Your answer to annoying sayings

The " good " word was used in Australia in 1982 when I first visited. Everyone said it, along with " cool " if you'd achieved something.

What does get on my wick most is " Lessons will be learned ".

They never damn well are whatever it is !

i understand your annoyance, but really is it worth all the moaning? i know not....

and also looking forward to a hard brexit. out of anything eu

Shock, horror. I reply "I'm good." when people ask me how I am because it's usually true. It's shorthand for "I'm feeling good." According to Oxford Dictionaries, good is a synonym of healthy, strong, or well so it is the same as saying, "I'm well."

How rude you all sound. Are you sure you always speak impeccable English with never an error in grammar or syntax or, heaven forfend, a popular phrase or slang.

I expect everyone of you has a phrase or word you use that drives your family to drink every time you use it. I am sure I do.

I can cope with changing expressions and strange phrases that creep into any language over time but grammar mistakes really grate on me.

I have a big issue with people using singular when meaning plural as in: “There’s lots of trees in the forest” or “there’s ten cars in the drive”. I am foreign and if I made the mistake the other way round, as in “there are one tree in my garden” people would think I haven’t grasped the English grammar of expressing singular and plural.

To "can i have your name please" we could reply " Haven't you got one of your own ?

I really really hate 'haitch'!

I don't think it's that important to use could/would or shall/will. We all know what is meant.
But I hate the use of wee in N Ireland. A shop assistant once shouted to another assistant "this wee woman would like to try a size 4". I did say " wee woman. I've never been called that in my life!" ( although I'm only 5'1") I was not impressed.

I also don't like "Back in the day" which is becoming popular.

When asked my name I also say xxx xxxx (give n and surname) I am then asked is it Mrs, Ms or Miss. Why do they need to know we are only talking over the phone. So I say it doesn't matter or Madam.

A friend had a problem when she had a new garage door fitted. She phoned to complain, and after every statement the person taking details said ‘brilliant’ (but pronounced it ‘bwilyant’.) Eventually my friend answered that everything is ‘bwilyant except your garage doors!

Enjoy! Enjoy what?

Do you know what I mean?

I get annoyed by the use of 'robust' these days, councillors and politicians talk about their robust plans. I also dislike it if I ask someone if they would like a drink etc and they answer, I'm alright thanks. Not the answer to the question that I asked in my opinion. Also youngsters when ordering a meal or drink say, 'can I get' instead of 'could I have' or 'I would like'. Just a few random irritations.

Are you GG or a new GG?

I really dislike people starting a sentence with 'So' and peppering 'like' throughout a conversation.
Eammon Holmes is guilty (as usual) when he says 'Me and Ruth'. No-one's perfect but I would expect a tv presenter to be capable of using gramatically correct English.

In Ireland/Northern Ireland when asked how they are people quite often say "I'm grand ". I use it all the time. It doesn't mean I am upper class and snooty, it's our way of saying "I'm well". It can also used if somone was to apologise for example for bumping into you. You might then reply "don't worry your grand". Those pedants of the English language may object - tough - I think things like this enrich h the language!!!

Many people around here confuse lend and borrow. My daughter in law is an English teacher and quoted the following

Pupil 1. Please Miss can I lend a pencil?
DDIL No
Pupil 1. Please Miss I’ve forgotten mine. Can I lend a pencil?
DDIL. No
Pupil 1. But Miss I can’t do my work if I can’t lend a pencil.

Pupil 2. She wants you to say borrow

This thread has, in my humble opinion, a bit snooty. I think that many of you are forgetting that 'regional' words and phrases are not kept in their regions anymore. I was brought up in the south of England and tv was very much 'Queens English. The first time I heard any different was when on holiday on the Norfolk coast when I was 13. A family from Manchester were there. There way of speaking was totally alien to me. Regional ways of speaking and also Americasms are in our life now....ACCEPT. As for the snooty comments about words not being used correctly....well....language evolves. The origins of words may not be anything to do with their meaning today....ACCEPT

"at this moment in time" In the 1960s our English teacher told us not to speak or write like politicians. "What you mean, girls, is NOW.

I never hear the expression "at this moment in time" without hearing Mrs Jones addressing her class of 13 year olds.

I am so fed up with "and don't get me started on..." I always want to say, "I don't need to, you've done it yourself.
Then there's the call centre representative who says "can you confirm your address please?" On one occasion I did actually reply "yes". Silence. A long silence, followed by a nervous "er, I need you to confirm your address". So I said "yes, I will, but I'm waiting for you to read it out to me so that I can confirm it." I did explain to her, nicely, afterwards that what she should be saying is "please tell me your address so that I can confirm it."

Not to mention "imply" and "infer"....

Just before I go... I must admit that I sometimes forget the difference between "Will" and "Shall".
In good old-fashioned English Teaching, when the children had to sit up properly and listen and be quiet and learn, we were taught the difference between;
1. "I shall drown and nobody will save me". and
2. "I will drown and nobody shall save me."
Do people know the difference today?

Deed5y

Aaaaaghh! Yes! "would of". It is awful!! I cannot cope with it! This, as it happens, was the example I was trying to explain to above lady (previous post) who, supposedly a friend, became aggressive!

I must admit, if anyone writes it, for example on Social Media, I stop reading immediately!

Oh how wonderful this is! To moan about the dreadful things people have been saying for so long now and which are far worse to hear, for me, than fingernails being scraped down the blackboard! Saying "I'm good" to "How are you?" is dreadful! Also "Was you...?" when asking a question. I was first slapped round the face with that one when asking directions to the house of a birthday party for child in my daughter's class some 40 years ago, and the mother asked me "Was you coming up the A25 or ..?" I was so shocked my mind went blank.
I also suffer terribly when I hear "somethink" and "anythink".
Sparklefizz, your example does allow me to dare say that standards are much lower today. I seriously doubt that many teachers would know the difference between "would" and "could" or use them appropriately.
I have become a grouchy old woman and I don't care. This is but an example of standards cascading in all areas.

The way people speak matters. If people cannot speak reasonably correctly then the meaning of what we are saying gets confused and surely so does their thinking. Similarly with spelling. The trend to "dumb down" has gone so far that our education system has fallen behind and we are becoming a third-rate Country. But try telling someone that what they have said does not make sense! I tried to explain very gently to someone but she was so sure she was in the right, she became aggressive!

I totally agree with razzmatazz. I could join in with that scream! Another one I hate is ‘of’ instead of ‘have’, as in ‘would of’or ‘could of’.