Common sayings that we hate!

[Lachy]

Well, it is in Danish. It would never occur to me to spell it with only one "i".

Edit: I just looked it up. Since British English is with the two "i"s I'll keep on spelling it that way.

Only Americans spell it "aluminum", the rest of the world spell it "aluminium", so obviously the rest of the world must be wrong

[Artinum]

To me, "Hammie" is the name of a hamster.

I think the aluminium/aluminum thing is due to two different versions of the same word being used when it was discovered. America went one way, Europe went the other.

[WarriorAmy]

It's not a saying as such, but it irritates me endlessly when people refer to their babies as 'bubs'. Especially my own offspring. I'll shot back at people more than once when they've said 'and how is Bubs? going?'. My BABY is fine thank you, and also happens to have a real name.

I'm also irritated by platitudes.

[maegs]

Only Americans spell it "aluminum", the rest of the world spell it "aluminium", so obviously the rest of the world must be wrong

Canadians spell it "aluminum" (the American way), since we have a weird hybrid of American and British spelling going on (colour, tire, aluminum, neighbour..)

[LRB]

"God never gives you more than you can handle." -- people crack all the time

"When there's a will, there's a way." -- sometimes, no matter how much you WANT something, there's no way to get from here to there

"Everything works out for the best in the end." -- I call bullshit on this one. Sometimes we can make good things come out of a bad situation, but that doesn't mean it's worked out for the best.

"Life's not fair." -- Fair has nothing to do with it; random has everything to do with it.

I could go on, but I feel like I'm being a curmudgeon, and that's not my usual personality, so I think I should stop.

[drsloomis]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but...

"I could care less."

[Guest Gemeaux]

" pussy "

" moist "

" making love "

" like , like , omg like "

" the boyfriend "

" hubby "

[kombimankenny]

I used to work with a "literally..." girl, only she added this little clarifier for emphasis, "...no joke, literally" to statements that were clearly not literal.

"We went to the themepark and the line was like a mile long, literally, no joke ... literally."

[Vickyloo]

The two that really wind me up are:

It's not the end of the world Well, thanks for that. I really was worried for a moment then that the world was going to come crashing down around my ears because I spilt the milk on the kitchen floor. Phew, I'm so glad that we cleared that up. Grrrr!!

No offence but... You wouldn't need to clarify your statement with this opening if it wasn't offensive.

[Rosie]

No offence but... You wouldn't need to clarify your statement with this opening if it wasn't offensive.

Can also be applied for people who say "I'm not being racist/sexist but" and usually follow that statement by something either racist or sexist.

[Pup]

Wow, there are some really good examples in this thread already. Here is one that really bugs the hell out of me:

Men who say "We're pregnant!". I've got nothing against guys gushing with happiness over the prospect of entering fatherhood but damn, SHE is pregnant. You sir, can (hopefully) only take the credit for knocking her up.

[Rosie]

Pup that reminds me of people who say "We" when referring to their sports team. "We're playing in the Champions League final" no, that team down there on the pitch are playing in the Champions League final, you're just watching it!

[Bean]

Has anyone ever played Bullsh!t Bingo in the office environment. It makes meetings so much more fun and you actually listen out for those words or phrases that we all love to hate.

If you haven't - simple rules. Make a list of all the meaningless business speak words you are guaranteed to hear in the meeting. Hand out the list to the in-the-know participants. Cross off as you hear the phrase or word. First person to complete the list jumps up and says "That's bullsh!t!"

We have a fantastic word here in SA. "Eish!" It has endless meanings and you can use it in virtually any context.

For example:

Hard day at work? Eish.

That was an incredible workout. Eish!

My favourite use of it though is when you have had something fairly complicated being explained badly. You look the person square in the eyes and just say "Eish." He understands very clearly that he now needs to explain again.

[Komnenos]

Pup that reminds me of people who say "We" when referring to their sports team. "We're playing in the Champions League final" no, that team down there on the pitch are playing in the Champions League final, you're just watching it!

Yes! Couldn't agree more.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." - Because it's so blatantly false.

"I could care less." - Because it means nothing. "I couldn't care less" is absolutely fine, but I'm not having the other way.

[TheOtherScott]

I'm an ESL teacher, and basically every idiom has caused me headaches.

"Quite a few" and "cut the mustard" take the cake, though. However, "take the cake" is remarkably easy to explain, so I'm cool with that one.

[msuroo]

Men who say "We're pregnant!". I've got nothing against guys gushing with happiness over the prospect of entering fatherhood but damn, SHE is pregnant. You sir, can (hopefully) only take the credit for knocking her up.

We're expecting = ok. We're pregnant = not ok.

