# What platitudes do you wish people would stop using? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2022, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203 "2022-02-27T23:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/141 "2022-03-07T19:27:55Z")
What??? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/142 "2022-03-07T19:31:46Z")
Oh, they just make passive aggression into kind of a blood sport. I don’t visit any more. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/143 "2022-03-07T19:35:00Z")
Oh! I thought you approved of that behavior, and I was thinking I would avoid those relatives like the plague! Glad to see you concur. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/144 "2022-03-08T14:35:45Z")
“As we say in the sewer, water’s thicker than blood” Ed Norton. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/145 "2022-03-08T17:05:20Z")
Speaking of platitudes: what exactly does “let it be” mean? Don’t fight the inevitable? Was it even a thing before Paul? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/146 "2022-03-09T02:02:52Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > > [@Velocity](#): > > > > No, there isn’t. In a nation like China, for instance, there are 30 million more men than women. It’s impossible. > > Some may die before marrying. Some may be gay. Some may marry foreigners. Some may prefer living alone. All of which will also be true of some of the women. So I doubt it’s going to affect the proportions. Anyway, if you or your requirements are unusual, you may never find the person, even if they exist somewhere on the planet. Or you may find a suitable person, and find that they’re already partnered (and at least one of you is monogamous.) > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > “You can do anything you put your mind to.” Seconded. No, you can’t. There are lots of things you can’t do, no matter how hard you put your mind to them. Some of them will even be things that some other people can do. > [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > “We’re all in the same boat.” No, we’re all in the same storm but we’re in very different boats. Can I steal that reply? > [@ParallelLines](#): > > God won’t give you more than you can handle Yeah, that one’s nasty. Lots of people get more than they can handle. Saying that it’s God who gave it to them only makes it worse. > [@velomont](#): > > What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Yup. There are a whole lot of people who have been made weaker by things that didn’t kill them. In whatever sense you want to use the word “weaker”. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > “Some people are just afraid of change.” This one too. Or “people just don’t like change”. Most people like change just fine if they see a clear benefit in it. What people don’t like is change that they see only disadvantages in; or more disadvantages than advantages. Sometimes they’re wrong about that, of course; but sometimes the people who think the change will be a benefit are wrong about that. And often the change will benefit those trying to make it, but damage the ones who are complaining about it. > [@DesertDog](#): > > “Oh-h-h-h. You want the Rainbow Bridge! It’s over this way.” > > Speaking of which, that’s another one. I will admit to occasionally having a fantasy that goes something like: ‘hmm. you’re not eligible for this heaven. or for this one. or for that one. But I see that there’s a number of beings vouching that you’re eligible for the Non-Humans Who Chose to Live With Humans’ heaven. You’ll be expected to do a lot of patting, of course; it’s their heaven, really. But they let some humans in.’ – I’m going to add to the list “The fact of the matter is . . .” It’s a very rare issue that has only one fact associated with it; and people saying “the fact of the matter” generally want everybody to focus only on the one they’re pointing out, and to ignore all of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/147 "2022-03-09T02:51:23Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I will admit to occasionally having a fantasy that goes something like: > ‘hmm. you’re not eligible for this heaven. or for this one. or for that one. But I see that there’s a number of beings vouching that you’re eligible for the Non-Humans Who Chose to Live With Humans’ heaven. You’ll be expected to do a lot of patting, of course; it’s their heaven, really. But they let some humans in.’ Ooooh, I like this. I think I would rather be a humble servant in kitty heaven than a good person who goes to person heaven. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/148 "2022-03-11T00:45:32Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > > “Some people are just afraid of change.” > > This one too. Or “people just don’t like change”. Most people like change just fine if they see a clear benefit in it. What people don’t like is change that they see only disadvantages in; or more disadvantages than advantages. Sometimes they’re wrong about that, of course; but sometimes the people who think the change will be a benefit are wrong about that. And often the change will benefit those trying to make it, but damage the ones who are complaining about it. My own platitude (at least, I didn’t get it from anywhere else) that I like to use is: “Everyone agrees that change is good…in others” I’ve never been involved in any discussion on improving a process that doesn’t have a lot of suggestions on how someone else could really be doing something a lot better if only they would accept change. But it’s crickets when I ask them what changes they themselves be willing to to make to improve things. ---
**Author:** ![Sal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/149 "2022-04-01T19:21:45Z")
Hahaha Amen! ---
**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:** [April 4, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/150 "2022-04-04T21:39:58Z")
> “I’ll pray for you.” Even though I believe in a caring God and all that, the last time a friend and I were at a bar and he said that, I shot back with “That means a lot… almost as much as cash would.” Yes, my hand was open. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/151 "2022-04-09T15:34:23Z")
Another platitude that should be thrown under the bus and die in a fire is “You can’t put a price on a child’s life.” Often it is used as justification for a new ordinance or law that someone thinks is essential for child safety, like multiple speed bumps on a through street, prohibiting registered sex offenders from living within half a mile of a school, armored caps on household cleaning products and so on. Some of these proposals are reasonable. The thing is, though, we _do_ put a price on a child’s life every day, by allowing/encouraging activities that in some conceivable circumstance might cause harm. Speed bumps? Why not simply require a 5 mph speed limit in every locale in which a child lives or might cross the street, or better yet, ban vehicular traffic in cities and towns altogether? A child might be struck by a car and die otherwise! Ban dogs and cats while you’re at it - potentially fatal bites, scratches and disease transmission would be avoided. Lives would be saved! And so on. We can look at rational and feasible ways to protect kids without tryiing to shut down debate by chanting “you can’t put a price on a child’s life”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/152 "2022-04-09T15:45:57Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The thing is, though, we _do_ put a price on a child’s life every day, by allowing/encouraging activities that in some conceivable circumstance might cause harm. **INSURANCE SALESMAN** : But surely you can’t put a price on your family’s lives! **HOMER SIMPSON** : I wouldn’t have thought so either, but here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/153 "2022-04-09T16:46:08Z")
“You can’t put a price on a child’s life.” “Agree. That’s why we need to get rid of [high school football](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3922228/).” “Huh? Absolutely not.” ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/154 "2022-04-09T17:32:30Z")
“Years young” As in, “she is 93 years young”. It’s not original, it is not clever, and you are not fooling anybody. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203/155 "2022-04-11T12:59:49Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Another platitude that should be thrown under the bus and die in a fire is “You can’t put a price on a child’s life.” Sure I can! [Well, governments make a calculation in that direction, anyway.](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/835571843) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-platitudes-do-you-wish-people-would-stop-using/960203.md?page=7)