There is something bugging me, and it’s the phrase, “At the end of the day.” You hear it on TV, you hear it a LOT in presidential debates. You hear it from friends, read it in papers and, if you’re like me, you say it. At the end of the day, we are going to need a good fiscal policy. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many miles you ran, but that you ran. At the end of the day, he knows he was wrong.
I say “at the end of the day,” but I don’t like that I do. I try not to. It’s overused, and really, it’s not necessary in any of the examples above.
Another phrase that I have come to loath is “wait for it.” I do not say this. I never have. I never could figure out what the waiting was all about. I could have written this definition which I found in the Urban Dictionary:
“An overused phrase intended to add a level of sarcastic suspense to a ― usually pointless ― event. Usually repeated at least twice in addition to dragging the words; especially “it” (waaiitt for itttt…. waaiitt for itttt….). It used to be somewhat funny the first or second time you heard it. But anymore, there seems to be an abundance of people going out of there way to try to fit it in to their conversation, even when it doesn’t fit. All of a sudden someone in the conversation will start saying, “wait for it… wait for it…,” and you know it didn’t belong in the conversation; they just wanted to use the phrase. If you are going to use this phrase ― along with wearing a trucker hat and Heelies ― AT LEAST wait for a time in the conversation when it actually applies and is appropriate.”
Here’s another overused phrase, and once again, I am totally guilty of using it far too much: “No problem.” One day, I was booking Moose into the luxury penthouse that some might call “boarding.” I pay handsomely for Moose to stay here, so when I thanked the girl for booking it, she said, “no problem.” Like she thought there could have been a problem, but fortunately, there was not, so she was going to step out there and do me this solid. Which she so was not doing, because my booking just made it possible for her kid to get braces. She should have said, “My extraordinary pleasure, Miss London.” But she said, “no problem.” 
What about overused, useless words? When I am writing, there is a word the creeps into my prose that has no business being there: Just. He just this and she just that. It adds nothing, it means nothing in that context, and yet it is the bane of my writing existence. I just can’t stop. Nyuk nyuk.
What are some overused phrases that bug you? If you can’t think of any, no problem, because at the end of the day, they’re all just…wait for it…words! We all use them and not always correctly. But if there are any words or phrases that bug you, we’d love to hear them. Happy Monday!
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
yay yay yay yay yay, horribly followed up by “at the end of the day”. I worked with a guy that used both of these phrases in every sentence. The yay yay’s were his way of shutting out what everyone else had to say, and “at the end of the day” meant “do it my way”. I don’t miss him at all.
I can’t STAND “It’s all good.” My sister says it all the time and I want to strangle her.
The one I hate is “does that make sense?” I just want to say “NO!”, esp when they say it after every sentence of explanation.
I have a friend who overuses ‘long story short’ when it never is!
uh oh. There’s another one I overuse.
I have a friend who does, but he is almost 90, so I let him!! LOL
Great post! I find myself using some of those at times and irritate myself. I love that t-shirt, by the way. I want one!
Yeah, I just found that one by googling
“Going forward” used to be something an old boss would say (we worked at Border’s) when they wanted to change something. I hate it. Can anyone go backwards? Well, besides Border’s. I cringe when I hear it.
Ev, besides Border, LOL!
One I am accused of using to much, and my aunt nit picks with me all the time is’ Well you Know” and then she says, “No I don’t Know”, which ticks me of”
I have to laugh because my 5 year old says “you know” all the time and I say “no” but he’s 5 and doesn’t get it. Besides, he had to have picked it up from somewhere. (Who, me?)
I”m a “juster” too JK. Not sure why, probably just because I’m just used to putting the just in my words.
Hahaha, I’m guilty of “wait for it.” I never said it until I got hooked on How I Met Your Mother and Neil Patrick Harris’s character Barney says it all the time. So I’ll say it, usually as a joke with the husband or kids, as a Barneyism. I probably wouldn’t say it to you Julia London, so no worries.
Kathleen G. used to hate “back in the day.” I remember she blogged about it once.
