Ask Lemmy

'could care less' instead of "couldn't". I know it's just a regional / generational difference, I don't really care about being a prescriptivist or that my way is more "logical". Phrases and idioms can be stupid and counterintuitive. But that's said, it bugs the living hell out of me, and I instantly think anyone using it is an ignorant dumbass.

I literally dislike it whenever anyone uses the word literally when they clearly mean figuratively.

Its just extra syllables to lie to me.

"It is what it is". This cliche is symptomatic of learned helplessness and only serves to protect the status quo against any sort critical analysis and reform.

Any turn of phrase which is stated incorrectly. Eg.

• case and point
• doggie dog world
• at your beckon call
• they're on tender hooks
• should tie you over
• it's a mute point

"Let's agree to disagree"

This solves nothing, it just equates to a polite way of saying I'm done talking to you.

"It's just common sense." No, it's usually either an inference you made based on incorrect information, or it's information you gleaned from your particular environment that not everyone has experienced.

I get unreasonably enraged at "am I the only one who". It's so arrogant and dismisses all the people who have been expressing the same opinion. Yes, you're so special and unique, you must be the first person to bring it up.

I've also had it with "literally". There is no need to use that word unless you are saying something that might be interpreted as figurative and you are clarifying that you mean it literally. "We literally live on the same street". Is there a figurative meaning to that? Why do you need to specify you mean it literally?

"Let that sink in..."

All I think about is what does the sink want, and why is it outside? Any point they were trying to make is now a joke to me. Better to say "think about that for a minute."

So it bothers you when people vocalize their question marks, eh?

"Turn of phrase."

I much prefer the phrase "parlence of our day."

I tend not to boil people down to their habits. They likely don’t know it bothers you and don’t know why they’ve made an enemy of you. Their reaction to me bringing it up will absolutely determine how I feel about them, though. I can teach myself to get past almost anything if I can justify their action in good faith.

"Have your cake and eat it too"

Motherfucker, you have it backwards because you're too smoothbrained to understand what a fucking paradox is.

The original, correct version is "to eat your cake and have too".

The idea is that you want to eat a cake, but still have the cake afterwards. This is a paradox because you can't be in posession of a particular cake after you already ate the damn thing.

"Bro" or any variation thereof that assumes familiarity where none exists.

The artifice offends.

"Carrot and stick". It originally invoked an image of someone riding on a donkey's back with a carrot dangling from the end of a stick hung in front of the donkey's nose, encouraging it to move forward with the promise of the carrot which it could never catch. It meant to lead someone around by the nose. But at some point someone decided that the carrot was a reward and the stick a punishment and that's how most people use it now.

Every time I hear someone say ‘eh’ in a questioning tone or to mean ‘um actually’ I lose my shit. Or even just to play something down.

Like I literally come to hate the person instantly. Its a very strong feeling on a very small sound.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh

Eh (/ˈeɪ/ or /ˈɛ/)[1] is a spoken interjection used in many varieties of English. The oldest Oxford English Dictionary defines eh as an "interjectional interrogative particle often inviting assent to the sentiment expressed."[2] Today, while eh has many different uses, it is most popularly used in a manner similar in meaning to "Excuse me?", "Please repeat that", "Huh?", or to otherwise mark a question. It is also commonly used as an alternative to the question tag "right?", as a method for inciting a reply, as in "Don't you think?", "You agree with me, right?", as in, "It's nice here, eh?" (instead of "It's nice here, right?"). In the Americas, it is most commonly associated with Canada and Canadian English, though it is also common in England, Scotland, and New Zealand.

"We don't take kindly to British English around these parts."

I don’t hate anything. That word seems to mean something different to most people than it does to me. I’m careful with my language, and hate describes such an extreme emotion that I’ve yet to encounter anything I’d genuinely feel that way toward - except maybe cancer.

There are, however, things people say that I do dislike. Not just the loose use of the word hate, but also trendy phrases and slogans like “fuck around and find out.” What bothers me about those is that if you’ve already seen two people use the same phrase, it’s already old and no longer clever or funny - it’s just recycled noise at that point.

"Common sense" when it actually means "something you would know if you'd lived my exact life". There are very few things in this world that are actually "common sense", and to be honest the whole concept should just be removed from cultures in which it is present.

Today I learned of the legal term "act of god". (English speaking countries.)

I find it absurd to attribute god and do so in legalese.

Y'all does it for me