A couple of weeks back, I posted a link to the Ten Most Irritating Phrases, here is another list of Hated Cliches from the BBC. Click through to read the rest.
1. “basically”. I even manage to irritate myself by using it, although I do try not to.
2. “To be fair” is the most awful thing anybody can ever say, particularly since it is invariably followed by a biased and utterly unfair comment.
3. My most hated expression has to be “to be honest”. What does it mean? Are you normally dishonest then?
4. It has to be “going forward”, used by business people/politicians, as in: “Going forward, we need to do…X.” Since time is irreversible, it’s totally unnecessary. No one experiences life “going backward”.
5. As far as irritating cliches go, the phrase “the fact of the matter is” must top the list. The fact of the matter is, that it rarely is the actual fact of the matter. It is usually just the speaker’s own opinion.
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“History does not entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
