“Can I be honest with you?”
Another expression people use to much.
And don’t forget…
“Been There, Done That.” (with optional addendum, “Got the T Shirt.”)
It is what it is.
My cliche is when the murderee was “brutally” murdered. Has anyone ever been described as “gently murdered?”
None of these are as overused as many common words. That’s how language works, some people craft their phraseology with deliberate care, others communicate efficiently and effectively for the 99% of communication which benefits from compendious verbiage.
A phrase I had never heard until I met my neighbor a few years ago, and now I’m sick of is
Do you smell what I’m stepping in? Meant as “Do you understand what I’m getting at?” Once was funny. Weekly is too much.
Today, it seems, every crisis is an “existential crisis.” An ordinary old crisis won’t do. It must be an existential crisis. Watch any news or discussion program and you will hear this word used over and over again.
And it seems mass murders are always needless. Has here ever been a mass murder that was needed?
I like to say it’s what it’s.
Or, sometimes, 'tis what 'tis.
mmm
A UK advertising slogan that survives in fairly common usage is Does what it says on the tin
Or Marmite
One that didn’t seem to last was got an ology
In my experience, they may be trying to avoid being degraded by the listener; like they’ve had someone reflexively shout ‘DUH!’ at them one too many a time when they state something that is obvious, but would also be nitpicked if they omitted it.
Yeah, I think it means ‘I want to say something that I realise is unnecessary and hurtful, but I feel compelled to be a dick today, just like yesterday.’
My automatic response to it is, “Can I stop you?”
Yah, that could be. But, if it’s obvious, there should be no need to state it (otherwise, it’s not obvious). I guess using it or not using it makes assumptions, which is another “can of worms”.
Another one that came on strong for the pandemic:
“Out of an abundance of caution”
It’s like people are looking for a more clinical way to say something that’s fairly simple - couldn’t we just say “careful/carefully”?
Yeah, I prefer to initiate that conversation instead with “You know, you can always count on your friends to tell you the brutal truth…”
You may add “this is not who we are.”
I beg to differ, this is exactly who we are.
Why are you “begging to differ?” Why not just say “I disagree!”
At the end of the day
Not to put too fine a point on it
Soeaking beyond my pay grade
While I twist and churn screaming g in my head just get to the point man!
The other context I find myself saying it is just when I catch myself having said something that really is obvious to everyone, and didn’t even need to be stated. It’s like a little incantation that makes me feel less silly for blurting out a description of how gravity still exists, or rain makes things wet, or whatnot.
Having more than one way to say things is a feature of the English language, not a bug.
(Someone may now express their disdain for the ‘feature not bug’ thing)
I’m still annoyed by the misuse of “begs the question.”
“This begs the question, where did he gets all those cats in the first place?”
No, it doesn’t. Even as much as I have a heart for descriptive language, that’s not what that means, dammit.
I think that battle is pretty solidly lost now. If that’s what people think it means, that is what it means.