Annoying filler words and phrases! :(

[debodun]

Using "goes" instead of "said". e.g. I asked Bill if he wanted to go to the mall and he goes, "Whatever."

 

[Sunny]

I agree about "perfect" and "awesome."

Perfect usually means they are trying to sell you something. Awesome labels them as a teenager.

 

[gruntlabor]

... another filler phrase "in and of itself" that annoys me to no end!! OMG!!!

"In and of itself" or "per se" is useful when describing, say a gun for example, which is not evil in and of itself but may be a tool for evildoers.

 

[hollydolly]

Like...like ..like...!!!

drives me nuts....

She like, said that he was like.. going over to the like..river, and we like sat there like talking like about like.....

 

[dilettante]

"Follow the science!" which gets peppered into all sorts of specious arguments these days. It's the new "Praise glory!" verbal punctuation mark for proclamations made with apoplectic religious fervor.

 

[spookycat]

You know?

Lol!

This one used to get my grandfather really wound up. Athletes being interviewed on tv was a big example.
His expression was usually pronounced "My Gaawwwsh!" followed by further picking/expletives, etc.
I understood and even agreed but he was so turned off with that phrase "you know.."

 

[spookycat]

A coworker back in the early 90s had a phrase like that, at the end of whatever point she made she said "You know what I mean?... Y'know what I'm Sayin'? It was common, a trademark.

An older coworker finally said after that "No (her name), what ARE you saying?"

Lol. She stayed quiet a while afterwards, but the rest of our little work group were fighting back giggles.

 

[Rindee]

"To be honest", or "honestly",.....why bother saying that? Of course we want honesty lol!!

 

[Rindee]

A coworker back in the early 90s had a phrase like that, at the end of whatever point she made she said "You know what I mean?... Y'know what I'm Sayin'? It was common, a trademark.

An older coworker finally said after that "No (her name), what ARE you saying?"

Lol. She stayed quiet a while afterwards, but the rest of our little work group were fighting back giggles.

That's the way to stop that lol!!

 

[Rindee]

I've seen this one a lot too.."Let me be clear" Yep, it's quite clear once written or said lol!

 

[gruntlabor]

Many of the things we do or say or wear allow us to be better understood, not to say categorized, by an observer.

 

[January]

Many people have their own over used words or phrases- things you dont realise yo u are inserting into conversations as often as you are.

I dont find any of them annoying and I'm sure a transcript of my speech would show some I don't realise I over use too

The one phrase that baffles me is "at this point in time" - aka "now"

 

[January]

Better, "generally" or, "overall"

But that's the thing - language has a lot of words so sure, whichever ones somebody used t o express something could probably have been expressed using different ones.
Not better , just somebody else might use different ones t o say the same thing.

 

[seadoug]

This probably isn't a filler, but I noticed the phrase "I have an ask" pop up in the corporate world several years ago. My boss used to say "here is my ask". I used to cringe.

 

[gruntlabor]

"Reach out" as in communicate

 

[Rindee]

This probably isn't a filler, but I noticed the phrase "I have an ask" pop up in the corporate world several years ago. My boss used to say "here is my ask". I used to cringe.

I hereby declare that as an official filler phrase!

 

[Rindee]

"In and of itself" or "per se" is useful when describing, say a gun for example, which is not evil in and of itself but may be a tool for evildoers.

It's not a matter of it being useful, to me it's an annoying phrase, that is the topic of this thread lol!

 

[Magna-Carta]

Here's one that really annoys me..."by and large." The corporation, by and large, is corrupt." Why not just write "The corporation is corrupt"? LOL grrrr!!! I never heard "by and large" until recent years, now I hear it far too much, besides, what does it even mean LOL!

But arn't the statements, "by and large, is corrupt" & "The corporation is corrupt" two different things? "By and large" as in mostly but not entirely true. Whereas a statement such as "The corporation is corrupt" is a statement that leaves no room for doubt.

I wonder if "by and large" has some connection with a nautical phrase.

I would see, "By and large, I went to the store." as a useless filler and adds no value to the sentence. I don't see "the corporation, by and large, is corrupt", as being a filler.

UPDATE: the origin of the phrase, by and large, from the 1600's. A ship that sails both close BY the wind, and LARGE, downwind. Alternating between the two? Neither completely one or the other.

Should we deny our linguistic heritage?

 

[Lavinia]

'Well anyway' is another one, usually spoken when the conversation is dragging.

 

[Inept]

Annoying filler words and phrases! ​

You don't really want to know, do you? I could fill this page with them

1). Basically (and then going into a long and detailed or complicated explanation)

2). Irregardless

3). At that point/ At that point in time

4). In terms of

5). Momentarily (“He's coming momentarily.”)

6). Multiple (two/twice or more)

7). Literally (“I literally told her off.”)

8). Physically (“We physically visited him at his home.”)

9). Telephonically (contacting someone by phone)

10). Extreme/Far (extreme right/far left – but nothing in between)

11). Anti-Semite (someone who criticises Israel)

12). Apologist (someone who gives credit to someone else for any reason)

13). Narcissist

14). Racist (having to do with strictly black or non-white people)

15). Beautiful (“They have two beautiful children.”)

16). Marxist (anyone who thinks that minimum wage should be enough to survive on)

17). Like (Like you know like)

18). Homophobe (anyone who has no problem with homosexuality but doesn't think they should be allowed to adopt children)

19). So (starting every sentence with it)

20). Awsome

21). “Thank you for your service” (addressed to anyone who's been in the military)

 

[Inept]

Remember Maynard G. Krebs?

View attachment 390226

He was like the first dude I knew of that put the "like" out there in the common vernacular.

Cool, Daddy-O! It's time for me to split and make like a tree and leave!

 

[AprilSun]

"To be honest", or "honestly",.....why bother saying that? Of course we want honesty lol!!

I was watching a tv court show one day and the plaintiff said, "To be honest". The judge pops back at him "No, I want you to lie to me".

 

[gruntlabor]

It's not a matter of it being useful, to me it's an annoying phrase, that is the topic of this thread lol!

All cliches can be annoying (or distracting), but I think 'in and of itself' can be shortened to 'in itself' or substituted with 'per se'.
But where would we be without cliches? We can barely communicate now.
And *IF* we stop being annoyed with these trivial offenses, maybe we can begin to listen.

 

[Inept]

I was watching a tv court show one day and the plaintiff said, "To be honest". The judge pops back at him "No, I want you to lie to me".

The expression "to be honest" is generally an admission of guilt (full stop) or an admission of guilt with a plausible explanation or even possibly an excuse. I hope the judge was making a joke otherwise his reply was uncalled for.

 

[gruntlabor]

Cool, Daddy-O! It's time for me to split and make like a tree and leave!

... so, he's OFF like a dirty shirt, aaand Elvis has LEFT the building!

Note: We're also advised not to overuse the adjective 'very' so as not to be 'annoying'.