Have you ever played Bull Sh*t Bingo during a work meeting? You and a few trusted colleagues each have a game card filled with eye-rolling jargon like “synergy” or “leverage.” Every time someone at the meeting utters one of the B.S. words, you mark it off until the first one to complete a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins. (The winner is supposed to stand up and shout “B.S.”, but I have yet to see that happen.)
Fans of B.S. Bingo may want to consult the latest top-10 list for inspiration: The Top 10 Most Irritating Phrases. The phrases most likely to set your teeth on edge include …
1 – At the end of the day
2 – Fairly unique
3 – I personally
4 – At this moment in time
5 – With all due respect
6 – Absolutely
7 – It’s a nightmare
8 – Shouldn’t of
9 – 24/7
10 – It’s not rocket science
Since I have been known to commit a few of these verbal offenses, I will let someone else cast the first stone. Instead, I grimace when people constantly raise their voice at the end of a sentence, causing each declaration to sound like a question. It’s a teeny bopper manner of speaking reminiscent of the Valley Girl era, but is SO annoying when coming out of the mouths of people who should know better.
What are your verbal pet peeves?
11-20-2008 12:58:29
My current favorite is ‘thinking outside the box’, which has become so trite, I think it should be removed from the lexicon.
11-20-2008 12:59:04
One favorite no-no I still recall from journalism school is “general consensus.” And I still remember being scolded for using the transitional phrase, “To be honest,” since it implies that the rest of what I wrote wasn’t truthful
I do like transitional phrases, though. It’s tough to come up with fresh transitions between paragraphs, which is why so many of us rely on cliches and catchphrases.
11-20-2008 23:04:33
At this moment in time, I personally and absolutely feel compelled to comment on this blog. Although I’m going 24/7 – and have no time to spare, it shouldn’t be rocket science. However hard I try to come up with something fairly unique, it’s a total nightmare. With all due respect, the words and phrases you site in your blog are my power words, and at the end of the day, corporate America has schooled me in the power of cliche.
You know what? You just shouldn’t have tempted me.
11-23-2008 08:45:59
Thinking outside the box grates on me, too. I always wonder who comes up with these phrases ….
Cliche is not reserved for corporate America. In the public sector, two buzz words are “transformation” and “collaboration.” I always try to catch myself before uttering either one.
I do appreciate a good transitional phrase in when I’m reading someone else’s writing, though. Somehow cliches SOUND worse than they read.
11-24-2008 11:31:32
I like Cindy’s above–”general consensus”, which is redundantly redundant, and “to be honest”, which, along with “with all due respect”, and “no offense, but” should be shot.
Also, Anne–rofl!
Which brings up another subject–how about all the abbreviations people use in emails and online, lol!
11-24-2008 13:30:57
How about “lone gunman” (as opposed to what?) or “pre-register” (which I remember writing about when I was a calendar editor of a local weekly newspaper and saw pre-registration notices over and over again).
Also, I really dislike the filler phrase “The fact of the matter is….”
11-25-2008 20:34:45
I feel compelled to explain why I chose a furry purple character to accompany this post. He’s “Grimace,” a McDonaldland character. According to Wikipedia, “Grimace is a large, purple anthropomorphic being of the “wumpus” species with short arms and legs.”
The fact of the matter is … Grimace was my little visual pun for the day (OK, maybe very little).