"must have" "at all" and "yeh - no"

You know what REALLY irritates me? That blinkin' Claire Sweeny advertising some clothing catalogue which has fashions that are 'trend aware, purse friendly, shape sure.' Yuk!

Not friendly to my purse carol I've never seen such drab clothing.

Must be where you live, jess. I don't hear those expressions. Hope you've managed to ungrump today .

Yeah, no! They haven't reached my small corner of Cheshire and I haven't heard them in the vocabulary of my student GD.

House hunters on TV programmes like Escape to the Country and Location x 3 always seem to say "yes-no I like it" when asked if they like a particular feature. It drives me mad!

Does your TV off switch work, shysal?

OK - here's my gripe.

"On a daily basis" - grrr!! Why not just say "every day"?

I have no idea why this should irritate me so much but it definitely does.

My pet grump is 'at this particular moment in time' what's wrong with now!

I never use these modern idioms - they are usually horrible. We don't seem to have the yeah/no thing here in Australia, but we do have 'like' to denote something that was said, such as 'When I saw that, I was like: "oh no, that's so gross". ' When did that start? When did 'said' become 'was like'?

I also see 'innit' used in English programs, where it is used more like 'n'est-ce pas' or 'nicht wahr' rather than a short form of 'isn't it'. It is a very ugly usage. Another one that hasn't reached this part of the world, I'm glad to say.

Mind you, we have plenty of annoying ways of speaking here, but it is generally the way things sound rather than the words themselves, such as the rising intonation at the end of a sentence, and the mangled diphthongs. I've lived here 33 years and still can't tell whether an Aussie is saying 'pint' or 'paint'.

Here's a couple more:

- bored of instead of bored with
- he was sat on a chair, when it should be sitting

What a load of fusspots we are!!

I agree with you all but I did find it very amusing when marching in London to protest against the invasion of Iraq in February 2003 to hear two young chaps – probably 17–18 years old– chanting "Don't attack Iraq. Innit?"

I gather innit is v popular with young London asians. i have heard it sent up by Meera Syal et al
I think yeh-no can be heard on any branch of the media if you listen out for it.
First person to catch a politician at it...?
Yes thanks i am feeling less grumpy today. (tempted to start that sentence with a yeah-no. .) Went to a party last night (even though i didn't want to) and saw some nice people i used to work with.
The company perked me up and I am chugging through my TODO list this morning.

As a poor male, I am beginning to feel neglected at all the attention you lovely Grans are getting in these columns .

I would like to ask one question, are our own children to blame for the epidemic of rudeness in society today, and their failure to teach our grandchildren good manners?

Alternatively, is it the like of you and me who have really failed to pass on good manners to our own kids?

Who ever is responsible should be really ashamed.

I hate houses/home being called properties! aren't they just houses? oops had best part of bottle of red wine with lunch!!!!!

Was it a good Rioja susiecb just fancy a glass myself!! here we go

Not a rioja fan myself, but a good claret .... mmmm . Cheers all!

bagpussa gal after me own heart!

susiecb I'm with you on that one, a work colleague (who has recently moved to the South West from Croydon) asked me if I lived in an "old property". My reply was delivered through gritted teeth.

The other thing that really pisses me off gets on my wick, is when contacting my (ex) bank. They seemed to think that using my name during almost every sentence counted as "building rapport". No it bloody doesn't, it is just annoying plus what is it with the use of the word "yourself" instead of "you"???? "Just bringing that up on the screen for yourself" Aaargh!

Yes, I seethe when I get called yourself. It's a way of putting people at arm's length so they don't ask for something you're not prepared to give them. Typical banker!

pensionista From an early age, I was taught that good manners mattered. I hope that I've been a good role model to my own children, so that they in turn will raise decently behaved offspring. When confronted by yobbish behaviour, I feel sick to my socks. As we waited to board the bus from outside Glasgow Central Station, a group of loud-mouthed, uncouth young people, stood their ground and forced the driver to hold back for fear of running them down. When the driver called for the boys to move out of the way, he was treated to abusive foul-mouthed language. The "leader" of the gang, puffed out his chest and hollored - 'I could get you done for that...' I told the boy to 'grow up' and he told me to 'f... orf!'

I hate it at the bank when, having waited for ages, I approach the desk and the young lady says brightly "Thank you for waiting". Do we really have a choice?
Today at the garden centre a very pleasant young man served us, but we both remarked on the way home, "Why did he call us 'Guys'"? Obviously wanted to come over as friendly, but let's face it, we're not about to go down the pub with him!
Manners and respect are still very important, my older grandchildren and indeed my own children (now 40 something) would never use unacceptable language in front of us. When my children were young, we were walking through town past a group of bikers, all mouthing off, f-this and f-that. I was so incensed I walked up to them and asked them to "moderate" their language in public. These days I don't know if I would act so impulsively, but they apologised and quietened down. If actors and comics on television use bad language, why do we expect anything else from our younger generations.
Sound like some old harpy myself, must remember to take my tolerance pills!

The motto written on the school badge on my grandson's blazer says 'Manners Maketh Man.' Nice to see a school emphasising this.

Mr glamma having a peek!! insists as he has done for years that "Grange Hill" and "Waterloo Road"are responsible in some way for bad attitude and bad manners in some youngsters,if they get away with it on TV why not in everyday life ? I will complain to anyone using bad language in front of me or my family it shows a complete lack of the English language.Carol my dear dads motto was always "Manners Maketh the Man" and he was a 6' 2" Liverpool docker.

Manners makyth man -motto of Winchester College. Not your grandson's school, Carol?