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Words or phrases that annoy you (even if you can't explain why) . . .
- Thread starter usagora
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Sorry, didn't make it clear. As in, "How was you guys's lunch?" (addressing multiple people). How about saying "How was your lunch?" I suppose "you guys'" is the proper way to write/say that.
Ooh Emm Gee is maximally cringe!! Oh my go-hod less so, but still not great. Oh my god/gosh fine by me.
I agree. I hear it often; and while I've gotten used to hearing it, I still cringe every time someone says "They are doing good."
I'm sure there are other ways I murder the English language, however.
Fluent American English speakers who continue to confuse they're, their, and there, and who spell "as well" in one word. Mildly annoying...
Only mildly huh? I am a bit less tolerant, especially dealing with emails and such ...
In common with @decafjava, I'm of the opinion that this goes far beyond "mildly annoying", instead, heading well into the territory of "truly irksome".
In that case, surely one must needs pen a letter to the Times...
The Times as was, perhaps, alas, not The Times as is.
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There was a phrase in the eighties that made me cringe whenever my girlfriend jokingly said it to me in rebuttal to whatever I said or did that she didn't approve of.
Oooh..."I'm gonna rip your lips off".
She always said it jokingly, but still.
It was a quite common phrase for about several years.
"Twenty lashes with a wet noodle" was slightly better, but not by much.
Oooh..."I'm gonna rip your lips off".
She always said it jokingly, but still.
It was a quite common phrase for about several years.
"Twenty lashes with a wet noodle" was slightly better, but not by much.
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If someone says they can’t wait to do something, do you say me too or me neither? Dunno why I’m overthinking this, and the answer is probably obvious.
There seems to be a new trend in Germany since a few years, that people are permanently saying "genau" (what means "exactly") in monologues.
Some say it just sometimes after they finished a sentence or before starting a new one, some almost after every sentence and/or before every sentence and even in the middle of a sentence or even in the middle of names and longer words.
This is so annoying for me. I recognized it maybe 3-4 years ago and it's everywhere and getting like an epidemic.
Austrians do this too.
The strange thing is, it could be anyone from a student to elderly people. Also in every dialect.
If you hear older stuff in the internet, like only 5-10 years ago you won't find it. I really don't know where this is coming from.
Some say it just sometimes after they finished a sentence or before starting a new one, some almost after every sentence and/or before every sentence and even in the middle of a sentence or even in the middle of names and longer words.
This is so annoying for me. I recognized it maybe 3-4 years ago and it's everywhere and getting like an epidemic.
Austrians do this too.
The strange thing is, it could be anyone from a student to elderly people. Also in every dialect.
If you hear older stuff in the internet, like only 5-10 years ago you won't find it. I really don't know where this is coming from.
"I can't wait" and "me neither" could be seen as a double negative, so I would go with "me too" - but not sure.
Sometimes people use "Again..." in their conversation. Two things then come to mind:
1- Why do you keep repeating yourself if you have nothing new to say instead ?
2- I heard you the first time, do you think I'm stupid or what ?
Definitely don't like to hear "Again" too often.
1- Why do you keep repeating yourself if you have nothing new to say instead ?
2- I heard you the first time, do you think I'm stupid or what ?
Definitely don't like to hear "Again" too often.
A colleague at my previous employer, who is German, would say this all the time on the phone and this was over a decade ago.
Often, I think, it's just filler. If you use it because you are re-emphasizing a point, and repeating that point, well, ok. Otherwise, say "uh" or "um".
Much of the annoyances mentioned in this thread are fillers IMHO.
However, sometimes I feel like they are used to tie phrases together for the sake of not getting interrupted.
If in agreement with this sentiment, I would simply say (or write) "likewise".
I hate cold weather! ... "Me too".
I don't like cold weather! ... "Me neither." Or "Me too". Or "same". Or "likewise". Or "haha yeah!".
Some Asian languages, especially Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese etc.) are very logical.
A literal translation (when they speak English):
"Don't you like cold weather?" ... "Yes".
I also know one YouTuber who did this already in 2017. But no one else. In 2020/21 it was suddenly everywhere. Feels like at least a quarter of the population is doing this now more or less. Independent from the region they live in. Only very old people don't do this. Maybe it startet at first in universities, were I had not much to do with. But now it's anyone from average house wife, young or decades older people, up to highly academic ones like Professors.
In Germany people often say "wie gesagt" (=as already mentioned) when they say something for the first time.