Annoying phrases.

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

Interesting thread - I forget now whether or not I have contributed, but here is one that is more strange an hard to explain than actually annoying.

Why do people when replying or commenting, so often they will preface their reply by saying "Yes--No" followed by their reply !?

Is there any logic at all behind it, or is it maybe just some nervous response that just gets blurted out out automatically whilst we collect our thoughts and decide how to reply?.

I'm probably guilty of doing it myself, but I try not to do so!


Brian

It must be a north of the border thing. I've don't recall hearing someone do that. I'm betting it would annoy me if I did.

Ken

[Wazbro]

30% chance of rain

Why do weather forecasters pretend it means 70-80% chance it will rain?
In English it should mean 70% chance it wont rain.

[Wayne&Sam]

I'm annoyed by incomplete sentences.

"Annoying phrases."

You would have been OK if you left off the period!

I don't use emoticons, but insert one here, so you know I'm joking.

[Protagonist]

"…6:00 a.m. in the morning…"

Has there even been a 6:00 a.m. in the evening? This one never used to bother me too much, until I heard a WWL-TV newscaster say it on-air.

[colberjs]

De-thaw

[Protagonist]

"Hot water heater"

You don't need to heat hot water. It's just a water heater.

[Goal15]

Originally Posted by colberjs

The "bumper-to-bumper" warranty I purchased when I bought my truck does not cover the bumpers or a bajillion other parts on the truck.


And the other day I was told by the store I bought my "waterproof" work boots at and also the manufacturer (Rocky) that waterproof does not mean you can stand in water.

Then they better change their marketing to "water-resistent" down to one inch lol

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

"Hot water heater"

You don't need to heat hot water. It's just a water heater.

I have a cold water heater and it uses propane, so it is not very efficient; I haven't been able to find one of those hot water heaters that uses no fuel.

Annoyances:

"if I offended anyone".

Not using apostrophes.

A company asking for all sorts of personal information "for my protection".

Saying some "spoke untruthfully" or similar ways of avoiding saying "you are a liar".

Gene

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi,

Unleaded gas.

Unleaded regular.

Unleaded mid-grade.

Unleaded Premium.

Why do they have to add the Unleaded part? I haven't been able to buy leaded gas for about 30 years. It's all unleaded.

"My Diesel gets great GAS mileage."

[Dan and Liz]

Not a phrase either, but:

Who convinced radio advertisers that it's smart to have an aimless, repetitive and not especially musical riff as background to the babbling?

Does the gummint really require the 90-words-per-second disclaimer that gets blabbed at the end of every car commercial? Or did some lawyer get paid a mint to recommend it as defense against idiots?

[Crusty]

This thread has been fun ... Don't that just rip the rag off the bush.

[Wazbro]

"Head over heels"

Isn't that the normal way most people stand?

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by w7ts

It must be a north of the border thing. I've don't recall hearing someone do that. I'm betting it would annoy me if I did.

Ken

Well, actually, the last person I heard say it was Anderson Cooper about two nights ago on tv!

You have to be quick to hear it, it goes by in a split second at teh start of someone's answer in a converstation!

I have UK friends who do it too so it must be a universal thing!

Brian.

[colberjs]

Not tonight. I have a headache.

[zeke07]

Financial speak, "the net net is"...............Huh????

[jm2]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

30% chance of rain

Why do weather forecasters pretend it means 70-80% chance it will rain?
In English it should mean 70% chance it wont rain.

who cares about the "chance" of rain!

it's the "chance of how much rain", and in what period of time that really means anything!

I worked in Washington, DC, for a time; we used to say that God invented Weatherman to make the Economists look good....

best,

[Aluminaughty]

"Let me start off by saying.........."

[Gene]

Use of the conditional tense inappropriately—"I would say…". You are going to say it anyway, so why put a condition on it? What is the condition that you are not telling me? Is it "I would say something if you let me"? If so, the answer is no!

This is similar to one of Wolf Blitzer's favorites—ending a statement with "if you will". I guess it is short for "if you will let me say whatever it is". What if I won't? How will you take it back? Does this mean you lack confidence about what you just said? Keep it to yourself if you don't believe it, Wolf.

Speaking of CNN, they like to introduce another reporter by saying "our Wolf Blitzer". Is he an indentured servant? Do they think that sets CNN apart from other because they own their reporters? Fortunately, they don't do this as much as they used to.

I suppose a thread about annoying phrases could lead to one about annoying people, for ex., people who pick apart everything anyone says.

Gene

[SilverGate]

Yikes... we'd be "throwing caution to the wind" if we "continued down that road"... and "that's the skinny on that"!

[Gene]

"To coin a phrase" which means to use a previously coined phrase. Cheap irony.

Gene