[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is annoying catchphrases. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.]
A couple of years ago, researchers at Oxford University compiled a list of the top ten most irritating expressions. Their list included overused office lingo, (24/7, synergy), grammatically incorrect constructions (“shouldn’t of”), and adverbs used out of context (literally, ironically).
While everything on their list is certainly irritating, few of the items rise to the level of truly annoying. Perhaps Americans have a particular facility with our shared language because we seem to have a special affinity for creating trite catchphrases. Here are my eleven candidates for most annoying sayings:
1. “I’m not a happy camper.”
If you say, “Oh, I say this all the time” then take a look in the mirror. Are your lips swollen? If not, then you have no real friends. A real friend is someone who cares enough about you to punch you in the mouth when you use this idiotic phrase.
When it’s okay to say this: When you are a ten-year-old away at Summer camp and a counselor asks you about your emotional state.
2. “Believe you me.”
If translated into Latin, or some other language where word order doesn’t matter, then this phrase might make sense. But outside of the King James Bible, the verb-subject-object doesn’t work for English. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is a way of saying, “It’s really so”—so why not just say “It’s really so.” That’s a much less annoying way to express yourself, believe you me.
When it’s okay to say this: When your name is Yoda.
3. “My bad.”
The way really annoying people say “mea culpa.”
When it’s okay to say this: When someone asks you, “Whose bad is that?” and the bad belongs to you.
4. “I feel you.”
Unless you are really feeling me, then this phrase is inaccurate. And if you are actually feeling me, then (a) I’m probably aware of it, and (b) I want you to please stop that.
When it’s okay to say this: When you are actually feeling me and I am unaware that you are doing so. (Again, really. Please stop that.)
5. “I am not going to lie to you.”
If you need to clarify that what you tell me next is not going to be a lie, then I’m going to wonder if everything you told me before this was a lie. So now that you’ve caused me to question your credibility, how do I know that you aren’t lying now when you say you’re not going to lie to me?
When it’s okay to say this: When someone directly ask you if you are going to lie to them and you have no intention of doing so.
6. “We’ve got company.”
Used in every action movie ever made.
When it’s okay to say this: When you are screenwriter who wants to ensure that your scene is included in clip compilations of trite movie phrases. (See also: Get out of there!)
7. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
What information could you possess that would require you to murder me? What’s that? You were being sarcastic? Oh. Well, my policy is that is if you use trite sarcasm I have to kill you. (An action considered a justifiable homicide in all fifty states.)
8. “Show me the money”, “I Don’t Think We Are In Kansas Anymore”, “Is that your final answer?” Other phrases that originated on TV or in the movies.
Oh, so you saw that show too? Imagine that.
When it’s okay to say this: When the phrase comes from a Monty Python movie. Those never get old. (“It’s just a little bunny. . .”)
8. “It’s not rocket science”/ “It’s not brain surgery”
Apparently, the most complicated procedure on earth is performing brain surgery on a rocket scientist.
When it’s okay to say this: When someone asks, “Is that rocket science”?/”Is that brain surgery?” and it isn’t.
9. “At the end of the day”
You mean . . . at night?
When it’s okay to say this: When you are referring to something that will actually happen at the end of the day.
10. “Best. ________. Ever.”
Worst. Meme. Ever.
When it’s okay to say this: Never. Ever. Ever.
What are other phrases that should be included on our list?
May 7th, 2010 | 9:35 am
“under the bus” is without a doubt the most annoying catchphrase of all time.
May 7th, 2010 | 9:49 am
It is what it is.
:(
May 7th, 2010 | 10:01 am
Does that make sense?
OK?
May 7th, 2010 | 10:01 am
Another vote for “It is what it is.”
May 7th, 2010 | 10:07 am
“I’d like to thank my personal Lord and Saviour”.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:11 am
That’s what she said.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:18 am
And I must plead an exemption for “Believe you me.” Historically, English is a language that can bear the occasional departures from mundane subject-verb-object syntax, and is the more comely and flexible for it. It’s a shame we’ve lost so many inflections since King Alfred’s time, and are less able to refine our meanings and enrich our speech by a strategic shift in word order–do spare a fellow the occasional “Believe you me.”
