200 Expressions That Really Tick You Off
It all started back in January with this cranky observation from James Thurber:
I loathe the expression "What makes him tick." It is the American mind, looking for a simple and singular solution, that uses the foolish expression. A person not only ticks, he also chimes and strikes the hour, falls and breaks and has to be put together again, and sometimes stops like an electric clock in a thunderstorm.*When I then asked what expressions tick you off, the response was--let's say, whelming. Bottom line: paradigms were shifted, bars were raised, envelopes were pushed, and (at the end of the day) everybody was thinking outside the box.
Over the past several months, I've been inundated with all sorts of linguistic pet peeves: clichés, usage errors, redundancies, misspellings, mispronunciations, and specimens of slang, jargon, and textspeak. I mean you guys hunkered down and really gave it your best--which, of course, would be 110%. You know what I'm saying?
At the risk of annoying everyone all over again, I've collected the most popular peeves in 200 Words and Expressions That Tick You Off. Surely you'll find something suitably vexing there. But if not, click on the "comments" button below to tell us what expressions tick you off.
And in the meantime, as your waiter says, enjoy!
* Letter to Frances Glennon, June 24, 1959. In Selected Letters of James Thurber, edited by Helen Thurber and Edward Weeks (Little, Brown and Company, 1980).
Comments
I have two more for you:
‘The best political team on television’ – how does anyone stand watching CNN anymore when you hear that phrase over and over and over.
HIV virus = human immunodeficiency virus virus
What I cringe at is in the middle of a comment/statement the commentator will say “As you will…”
Usually on news programs..
“doing the math” has become so overused it is applied to situations that really require a stretch. Currently, NutriSystems is running a TV commercial touting its weight losing method, and this stupid expression is used four times in the commercial and really has no application to this situation, as the expression was originally intended. If it is supposed to sound “cool” then they should think again. It does not.
ANYWAYS! what a stupid word. There is no such word!
People who write “could of” instead of “could’ve” or “could have”.
…as far as that goes.
the thing of it is…
…and what not.
prolly or probly instead of probably
bertday instead of birthday
The new response to “Thank You” is “No Problem”. I didn’t ask if it was a problem, I just said thank you.
I would love to slap the next person I hear saying, “That’s what I’m talking about!” Usually they’re not content with saying it just once either.
Hot water heater – As George Carlin pointed out, if the water is already hot, why do you need to heat it?
prostrate gland
arthuritis
adding a k where there isn’t one ie anythink
crehative (very popular in SA)
“I’m glad you asked that question” or “that’s a good question” as used by politician when they don’t know the answer.
For what it’s worth…
Get over it!
Most Americans say’imporant’for important.They also have a problem pronouncing the letter ‘R’.
The saying: “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” is misquoted and stupid. Of course you can have your cake and eat it too. I had my donuts this morning and ate them too.
What you can’t have — and also is the proper saying is:
“You can’t eat your cake and have it too.”
I love this list! Although I’m guilty of several–I routinely invite my readers to ‘enjoy’ when I ’serve them up’ a newsletter, and I actually have an article on ‘healthy food’–many of the items on this list are personal peeves of mine as well. How great to find a venue for a group vent! (Some of the most vexing for me are ‘leave it be’, ‘irregardless’ and ‘It is what it is’. OF COURSE it is!)
I have another one that seems to plague me: misuse of the word ‘myself’, as in, “Please give that to James or myself when you’re finished.” Aren’t I the only one who can give something to ‘myself’?
Elizabeth
P.S. Thank you, Kirk! That cake one kept me confused for years as a child!
Conversate instead of converse.
Inventing verbs like ‘nervousing’ and ‘paranoying.’
Grammer.
I didn’t see the expression that bothers me the most, “way” as said with the drawn out vowel: “waaaay” better. Grrrr!
sickth sick of hearing about this number?
“update” used as a verb.
Common to romance novels, the phrase “he/she fisted his hands at his/her sides…” makes me want to hurl.
Annonying AND abreviated !!!!!!! Know what I’m saying becomes ” nomesayin’ “
Issue (meant to mean problem), as in that is not an issue here.