Guilty again! I always say back in the day. It sounds so much better than, “I used to swim a lot thirty years ago.” Ugh.
When I was knee-high to a grasshopper…
Yeah, that sound really relevant, KP, LOL
“you know” is another phase I could do without. I use to have a niece who said it in every sentence. It drove me nuts. She divorced my nephew and moved to another state so I don’t have to hear it anymore. She is now driving someone else crazy.
Similar to “you know” is the peppering of dialogue with “you know what I’m sayin?” UGH. Just SAY IT. Then we will know what you’re saying.
When someone asks me that, I think, why are they asking me that? Do I look confused? Deaf? Comotose?
Know what I mean? People say that ALL the time up here. Lots of ending with questions…. Very odd.
“It is what it is” – drives me crazy, even if I’m guilty of using it myself sometimes!
That’s one of those I find myself using on kids a lot, LOL. When my brain can’t think of a better explanation.
Oh My Gawd so like I sometimes like get into this like really weird mood like ya know and like I just cannot seem to like stop saying a certain word.
Dain Bramage is what my Mom says it is.
Like, Oh My Gawd no idea what she means.
Business jargon makes me crazy, especially when people say “reach out to” instead of call, contact, email because they’ve been told it sounds friendly. It doesn’t. It sounds ridiculous.
We all have pet words in our writing that hopefully a good critique partner or copy editor points out to us. Sadly, that doesn’t always happy. I recently read a terrific ARC by a wonderfully talented author who used an offbeat pet word so often it nearly spoiled the story for me. I wish I could alert her anonymously to do a search and replace on the next book in the series.
There is one author who uses the character name in speech so much it drives me nuts. If I was having that conversation with someone in my kitchen, I’d ask, what’s with my name, dude? You say it in every sentence. I know you’re talking to me.
Yes, Julia, I find that very annoying, too, Julia.
Yeah, that one drives me nuts, too. And the boys of Supernatural have got me saying “Dude!” –that just needs to stop . . . and what a fun post!
I love this post, most especially because I know there are a ton of these that I use and now, sitting here, I can’t think of a single one except … wait for it … ‘in the long run.’ I think that’s my equivalent of At the end of the Day. And the ever popular “Go clean your room.” But I don’t see that one retiring anytime soon….
Interesting how phrases come and go in our language as far a over usage is concerned. “Wait for it” makes me think of Barney on “How I met your Mother” And I suspect is partially responsible for the over use. Words like “groovy” go out of fashion, but “Cool” seems to stay current no matter what. And my husband was actually just lamenting the loss of the words “thank you” replaced instead with “no problem” Or my fav “no worries” When in fact, thank you is a much better and to the point choice.
No worries is another one. It implies I had a worry to begin with.
Oh, hahaha, I just said that before I read down the rest of the comments, on Barney from HIMYM.
Yes–what happened to simply saying “you’re welcome” instead of “no problem?”
I think the evolution occurred, because “no problem” was intended to convey a sense of happy to do the work, where “you’re welcome” is acknowledging the gratitude. I think “no problem” came from a heavy customer-service focus, and sadly it’s lost its customer-service focus.
You’re right, I meant “You’re Welcome” not “Thank You”
I try not to stress to much with “Just Saying” or “Cool story, tell it again Bro” because I was a teenager once too and I remember my favorite “Whatever”! I also remember my “Know what” to which my mother would always reply “Nope never met him”, and “Bite me” to which the person grabbed my arm and bit!
Candy, I love writing “Just Saying.” OHH! and I’d forgotten “Know what?” I used to say that ALL the time…
Guilty. On all charges. All the phrases bother me and yet I use most all of them. Just sayin.
My current irritating phrase is “I tell you what”. It is very prevalent on sports broadcasts.
Terry Bradshaw uses every cliche in the English language
Oh–don’t get me started on sports– “trickeration?” it was cute the first time
Oops. Just had another one creep in to my speech. In all honesty. Why do I qualify it? Of COURSE it’s in all honesty.