May 7th, 2010 | 10:29 am
“Been there, done that”.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:37 am
“What part of —– do you not understand?”
“We get it,” and “They just don’t get it.”
May 7th, 2010 | 10:38 am
I’ve heard similar rants on facebook. I understand what you’re saying in some sense, but I don’t get what’s really wrong about such phrases. People understand what you mean. The communication is effective. Could someone link me to a good explanation of why using “incorrect” phrases is so wrong? Or is it just more of a personal pet peeve?
May 7th, 2010 | 10:45 am
” I’m good. ” and “I I’m good with that.”
Because, even when I am quite well, I am seldom good.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:48 am
It’s a game changer.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:54 am
A corollary to #5:
“To be honest with you…”
And to Ben Anderson:
They are pet peeves…”get over it.”
May 7th, 2010 | 10:54 am
“Don’t go there.” Usually used to end an unwanted conversation.
I actually heard someone say this–out loud–during a sermon–to the minister speaking: “Don’t go there.” To his credit, the minister said, “Sorry, but I think we WILL go there for a while.”
May 7th, 2010 | 10:55 am
By the way, on “I feel you”: if you are a Spanish speaker, “lo siento” is fine.
May 7th, 2010 | 11:01 am
I don’t know how common this is, but I find myself surrounded by people who say “to be perfectly honest” about every other sentence. It’s become a tic.
May 7th, 2010 | 11:15 am
Call out.
Controversial (as applied to everything from politicians to serial killers).
Exclusivist (used to shame those judged less inclusive than oneself).
Fundamentalist (always meaning “To the right of me”).
I am spiritual but not religious.
Move forward.
No problem (instead of “You’re welcome”).
Product (in all uses other than references to plastic objects).
Prophetic.
Thank you for having me.
May 7th, 2010 | 11:18 am
To be perfectly frank . . .
Singing from the same page in the hymn book
Shedding more heat than light
The Chinese have an old curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
The Japanese have one word for both crisis and opportunity.
We cool?
(And another vote for It is what it is.)
May 7th, 2010 | 11:24 am
“Ummm, no.”
There are many more that I am forcibly repressing at the moment and do not intend to risk damage to recall.
May 7th, 2010 | 11:29 am
At a restaurant, the waiter or waitress asks, “Are you done working on it?”
May 7th, 2010 | 11:36 am
It’s not a zero-sum game.
It’s not a zero-sum proposition.
Is anything ever a zero-sum game?
The X-qua-X construction: “In terms of performativity qua performativity.
Let me be clear. (From now on that imperative sentence will never work, irregardless of whether one proceeds in clarity or obfuscation.)
Show me the love.
Why you hatin’?
Putting. Periods. Between. Words. (so “oughties” — Joe’s #10 caught this but it’s not just bad when it’s the Best.Thing.Ever.)
“interdisciplinary” and “globalized world” (in academia)
“It’s academic.” (in sports reporting)
May 7th, 2010 | 11:38 am
“…wake up call.”
May 7th, 2010 | 11:40 am
Amen on the “I am spiritual but not religious.” So annoying. What does that even mean? “I believe in higher powers, I’m just not one of those unenlightened people that goes to church.”
May 7th, 2010 | 11:45 am
How about “Not for nothin”?
And, when somebody returns a “Thank you” with another “Thank you,” instead of saying “You are welcome”
May 7th, 2010 | 11:58 am
“I’m SO not __________”
“It’s a relationship, not a religion.”
“What up?”
“Isn’t God good?!”
“Woohoo!”
May 7th, 2010 | 12:06 pm
Raise the bar.
May 7th, 2010 | 12:10 pm
“I’m just sayin…”
May 7th, 2010 | 12:16 pm
LOL — and any other texting shorthand that is spoken verbally. It’s bad enough in text.