One of my pet peeves is the frequent use in early day news “while you were sleeping” followed by some tidbit. That’s assuming a lot about the audience.
“YO!”
“Say What?”
“Dude”
“So many years young,” when referring to the age of an older person; e.g., 80 years young. It is syrupy and condescending.
I also agree with the person who hates “I could care less!” It is a laziness in speech patterns.
I can’t believe this one hasn’t been said but one of the ones that really makes me cringe is y’all (instead of you all or you). Isn’t that a bit reminiscent of that old sixties TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies”? (Y’all come back now. Hear?)
Another one is “out of pocket” (e.g. “She’s “out of pocket” instead of “she’s sick”. I suppose another such expression is “under the weather”. Then there is the annoying “Hang in there!” (frequently used when the speaker can’t think of anything else to say) and then there are the various expressions related to “retiring for the night”, “hitting the sack” “hitting the hay” and, oh yes, “shacking up with” (instead of living with) and the other fairly recent euphemism “cohabiting or cohabitating or cohabitation).
I could go on but I’ll be mercifrul. (But really! IMHO (Nobody would really say “in my humble opinion” would they?
This was one of the best articles, that I have seen in a long time on “About..” How true those 200 words were!! I have a couple of my own expressions that can really tick me off! I’m in an email group, where a bunch of women email each other from all over the country.. When we are trying to ask someone if they know what I mean.. We abbreviate it w/ KWIM=Know what I mean? But for some unknown reason, that abbreviation looks like a dirty word!
In the list, #18 made me laugh. Basically. The word is necessary, yet boring. I made that huge mistake in “Multi-Level Marketing..” I had this Telemarketing
“spiel,” where the first word out of my mouth, was “Basically.” Most everyone hung up their phone!
#20 – Been there, done that… But sometimes I say: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!
#58 – Fixin to: What does that mean? Can someone please tell me!
#70 – Guesstimate – Huh? WTF?
“idiot, moron, imbecile” I don’t understand how anyone can use these words that stigmatize and HURT people with disabilities and their families.
What is going on? I thought using ‘fer’ in place of ‘for’ and ‘ta’ rather than ‘to’ was just local. But I am now hear it on the national T V stations.
Examples: “The knife is used fer cutting.”
“I’ll be going ta the store.”
There is one meteorologist locally that has great diction. There is no question what he is talking about because it is clear, concise, and Tom Hagan is almost 99% right!
I’m surprised “automagically” hasn’t been added yet. It’s a silly fusion of automatic and magic, and I see it all over the Internet.
“Fill in the form, hit submit and your details will be automagically entered into our database!”
I absolutely despise the term — I see no need to add magic to automation!
At the end of the day … why????
“I have an ask”, or “The ask here is…” when they should use the word “request”.
I have only observed this in my company’s internal communication and very often during meetings, and it frequently comes from someone I don’t dare correct. “You have a what?”.
The same restraint must be used when the speaker utters “It is what it is” and I so badly want to (in my best Popeye voice) reply, “I y’am what I y’am, ack-ack-ack!”
This is why I avoid going to meetings.
I hate, hate, hate “hubby.” (Just the word.)
Likewise “authored” instead of “wrote.”
Are there any classes to keep television people from saying “tempachure” and often “amacher”?
Using anxious when one is acutally eager. Anxious indicates fear or apprehension while eager is enthusiastic.
Saying ‘dint’ for ‘didn’t’
how could we excluded “mulitmedia?” Media is plural, of course.
Woah, you folks are mad!
Personally, I hate it when someone starts a sentence with “Woah” and then uses a comma, followed by “you,” and then the detestable “folks” before the way-too-common oh-so-boring “are” and then finishes off with the sensational “mad.” Oh, and anyone who ends a sentence with an exclamation point ought to be shot in the face.
bro’
The use of “continue on” is very annoying!
What does continue mean! To go on.
