General Chat

Thanks Gwynne thats what I was trying to think of when i posted my reply, I hate parents calling their children mate. Davex

I cringe when I hear 'enjoy' or 'bless' etc Anne

Just thought of another one I hate. It is when you are on hold on the phone and this voice suddenly says 'we do value your custom' Dee xx

I hate hearing people calling each other Mush. Jill xx

'By and large' - What DOES it mean? 'Absolutely!' - What they mean is 'Yes'. Americanisation of English words, when we already have perfectly good words that mean the same thing - e g 'competency' - the word is 'competence' however, I don't object to 'hospitalised', as it's easier to say than 'being admitted to hospital'. CB >|<

Whenever I hear my boss say goodbye at the end of each day - he leaves before we do but gets in earlier, however instead of just saying cheerio, he has to say Manjana (sp?). I'm not sure if this is Spanish or Italian but it is annoying and even more so when he has stick 'guys' at the end of it, as in 'you guys'. I'm distinctly anti-business speak as well and cringe whenever I hear these old cliche ridden expressions being used: 'Let's chalk and talk' (means let's have a conversation whilst someone writes ideas on a white board) 'I want you to chomp at the bit on this one' (who am I, Red Rum?) 'displays a can-do attitude' (hmmm...) 'must be able to hit the ground running' (how about must be able to hit the boss running) 'Action points' (what's wrong with just plain old points) 'we must be seen to be pro-active, not re-active' 'we need a win-win situation' 'we've got to think outside the box'

Basically at the end of the day. Which day? Pat

Pat, ah yes, I hadn't forgotten about that one. Prizes should be awarded for how many bullsh*t expressions can be used all at once. Basically, at the end of the day, we have to be seen to be, by and large, pro-active not re-active. :-S Arghhh!

Butt - bum is a much nicer word co-worker - whatever happened to colleague (harder to spell I suppose!) American spellings in England - Plumbcenter, Ariel Color etc. Insults like Dork, Geek, Nerd etc Invented words, mainly on cosmetic adverts. Ingredient lists, again on cosmetics. Years ago they used to put 'Water', then it became 'aqua' (presumably they thought the general public was too dim to realise what that was) and now they put 'Aqua (water)' !!! Julie

'It looks like' instead of 'It looks as if, or it looks as though.' 'Let's face it.' 'Cheers' instead of 'Thank you.' 'Yeah' or 'Yep' instead of 'Yes.' (I'm probably guilty of the former.) A French girl once said to us 'In English lessons, we are taught to say 'Yes', but the English never say 'yes'. 'Having said that.' Meaning 'Forget what I just said, I'm now going to tell you something different.' 'I speak advisedly of course.' What does that mean? I knew an old solicitor who said that often. Americans who email me saying they have 'gotten' something. There is a perfectly adequate verb 'got.' David

at the end of the day, its like an at the end of the day

At the end of the day. blah, blah, blah. My friend says that all the time and it bugs me! Darlin' and Sweetheart. I hear this so much at work. I am NOT your Darlin' and certainly NOT your sweetheart!!!! Bairn. I wont even get into that one. Gem:)))

I would of................... instead of I would have. :-) Joy

Being called 'Bab' although I know it is a local thing. 'Can you borrow me....' On the news when they say 'Ordinary people'!!!!!!! Jacky

Mine are things like: ''would you like the green one or.......'' Finish the sentence people!! What are my other options? ''then he turned around and did so-and-so....'' I didn't see him turn around. Did he actually turn around?

i used to work with a lady who insisted on telling children they were not pronouncing things 'Prop-ly' . How often did i want to say propErly!

'Exactly' is my pet peeve.Everytime you say something and they agree. it's' Exactly' 'Exactly' Drives me crazy. 'Exactly' Neil

If you buy something - you bought it not brought it.

You know ............... when the other person doesn't!

This is an oft-quoted one as well - 'do you know what I mean?' It's when people seemingly use it at the end of every sentence and then narrow their eyes slightly and quizzically look at you as if you're the stupid one, not them.