Yeah, that one always makes me suspect the speaker isn’t being honest at all. Same with “To tell you the truth.” Really, no, lie to me! I have a thing against “no offense” because it always comes with something that is going to be offensive. If you have to say “no offense” you might want to rethink saying it in the first place.
I think most any “marcomm” phrase is like nails on a chalkboard to me since they tend to be overused fast – and are somewhat annoying in general.
“a lot on her plate”
“wearing many hats”
I will admit I am probably a “liker” as I was around so many who used it a lot and I pick speech things up quickly when I am not meaning to. I am hoping it has gone a bit now.
OH.. and “you know” is another one that creeps in, you know?
What is a marcomm phrase?
Marketing Communications… usually phrases marketing execs use to sound:
more busy
more intelligent
like they know what is going on with the latest delays but are just blowing smoke
Great fodder for boardroom bingo.
Sometimes I count the ‘like’ and ‘you know’ that I hear in conversations. Although I’ve got to tell you when I hear ‘nuclear’ pronounced ‘new-cue-lar’ it sends me into orbit.
ME TOO!! And so many well-educated people say it that way!
Pardon my spelling errors…. Not easy typing with just your thumb….
Btw i hate to sound like i boss people around by telling them what to say. I dont do that. I had heard “just saying” too many times that day. I guess i have higher standards….. I hate to see over used phrases because to me it indicates a lack of creativity or thought… As bad as a swear word sometimes.
Gin, I agree. And I know it to be true since I use a lot of these phrases without any thought whatsoever, LOL
“just saying”….. I ranted a similar topic on facebook a while back and people got mad at me, then started “just sayin” my topic to death…. Then my brother in law started lecruring me. When i told him my facebook was not a democracy, there is no free speech there, he went into orbit… He write three angry paragraphs that started off with “listen princess”…… Hated to do it but i deleted him…… Its bad enough when people (your friends even) do something they know you dont like… But i wont tolerate them saying “i’m gonna do it JUST because said not to, and youre a spoiled brat if you dont like it!”
It would be ok if it was some other important topic…. Like saying bless you when someone sneezes, or amen…. But everyone over uses “just sayin”… As much or more than the ones mentioned above.
awesome…. I hate it.. and had to work with someone who used it all the time….. all the time… everything was ‘awesome’…. gah!
If everything is awesome, then what is the word one would use when something is truly awesome?
I’m very guilty of the awesome. I think Massachusetts people are all guilty of overusing awesome. I hadn’t used it for years and then I started telling someone about the use of “awesome” in MA and suddenly, it’s back in my dialogue. You bought groceries? Awesome. We didn’t get any snow? Awesome. (well, that one would be awesome- sick of snow and we have barely had any). Also overused in MA, wicked. And for the truly awesome, “wicked awesome.” Cate, I’ll try to tone it down for you.
I cannot stand it when people say “It’s all good”.
no it isn’t all good, thank you very much. I’d sooner hear ‘no problem’ than the other.
Oh yeah, that’s another one. When someone tells me it’s all good, I wonder how they know if it’s all good with me. They don’t!
It isn’t a phrase but the word LIKE. Yes I’m around teens so I hear it every 30 seconds but now the word has creeped into adult conversations & even mine–UGH!! I do NOT want to be a LIKER or sound like a 14 year old!
Oh, I agree, Michelle! It’s, like, so hard to listen to someone who, like, says it every two seconds.
I am, like, so like with you like on like the overuse of like that word like.
UGH! It drives me nuts. A few months back I was flipping through the channels and came upon an episode of one of those Kardashian shows. After about five minutes of listening to those girls talk (during which the word like was used like more times than I like could count) I thought my ears were going bleed. Never again.
At one of my jobs we went to a workshop about how to talk to customers on the phone. They stressed that you should not say “no problem” because it implied you were thinking it could be a problem. They also said we should use the word “issue” instead of “problem.” I hate the word “issue” even though I find myself using it all the time.
For me, I over use “just” in my writing too. But there is one word I over use more than any other. That word that always seems to roll off that keyboard that is attached to that computer that I write on is “that.”
Yes, “that” is another classic word that seems to creep into every sentence!