Also, in response to the idea that people readily understand what these phrases mean … *It is what it is?* Is it? Perhaps it depends on what your definition of “is” is? This phrase can mean anything from “It’s self explanatory” to “There’s nothing we can do about it” to “Please shut up”…
Well done with regard to 3, 4 and 5.
May 7th, 2010 | 12:23 pm
“I’m just saying.”
What does this mean? I can tell that you are talking; is there some other information you are trying to convey?
May 7th, 2010 | 12:31 pm
“Wrap my (or your) head around it”
“REALLY _______!” (precedes adjectives – adverbs, to “punch ‘em up” – ad nauseam)
“Lord, we JUST ___________” (while praying extemporaneously – maybe only Protestants do this…)
“…..just sayin’”
“You had me at ___________.”
Now to confess; have used most of these – if they slid into the conversation, seemed clever, or were funny.
May 7th, 2010 | 12:36 pm
I’m b-a-c-k!
And I’m so over things being the “new black.”
Outta here!
May 7th, 2010 | 12:52 pm
Overuse and constant interjection of the word “actually” for no apparent reason, as in ” I am actually going to the store now.”
Another annoying waitress phrase,”Can I get that out of your way?” One friend’s response is “It’s not in my way.”
(Rusty Lopez, I love your list.)
May 7th, 2010 | 12:55 pm
re: being “thrown under the bus”…
I have become so immune to that phrase that my initial and perhaps several subsequent reactions to the headline that the head of Chicago’s Metra transit agency threw himself in front of a train struck me as merely a clever twist on the old bus saw. Tragically, it was not.
May 7th, 2010 | 1:37 pm
“I’ll reach out to ..” – well, how ’bout you just talk to him?
May 7th, 2010 | 1:52 pm
Make no mistake, …
May 7th, 2010 | 2:41 pm
Irregardless
To all of the above: Get a life!
May 7th, 2010 | 3:12 pm
These are bad. Makes me want to use Axe Cop’s catchphrase:
“I will chop your head off!”
May 7th, 2010 | 3:16 pm
“Amen on the “I am spiritual but not religious.” So annoying. What does that even mean? “I believe in higher powers, I’m just not one of those unenlightened people that goes to church.””
Dear Amanda: In my experience, “I am spiritual but not religious” doesn’t usually mean “I believe in higher powers.” It means something like “I’m an atheist but I’m more like Jesus than you are” or maybe “I watch a lot of public television” or sometimes even “I eat high-fiber cereal every morning.”
And it ALWAYS means “I think I’m a good person” and “People who talk about sin are bad people.”
May 7th, 2010 | 3:27 pm
I am humbled to ….
(when typically the speaker means the opposite. No one is humbled by winning a Nobel Prize, he or she is exalted and glorified by winning. Most of us are humbled by our failures — not by having praised heaped upon us.
(And another vote for ‘It is what it is’, though the construction always reminded me of ‘I am who am.’)
May 7th, 2010 | 4:09 pm
Take it to the next level.
May 7th, 2010 | 6:13 pm
Best use of Brain Surgeon:
May 7th, 2010 | 6:56 pm
Years ago I worked with a lot of lawyers, and I heard the phrase “quite frankly . . . ” about a thousand times. Most annoying to me, though, is a waitress who asks “Are you guys ready to order?” “You guys”?
May 7th, 2010 | 7:45 pm
Wait staff: “Do you want to keep working on that?”
May 7th, 2010 | 8:56 pm
Words that do not take their own advice: “Think outside of the box.”
It’s like Barney the Dinosaur telling children to use their imaginations. Doctor heal thyself!
May 7th, 2010 | 10:38 pm
“…bless them,” the phrase gossips and complainers use to justify verbally knifing neighbors in the back. Bless them.
I also don’t like it when people use public prayer as a bully pulpit from which to lectures others.
I don’t mind most of the above catchphrases–I homeschool lots of little kids, I’m just grateful whenever somebody’s verbal, for pity’s sake–but I do hate it when people affect accents.
For instance: When Utah natives, aware of how painfully nasal their A’s are, pronounce words like “aunt” with an big pretentious aaaaaahhhhhh sound.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:42 pm
“from the get-go”
May 8th, 2010 | 10:46 am
“I am spiritual but not religious.”
