It’s a game of two halves, Brian
I’ve been a sports writer – I know all about clichés, thank you. It’s a game of two halves, Brian, but at the end of the day the lads gave 110 per cent but I’m sick as a parrot that we didn’t sneak it early doors.
And now I’m peeved that I didn’t come up first with the idea for a book of irritating phrases! Researchers at Oxford University have put together the wonderfully-named Damp Squid, the result of monitoring books, papers, magazines, broadcast and the internet.
Apparently the top ten stinkers are as follows:
- At the end of the day
- Fairly unique
- I personally
- At this moment in time
- With all due respect
- Absolutely
- It's a nightmare
- Shouldn't of
- 24/7
- It's not rocket science
Yep, can’t disagree with most of those. Although I admit to using number six (usually with bloody in the middle of it for added emphasis) and I just stopped myself from using the last one in a lecture on Monday.
Numbers two and eight bring out my big grammar stick, and with number five I usually have to resist the temptation to jab the speaker on the nose, as you just know that the dreaded phrase presages something rude or snotty . . .
Incidentally, I found out not so long ago what rocket science is. Apparently where there’s a push, there’s got to be a pull. So maybe it’s not so complicated after all! Given the difficulties I’m having at the moment persuading some of my students to read theoretical textbooks (if any of them are reading this, You Know Who You Are!), maybe the phrase should become ‘it’s not print journalism.’
Speaking of which, I’m going to blame broadcasting for most of these horrors, rather than newspapers, magazines and the internet. You hear these phrases being trotted out, and they stick in people’s minds. And it’s a mix of the sound-bite generation, wanting to sum things up in a phrase, and people being interviewed wanting to sound important in front of the cameras (why else would you keep parroting something like “I personally, at this moment in time …”) If you’re ever interviewed for any part of the media, then remember the old KISS theory – keep it simple, stupid!
I assume this research from Oxford University is continuing, and no doubt in a couple of years’ time there will be some text message and email clichés to annoy us. I’d like to insist that the very wonderful OMGWTFBBQ is exempt from any list. Thanks to Live Journal, this is now my new expression of surprise. And at the end of the day, you’ve got to admit it’s fairly unique.