Some more:
war protesters – for U.S. armed forces deserters seeking asylum in Canada
ex-patriot – for expatriate
hone in on – for home in on
normalcy – for normality
supercede – for supersede
The all-too-frequent use of the vulgar expression “pissed off” by public figures and others who should know better
How about, “our troops ON THE GROUND,” or “commanders ON THE GROUND?” That drives me absolutely crazy. On the ground as opposed to what? Floating in the air? In Vietnam, wasn’t the phrase, “in country,” or something like that? That’s not great, but it’s better than ON THE GROUND. Why can’t they say, the “troops in Iraq,” “commanders in Iraq?”
“Team coverage” for any news item.
“Right now!” when announcing the start of any program.
The use of the plural to state the past tense, i.e. He “comes” up and “says”. It should be, “He came up and said”. Incidentally, in the introductory phase for every post in this forum, “So and So “says”. Properly, it should be, “So and So SAID” or “Stated”.
‘Next up’ as used on radio and TV when announcing the next item.
When “You Guys” is used in a conversation, email, or meeting to address women, some women get angry.
If I never hear “gravitas” again, I will be a happy woman.
“LIKE” being used at the beginning and end of sentences…also throughout the sentence.Do we not have proper English taught in our schools?
and etc.
Two more:
1) GOOD, as in “How are you?” “Good”
2) GENDER (which is a grammatical term) instead of SEX, (which is a biological term)
yum(my)
fun — as an adjective — ‘a fun thing’
the word —– gourmand — (the ‘intended meaning’ — I think) gourmet.
A gourmand is a person who over-indulges in food and drink
However, south of the 49th parallel N. it seems there is no distinction.
“level playing field,” “I won’t go there,” “…of ALL time,” “Absolutely,” “tetah’terone (testosterone)”
“… had this to say…”
“linkages”
“more importantly”
“of course” broadcasters use this often as they take a breath. YUCK. What do they mean “of course?” Why is it presumed that the listener knows what they’re talking about?
Another phrase worthy of making the list:
coffee “clutch” instead of coffee “klatch.”
“flip-flop”
Brink’s (and all other non-possessives gussied up with apostrophes)
Another one to add to the list. “turned around and said” instead of “replied”.
More that make me want to scream. Mispronunciations – “pitcher” instead of “picture”; “shahs” instead of “showers”;
“pacific” instead of “specific” and here in Australia so many of our own citizens call it “Ostraya”.
Misuse of certain words such as mixing up “imply” and “infer” is certainly annoying but my most hated misuse is “amount” when the word should be “number”. As in – A large “amount” of people gathered instead of A large “number? of people gathered. Weren’t they ever taught that “amount” is only used when there are no individual items present in the collection being referenced. Susc as “A large number of marbles, clothes, cars, etc.”
as opposed to “A large amount of food, mashed potatoes, mud, etc.”
I so often hear supposedly educated people such as news anchors (who are supposed to be trained in diction, I believe) using “a” in place of “an” i.e. “a animal” or “the–pronounced ‘thuh’” i.e. “thuh other day”. This sounds so childish and ignorant. We learned in second grade to use “an” or “the–pronounced ‘thee’” in front of a word beginning with a vowel. How can a person who graduated from college not know this? It mystifies me.
One more annoying expression:
The grocery store sign that says, “Ten items or less” instead of “Ten items or fewer.”
Some of the worst, in my opinion:
Bodacious
Booty-licious, babe-a-licious, etc.
Boo-ya!
(merchandise) flying off the shelves
Advertising has spawned some very annoying–and nonsensical–terms like “free gift”; a gift by definition is something given without thought to remuneration; otherwise, it’s not a gift; also “up to and more” as in “up to 50% off and more”. If it goes “up to” that amount, that’s where it stops.
You know what really pisses me off?
Prescriptivism.
Two more to add:
“More or Less” and “Give or Take” …well, which is it? People need to pick one or the other.. and not give the option.
Decimate.
To decimate is not to totally kill or destroy some thing or group. It was a punishment meted out to a unit in the Legions. One in every ten men were chosen by lot and killed.
I hate the word “utilize”. Just say “use.”
“issue” or “challenge” for “problem”.
“address” for “solve”, “examine”, “study”, or …
babysit (as in “I’ve got to babysit my grandson.”)
“at the end of the day”
Often heard in the UK, “off of” as in He got off of the bus.
I do like english as spoken by an educated Lancastrian, who would pronounce every syllable and consonant.
