) will go bankrupt behind the inefficiencies of “El Machino”. And of course, the whole “silty clay loam” thing. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/8 "2014-03-01T23:13:01Z")
“YOLO”, but not YOLO in a bad way, but more to force myself out of wimping out to talk to that cute girl. Also, I tend to start a lot of my sentences with, “They say…” and sometimes the other person asks, “Who’s ‘they’?” ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/9 "2014-03-01T23:45:03Z")
When I speak English, I tend to overuse the word “obviously.” ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/10 "2014-03-02T00:21:46Z")
After 8 years in the UK (1.5 back in the US), I know I say “Fair enough.” waaaaay too much. It would be borderline even in the UK though. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/11 "2014-03-02T01:26:37Z")
“Right on.” ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/12 "2014-03-02T04:05:00Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > “Right on.” My ex grandmother in law used to say that all the time. She was an old southern lady, and she used that phrase for everything from, “ok”, to “I agree”. I miss her. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/13 "2014-03-02T14:02:06Z")
With a slow drawl: “People in Hell want ice water.” But not said as much in recent years now that there aren’t little kids around wanting crap all the time. ([Deja Vu](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13004935&postcount=13).) ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/14 "2014-03-02T16:07:04Z")
I seem to overuse the word ‘well’ as an opening to my spoken sentences. As in, “Well, I remember back in the 1960s…” Well, maybe the “I remember back in the 1960s” part is a little overused as well. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/15 "2014-03-03T17:07:53Z")
I say “like” too much. Like a Valley girl. Totally. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/16 "2014-03-03T17:38:25Z")
“Sweet”. I use it waaay too much. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/17 "2014-03-03T17:43:40Z")
When describing something in person, I say “basically” a lot. Basically, its a crutch for me to earn a second or two to think of how else I can describe the issue, but I basically always try to get to the root of the circumstance and each “basically” pushes the timeline further and further back until I’m describing basically the origins of the universe and how it pertains to an accounting spreadsheet’s visual designs ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/18 "2014-03-03T17:47:44Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > My ex grandmother in law used to say that all the time. She was an old southern lady, and she used that phrase for everything from, “ok”, to “I agree”. I miss her. That makes me smile! Except for the missing her part. But the rest makes me feel very cool 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/19 "2014-03-03T17:51:27Z")
“What fresh hell is this now…” But I’m trying to cut back. ---
**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 3, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607/20 "2014-03-03T18:56:00Z")
My mom once told me of a history teacher she had who used the phrase _in that respect_ so often that the kids used to keep a running count. She said he pronounced it “Innat respackt.” After a while of this I don’t even hear what the person is saying anymore. I just keep waiting for the magic words. Then I get the giggles and have to stifle. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-you-know-you-use-too-much/682607.md?page=2)