A top ten of irritating phrases has been compiled by researchers at Oxford University. According to an article by Telegraph.co.UK (Charlotte Bailey), heading the list was the expression 'at the end of the day', which was followed in second place by the phrase 'fairly unique'. The tautological statement 'I personally' made third place.
Hmm. T-A-U-T-O-L-O-G-I-C-A-L. I don't even know what that word means, and for pleasure and entertainment I read The American Heritage Dictionary Second College Edition. I mean, you know, I don't know the meaning of the word. Like, what's it mean? Let's look it up sometime.
Ironically, the article also mentioned the irritating buggers 'literally' and 'ironically', when used out of context. Yeah, they literally bug me, too.
And I hear them being used incorrectly 24/7. I personally find their use, with all due respect to those who use them, absolutely a nightmare because they shouldn’t of said it. The use of proper grammar is fairly unique, but it’s not rocket science. But, I’ll just bet that the same “research” in the U.S. would offer up a completely different list. I think I will add this research task to my Things to Do. So, with all that said here are Oxford U’s Top Ten, at this moment in time. Ahem.
The Top Ten, as chosen by our long-toothed brethren:
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
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