Mispronouncing ‘lackadaisical’ as ‘laxadaisical’.
The word problem, being pronounced prowblem as in “low”. This is often heard in SA.
This lazy way of spelling words such as colo(u)r, hono(u)r, favo(u)rite etc.
The use of the word “bring” instead of “take”. The use of the word “historical” rather than “historic”. I cringe whenever I hear those words being used incorrectly.
The following verb “to gift” (as in “he gifted me this ring”) mystified me until recently.
First, I should tell you that I grew up without television, thus, I have no idea who “Seinfeld” is or what that program was about. I have since heard that “to gift” was coined on “Seinfeld.”
Is this true, and what do you think about this (in my opinion) abominable new verb?
Incidentally, I am a linguist. I fully accept descriptive grammar as the nature of language is that it constantly changes. Change is natural.
However, I admit that “to gift” truly “gags me with a spoon”. (Sorry).
‘Solutions’ (sandwich solutions, and so on…)
In the UK we often see ‘definately’.
Further vs. farther
Ensure, assure, insure
At the present time vs. now
“yummy”..I loathe this expression.
Peed (this word which used to be a no-no is now accepted and widely used by most even though it is uncomfortable to use in public)
Peed my pants (I peed in my pants)
MSDS sheets (Material Safety Data Sheets sheets)
No-one has listed “Asterix” as an irritating alternative to “asterisk”. Did no-one have the gaul?
hubby
thingy or thingie
just sayin’
‘puter
And I’ll leave you with this…
At the end of the day the bottom line is it is what it is.
Two that many people say, and now some national publications actually print as pronounced: gonna and wanna. Please make them stop!
IMPACT instead of ‘affect’- makes me think of a bad tooth, or an asteroid hitting the earth! Q: “How does this abuse of language IMPACT you?” A: “It ticks me off!” Thanks for this venue to vent.
’standing shoulder to shoulder’
‘I mean… Hello!’
‘if you will’
‘yada yada’
‘back to the future’
‘up close and personal’
’sexiest man in the world’
‘much vaunted’
‘let’s not go there’
’swish’, ‘ritzy’, etc
‘yummy mummy’ (UK only?)
‘bonking’ (UK only?)
‘man boobs’ (Australian only?)
I cringe when I hear someone mispronounce the word “forte” as “for-tay”. Its correct pronunciation is “fort”, which means “strength”. Eeeeek!!
I have just discovered your site and I love it. In UK for at least ten years now, the phrase “sort it out” traditionally referring to fixing a problem has been replaced by “sort it” and is now common usage in the street, and horror of horrors, schools and all media.
The verb to sort means to categorise, arrange etc and I take great pleasure in responding(when asked to “sort it”) with “I have listed each event culminating in this situation chronologicaly, but how can I sort it out?”
HaHa. Blank stares all around.
Noel
I’ve just read your “200 Words and Expressions …”. Can you say “pedantic”? One of the most beautiful things about the English language is its ability to create new expressions. Thank God we don’t have an academy lurking over our shoulders as the French and the Portuguese do (two other languages with which I’m familiar). Just because some supposedly educated Tom Dick or Harry says it, I ain’t gonna stop saying “ain’t”. It’s too useful a word, carrying with it the feeling of earthiness and earnestness that sometimes I wish to convey.
True, some of the words/expressions on the hate list are merely mistakes clearly made by people too ignorant of their own language. (I pity them; I don’t disparage them.) The remainder remind of me of those people who, in my youth, complained when we spoke of ‘kids’ as opposed to ‘other children’.
Do you always, when answering in the positive, say “Yes”? Never “Yeah”?
Yours from the Great White North,
Denny
Although I like some of the new silly expressions used, and I love that our language evolves, some expressions unnerve me. I often hear supposedly well-educated people say, “Send that over to Bill and I.” It grates on “my last nerve.” (A pet peeve of mine as well.)
Brilliant, meaning very good. Much overworked.
Cool. This is a very uncool expression, being about 50 years out of date. Sometimes it is not used for anything except punctuation like ‘like’.