Agreed. But add this:
“I’m not a conservative Catholic, but an orthodox one.”
Or some variation on this meme.
May 8th, 2010 | 11:20 am
Latest annoying phrase:
“I know…right?”
May 8th, 2010 | 11:28 am
“When all is said and done.”
May 8th, 2010 | 11:32 am
“The bottom line is _________.”
May 8th, 2010 | 12:54 pm
“We want to maintain transparency in all our decision making.” Or the use of any form of the word “transparent” when describing business or governmental action.
This phrase, of course, means there is no intention of letting us know what is really going on.
May 8th, 2010 | 1:59 pm
And one more wretched phrase:
“_________ sucks.” Please, unless we’re discussing babies, vacuum cleaners and few other situations, let’s find a better phrase.
May 8th, 2010 | 2:53 pm
Having reread I have to admit, I have used all of these. Some I use frequently. Remind me to never, ever speak on the phone with any of you. :)
May 8th, 2010 | 2:53 pm
Wait, are emoticons catchphrases? Ah, well.
May 8th, 2010 | 8:15 pm
ANY use of the vulgarism “get”.
May 9th, 2010 | 4:00 pm
A comedian once remarked about why no one should say, “It’s not brain surgery.” That implies it’s OK to mess up brain surgery. “You cut the wrong nerve.” “I know, it’s brain surgery!”
May 9th, 2010 | 4:14 pm
This is not precisely the same topic, but something must be done about the misuse of the word ” incredible ” assumed to mean ” good ”. ” He will make an incredible witness. ” He gave an incredible preformance of Hamlet. ” etc One of the best preachers I know lapses into heresy because of labling persons and matters ” incredible ”.
May 10th, 2010 | 12:21 am
Some catchphrases have gone out of style, though. For instance, one of my favorites from old Westerns. Two grizzled extras sitting around a campfire in Injun country. One says to the other, “Sure is quiet.” And the other says, “Yeah. Too quiet.” Three seconds later one of them gets hit by an arrow.
I can remember a time when this line occurred in one out of every three Westerns. And back then, about one out of every three movies was a Western. So I heard it a lot. Got sick of it. But still would always enjoy it. It always meant some cowpoke was about to get his.
May 10th, 2010 | 10:52 am
I must first admit guilt for some of the irritating phrases listed above.
Here in Nigeria there is the problem of mixing local phrases with the official lingua franca (English) and the unofficial lingua franca (pidgin english). Many of the more irritating ones are popularized by the local hip-hop stars including:
‘Guy show’ (Please come. Used especially on the phone)
Swagger, Swaggerized, Swag, ‘turning my swag on’ (there’s a popular song here with the lyric: ‘I know you can see swagger oozing from my body’
‘No long thing’ (It not a complex issue, there is no problem)
‘That guy is bad’ (the fellow is good)
May 10th, 2010 | 12:17 pm
“I can’t tell you” (ha! so how is it that I AM telling you??) how refreshing this page is to me. I was just doing a Google search of my pet peeve phrase “I’m so humbled by this” (which I just heard on the radio AGAIN) to see if I’m the only person who is bothered by this obvious wrong usage. Thankfully I have some friends out there. I’m so relieved!
May 10th, 2010 | 5:06 pm
Their list included overused office lingo, (24/7, synergy), grammatically incorrect constructions (“shouldn’t of”),
5. “I am not going to lie to you.”
When someone directly ask you if you are going to lie to them and you have no intention of doing so.
someone….them: Using a plural pronoun with a singular antecedent is the most annoying of all. Either make both singular or both plural.
May 11th, 2010 | 9:57 am
“To no end” (instead of “no end”, which is usually what is meant), and “That’s YOUR reality”…
May 11th, 2010 | 4:29 pm
Not so much…
May 11th, 2010 | 8:12 pm
“It’s all good.”
May 12th, 2010 | 12:40 pm
Blah Blah Blah Blah…………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….NERDS!!!!!
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