Pup that reminds me of people who say "We" when referring to their sports team. "We're playing in the Champions League final" no, that team down there on the pitch are playing in the Champions League final, you're just watching it!

This one doesn't bother me as much. What about the coach (or equipment manager, or waterboy, or whatever) - he doesn't actually take the field. Can he say we? What if you were a former college athlete - are you allowed to refer to the current team as we? What if you are just an general alumnus - lots of people identify very strongly with their alma mater (myself included), can they say we? If the answer to any of those is yes, then it's not a far stretch to referring to your favorite team as we.

[drsloomis]

So, just to clarify...you're not ok with the collective "we" with regards to being pregnant, but ok with it when it comes to increasingly associations with sports teams?

What about the coach (or equipment manager, or waterboy, or whatever) - he doesn't actually take the field. Can he say we?

Yes, because they are part of the team and have an explicit role in that team's function (part of the reason I don't have quite the same level of objection to the figurative use of "We're pregnant"...I'm not taking the field, but I certainly play a part in the process).

What if you were a former college athlete - are you allowed to refer to the current team as we?

Can I say, "We're expecting" about the pregnant checkout girl where I work just because I, too, was once a pregnant checkout girl?

What if you are just an general alumnus - lots of people identify very strongly with their alma mater (myself included), can they say we?

Can I say, "We're expecting" about the pregnant store manager of Kmart #5106 just because I used to work at Kmart, regardless of my pregnancy status, historical or otherwise? Lots of people identify strongly with their place of employment (I don't, but that's another matter altogether...and no I don't work at Kmart...not that there's anything wrong with that...).

No offense, I'm just trying to find the defining line. Ultimately, I could care less.

...off to take my chicken out of the aluminuminium foil for lunch...

[fsjjunkie]

"at the end of the day"

[maegs]

No offence but... You wouldn't need to clarify your statement with this opening if it wasn't offensive.

Can also be applied for people who say "I'm not being racist/sexist but" and usually follow that statement by something either racist or sexist.

Ugh, so much hate for those. If you feel the need to apply a disclaimer to whatever you're saying, you probably shouldn't say it!

[msuroo]

So, just to clarify...you're not ok with the collective "we" with regards to being pregnant, but ok with it when it comes to increasingly associations with sports teams?

Yeah, basically. Have you or your partner ever been pregnant? Are you a sports fan? Maybe it's because I've been in both of these spots that I feel the way I do about those particular usages of the word "we." When my wife was pregnant, she was bloated, sore, tired, and hungry, just to name a few. Trying to pass off my part in the process as "we're pregnant" is downright offensive.

Sports banter is different. If I am trash talking with a Michigan fan, "The Spartans are playing the Wolverines on October 20th and I hope they win" sounds ridiculous. Have you ever heard a sports fan talk that way? "We are gonna crush you on the 20th."

Edit to add: of course people identify strongly with their employer. And if you are/were a cashier at K-Mart, I would certainly not blink twice if you referred to the Company as we if the e-board made a decision that you played absolutely zero part in (ie, "when I worked at K-Mart we established the 'Super K' brand"). I'll leave the ridiculous pregnancy comparison alone.

[Wicked Pixie]

I work with a lot of suit & tie types, corporate blah blah blah,

I absolutely HATE it when someone tells me to "reach out to (insert person or company) and connect with (person at said company)"

Why can't you just say, contact them or call them or email them?

What I really want to respond with is "After I'm done with that, I'll reach out and connect my foot with your teeth!"

[The Tin Man]

What I really want to respond with is "After I'm done with that, I'll reach out and connect my foot with your teeth!"

After seeing a couple of your ninja videos I realize this is not an idle threat.

[Wicked Pixie]

After seeing a couple of your ninja videos I realize this is not an idle threat.

I once threatened to punch someone who has seen the same videos- he laughed (as I am NOT a puncher) ....I kicked him in the neck!

He passed out. I laughed. And so did all of his friends.

[WarriorAmy]

"God never gives you more than you can handle." -- people crack all the time

This one has gotten me through countless workouts and tough situations and even a drug-free labour. I never thought of it being one of 'those' sayings, but I can really see your point here.

[concretecavewoman]

Has anyone ever played Bullsh!t Bingo in the office environment. It makes meetings so much more fun and you actually listen out for those words or phrases that we all love to hate.

If you haven't - simple rules. Make a list of all the meaningless business speak words you are guaranteed to hear in the meeting. Hand out the list to the in-the-know participants. Cross off as you hear the phrase or word. First person to complete the list jumps up and says "That's bullsh!t!"

I just wanna level set the 30,000 foot view 'cause we should leverage our core compentencies to push value up the valuestream, but maybe we don't have the necessary bandwidth here and should take this offline. It'd be more Agile.