Expressions That Annoy You

[unabashedtruth]

Last night at work I got into a discussion with a co-worker about expressions that don't make sense or are just plain wrong, making them a bit like a pet peeve. Hers was "I could care less." Her reason, it's grammatically incorrect. The proper way to say it is "I couldn't care less."

Mine is "That's the least I could do." The expression some people use when they return a favor to another. In my mind the least that someone could do is nothing, making that expression an oxymoron.

So are there any expressions that annoy you or just make no sense at all to you?

[Former Member]

Jul 26, 2008 8:15:08 GMT -8 @unabashedtruth said:

Last night at work I got into a discussion with a co-worker about expressions that don't make sense or are just plain wrong, making them a bit like a pet peeve. Hers was "I could care less." Her reason, it's grammatically incorrect. The proper way to say it is "I couldn't care less."

This has always confused me too. The correct term IS I couldn't care less.

So are there any expressions that annoy you or just make no sense at all to you?

"Having your cake and eating it"

If I have a cake...I WANT to eat it!

Surely the correct term is "Having the penny and the bun?"

[unabashedtruth]

Jul 26, 2008 8:19:50 GMT -8 Meryl said:

Jul 26, 2008 8:15:08 GMT -8 @unabashedtruth said:

Last night at work I got into a discussion with a co-worker about expressions that don't make sense or are just plain wrong, making them a bit like a pet peeve. Hers was "I could care less." Her reason, it's grammatically incorrect. The proper way to say it is "I couldn't care less."

This has always confused me too. The correct term IS I couldn't care less.

So are there any expressions that annoy you or just make no sense at all to you?

"Having your cake and eating it"

If I have a cake...I WANT to eat it!

Surely the correct term is "Having the penny and the bun?"

Never heard the penny and the bun expression before. What does that mean?

[Pearson]

Jul 26, 2008 8:19:50 GMT -8 Meryl said:

"Having your cake and eating it"

If I have a cake...I WANT to eat it!

Surely the correct term is "Having the penny and the bun?"

Ooops, meh bad, I first read "Having the penny and the bum..."

[Former Member]

Jul 26, 2008 8:25:43 GMT -8 @unabashedtruth said:

Jul 26, 2008 8:19:50 GMT -8 Meryl said:

This has always confused me too. The correct term IS I couldn't care less.



"Having your cake and eating it"

If I have a cake...I WANT to eat it!

Surely the correct term is "Having the penny and the bun?"

Never heard the penny and the bun expression before. What does that mean?

Sometimes, we have to give one thing up in order to have something else.

Jul 26, 2008 8:30:02 GMT -8 Pearson said:

Ooops, meh bad, I first read "Having the penny and the bum..."

...it's all that talk about PJs ;D

[Aether]

'New and Improved'. Like on adverts. If something's new, there wasn't anything before it. If it's improved, then there must have been something before it for there to be an improvement. It doesn't at all make sense if something maganges to be both.

[Lord Twaddleford]

Jul 26, 2008 8:50:07 GMT -8 Aether said:

'New and Improved'. Like on adverts. If something's new, there wasn't anything before it. If it's improved, then there must have been something before it for there to be an improvement. It doesn't at all make sense if something maganges to be both.

I've always thought that about the term "New and Improved" too. It's a marketing gimmick really, designed to get people to think highly of whatever product is being advertised. Personally I see that catchphrase to be nothing more than an old yet slightly amusing tautology.

[Kami]

Here's mine:


"This -shoot- just got real!" (Was it not real before? Obviously not "shoot" however.)
"I could care less." (For reasons stated)
"First and foremost..." (Redundant. If it's first, it's already foremost, yes?)

[unabashedtruth]

Jul 26, 2008 8:33:17 GMT -8 Meryl said:

Jul 26, 2008 8:25:43 GMT -8 @unabashedtruth said:

Never heard the penny and the bun expression before. What does that mean?

Sometimes, we have to give one thing up in order to have something else.

Jul 26, 2008 8:30:02 GMT -8 Pearson said:

Ooops, meh bad, I first read "Having the penny and the bum..."

...it's all that talk about PJs ;D

Ah, thank you ma'am.

[Gamoc]

LOL

It's just annoying when people SAY it. When the use it online, I can deal with it, but when they say it I want to punch them.

Off the hook.

A stupid way of saying that something is cool.

I'll sock you one.

Technically you can't sock anything. Sock is a noun, not a verb.

[razputin]

The phrase "fail," commonly used in low ranking internoob debates that haven't been properly cultivated on polite methods of reasoning.

"Fail." Fail what? That's an incomplete sentence. "Sorry, fail." What? Are you apologizing to the word fail? That's why I say failure, and not this literary catastrophe.

[Lord Twaddleford]

Jul 26, 2008 10:28:39 GMT -8 @razputin said:

The phrase "fail," commonly used in low ranking internoob debates that haven't been properly cultivated on polite methods of reasoning.

"Fail." Fail what? That's an incomplete sentence. "Sorry, fail." What? Are you apologizing to the word fail? That's why I say failure, and not this literary catastrophe.

In my mind "fail" in the context that it's frequently deployed in here, usually means "You fail at whatever you were trying to do" or something similar. I tend not dwell on it but nonetheless I have a very good idea pertaining to its definition. Of course what must be understood is that English is a living, unregulated language (unlike French, which must have every single new word approved by a board of buereaucrats), so as a consequence, grammar structure, vocabluary and word usage all time, whether these changes are good or not is an other thing though.

[Pearson]

Wearing your/my heart on your sleeve

Pot calling the kettle black

If you fall and break your legs, don't come running to me.

If you don't stop crying I'll give you something to cry about.

He was beside himself with anger. How many people is that?

One mans ceiling is another mans floor!

That's hawt!

And the most recent overdone one is...

Fail

[۞QCStar۞]

"Ouin, pi!"

Or for you non French-Canadians out there "Yeah, so!"

Just irritates my ears when I say something and they respond with that little phrase. My mother, sister and my niece do it to me often because they know it irritates me and they get a big laugh out of it.

[MarvinRules]

Jul 26, 2008 8:15:08 GMT -8 @unabashedtruth said:

Last night at work I got into a discussion with a co-worker about expressions that don't make sense or are just plain wrong, making them a bit like a pet peeve. Hers was "I could care less."; Her reason, it's grammatically incorrect. The proper way to say it is "I couldn't care less."

Mine is "That's the least I could do." The expression some people use when they return a favor to another. In my mind the least that someone could do is nothing, making that expression an oxymoron.

So are there any expressions that annoy you or just make no sense at all to you?

That depends on what they really meant. Did they mean that they did not have the ability to care less... OR are they saying that they have the ability to care less.

I have used both statements, properly. However I usually will say "I could care less, if you really want me to..."