Sucks: obscene and mindless
where I’m coming from
over-exagaterated
I work in a library, and I often hear people mispronounce the word as “liberry”. I don’t know whether this is a regional (Southern) trait or whether it occurs in other parts of the country also.
Since when February has become Febuary (used more and more, especially by Americans, but lately even on BBC);
Don’t lets instead of let’s not. I would really like some educated insight into this phrase.
Courtesy of my 19-year-old Australian step-daughter and her friends:-
Starting a comment with “No offence”, when the rest of it is certain to offend the target.
“Random” as in “He was just some random guy I met” or even, “Jen, you’re so random!” (Particle theory, anyone?)
“You guys”, when we’re not all men and “you” would suffice anyway.
“Noob!” Spelling unsure, but it rhymes with “boob” and is apparently something you don’t want to be.
“Pissed” when the speaker means “pissed off”. In Australia, “pissed” means – or used to mean – drunk.
“Hypochondriact”. Tee-hee! Mine to copyright if it’s not taken already. My step-daughter performs one of these each day.
And from ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ – Australia 2009, “Give it up for…!” meaning “please welcome” or “please applaud”.
Lastly, from ‘Judge Judy’, “roommate” when she means “flatmate” or “housemate”. For quite a while, I thought there wasn’t a single American who had his/her own room!
And from TV ads, “choc” as in “covered with delicious choc”. What happened to the “-olate”?
I won’t go on; I’m beginning to sound like a rigid, snarly schoolmarm. Am I? “The jury’s still out.”
I’m surprised no one cited, “Shovel Ready”, “Oh My God!” and “To be honest with you” and one last one that I can not abide, “Ginormous”.
Carol Lewis, covering a track meet on TV, redundantly refers to the runner in “lane number three” or “lane number eight.”
I cringe when “hamburg” is used instead of “hamburger” and when someone says “come with” without finishing the thought.
Something I hear all too often:
If he would have given me money, I could have had a nice lunch. Using the conditional tense where it doesn’t apply — it’s sloppy and it’s had a contagious effect on speech.
Surreal
I was surprised this hadn’t made it to the list. Perhaps it isn’t a problem in the U.S. but here in Australia, its overuse and misuse is ‘literally’ driving us nuts. It’s so surreal.
Likewise, ‘how ironic’ when wrongly used.
Triathalon (triathlon)
Burgular (burglar)
Heaps and zillions (for lots, many, much)
Perscription (incorrect pronounciation of prescription) – I don’t think I’ve heard anyone pronounce this properly… even doctors and pharmacists.
Medal when used as a verb in sport, “she hopes to medal”, “he medalled in the 1500 event”. I cringe every ‘ulympics’.
Good morning – in emails. What if I don’t receive or open it until p.m. my time? ‘Get over it!’ (Of course, you’ll have to ‘build a bridge’ first.)
‘Samedge’ for sandwich
This is so interesting to find out that there are other people who face terrible grammer every day. here in Afica, “as in” Nigeira, there are some words that would interest you.
someone is trying to make a point and can’t seem to get it out then he or she says “as in” just as i earlier did.
second on the list is “you know” as the begining of a statement, or “you know what i mean” when i dont have the slightest clue about the discussion.
check out someone narrating an event and says, “when we got there, she told us how she ran into her best friend and blah, blah, blah” now what does blah, blah, blah mean?
what about “that guy is set” when they mean that guy is handsome.
or they could say “that girl makes sense” when they mean the girl is beautiful.
do you want some more because i’ve got some other cool ones.
“seriously”, if i dont stop here, i could tell you everything “and so on and so forth”.
takia.
How about heart-rendering (or heart-wrenching) instead of heart-rending?
Another one that bugs me is the transitive use of the verb to grow as in “grow your business”.
Or there’s aggravate (to make worse) for irritate…
1. “that said” or “that being said” or “nuff said”
2. “girlfriend”
3. ” gag me”
4. “yuck”
5. “booty” or “booty-licious”
The winner: STFU!
When people say “fustrated” instead of “frustrated”.
Also, when they say “so fun” instead of “so MUCH fun”. As in: “That game was SO FUN.” Gag me.
And it’s “February” not “Febuary”.
I have friends who say and write prolly for probably.