Expressions you find irrationally irritating!

[Just Older]

"Whatever floats your boat"

I first heard that 20 years ago in college when the teacher asked someone if they preferred their full name or short form. It irked me then, and still does.

 

[sneezeguy468]

When Brits say "Maths." I don't know why it just sounds so cumbersome and wrong. haha just say Math! 

[Joal 555]

When Americans say "Math". I don't know why, it just sounds so incomplete and wrong, haha just say Maths!

[Joal 555]

Apologies to anyone that says this, but the word "yummy" always makes me cringe in all circumstances.

 

[Mr Sneezy]

" I know right!"

"Moving forward".

[Mimaneneko]

"On god" and "low-key" really grinds my gears for some reason and yet I'm a massive hypocrite because I end up using them pretty often 😅

[Demon327]

Getting "a coffee" bugs the heck out of me.  Getting a "what" of coffee?  A cup, a carafe, a beer stein sized mug?

 

Apologies to all the coffee drinkers.  Old guy is now going to get a Moon Pie and a can of RC Cola

[SleepingPhlox]

5 hours ago, Demon327 said:

Getting "a coffee" bugs the heck out of me.  Getting a "what" of coffee?  A cup, a carafe, a beer stein sized mug?

 

Apologies to all the coffee drinkers.  Old guy is now going to get a Moon Pie and a can of RC Cola

You win the award for the most unique pet peeve here.  I have never heard of anyone being annoyed by that. 

People are going to definitely hate me for this but I hate people quoting certain commercials, "Thank Crunchie it's Friday" and "Simples" especially.  (IYKYK) The former because the people that quote it have to say it EVERY damn Friday.  And the latter because...I'm just gonna say it...those meerkat things were never cute.

I am a massive hypocrite because I love quoting US commercials I grew up with that nobody gets, or maybe I'm just jealous that everyone understands the constant Crunchie references but understand none of my extremely witty and clever references to something nobody here has ever seen, leaving my comedic genius super unappreciated. 

[Melody]

I hate the slang beef. like stop it.

[mypanicismanic]

I would like to add for consideration: 
"Oh thank god, a person!" when you get off of hold. 
It's a customer service line. Of course you got a person. That's my JOB. 

[Melody]

If one more American person tells me to “pop off” I’m gonna pop off ☠️

[bingochamp7]

I don’t like ‘go off’ for some reason.

Also, ‘break a leg’ is up there for phrases I dislike.

Edited December 14, 2022 by bingochamp7

[SleepingPhlox]

I have an IRRATIONAL amount of annoyance at people saying things like "the bird website" or "the clock app" instead of just saying Twitter or TikTok.  I used to get seriously annoyed when people would type things like "sEGGsy" instead of "sexy" and think "Just grow up and write the damn word properly!" but after I learned it was because some sites are ridiculously puritanical about censorship I kind of get it...but if you write something like "Follow me on the bird website" with a link to Twitter that has the word Twitter in it by virtue of being a link TO TWITTER, what are you censoring, exactly?  As near as I can figure, it might be to express hatred for an app or website, and somehow that just annoys me even more. 

If you are someone who does this, I fully acknowledge this is my issue and whether or not I hate a phrase is completely irrelevant to the world at large.  But if there is a reason for this like the sEGGsy censorship example, please enlighten me!

[cameronsneeze]

The cats out of the bag. 

[mordaciousghost]

Any and all "thought terminating cliches." I've always hated them but I actually just recently learned that there was a term for them. I recommend looking it up because it was very interesting. I would link the Wikipedia page but I'm not sure if links are allowed. 

A few examples include, "It is what it is." "Easy come, easy go." and "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

[mordaciousghost]

1 minute ago, mordaciousghost said:

Any and all "thought terminating cliches." I've always hated them but I actually just recently learned that there was a term for them. I recommend looking it up because it was very interesting. I would link the Wikipedia page but I'm not sure if links are allowed. 

A few examples include, "It is what it is." "Easy come, easy go." and "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Oh, and also prescriptivism. Language is constantly evolving, and it evolves through usage. Which is why "ain't" is in the dictionary despite all the folks claiming that it "ain't a word," and also why we aren't still speaking Ye Olde Englishe- or grunts and hand gestures, if you want to go all the way back. Language is constantly evolving and changing.

When I was a teen, I used certain slang terms which differed from the ones my parents were familiar with. Nowadays, teens are using slang which is different from what *I* was accustomed to. So even if it sounds a little silly to me, I try to remember how I probably sounded a little silly to my parents and grandparents. And even though I don't choose to use some of it, it's always fun to learn and watch the language evolve. 

Linguists tend to take a descriptive approach to studying languages, which means they study a language based on how people use it, as opposed to a prescriptive approach which is based on grammatical rules and traditional norms. 

Sorry for the infodump, this is something I've been studying and it's fascinating to me. If anyone has anything to add, or differing opinions, I'd love to hear about it.

[resolution]

 

 

Well, "Mathematics" is a word that ends with an "s" but which is "construed as singular". So it doesn't need the " s" to convey plurality.

And if you're going to abbreviate a word, why would you start with the first four letters and then jump to the end of the word and add the last letter.   

We abbreviate "economics" as "econ"  not "econs" for example.

Edited May 10, 2023 by resolution

[Femilloween77]

I don't know if there's an English equivalent to it, but in French there's a saying that goes "Une de perdue, dix de retrouvées", which roughly translates to "if you've lost someone, be sure you'll find ten others just like them". People usually say that when a couple breaks up to encourage ex partners to move on. Yet I must admit I've never quite understood how that was supposed to bring consolation in any way! It irks me to no end.