Thirty Cliches You Should Avoid (Going

Forward)
Using a data analysis tool that monitors new books, research papers, broadcast
transcripts and news sources, Oxford University came up with a list of the top 10 most
irritating phrases. Headed by "At the end of the day" and capped with "It's not rocket
science," it's both an eye-rolling exercise in familiarity and a good lesson in phrases to
avoid in your own presentations and writing. The readers of the BBC's online magazine,
however, add to the list with their own 20 most hated cliches, and while a few are
British peculiarities, the majority make for good additions to add to your personal
spelling checker or text replacement tool. What meaningless (or management-
friendly) words drive you up the wall? Share your distaste in the comments.Photo
by StaR DusT.
20 of your most hated cliches [BBC News Magazine via Lifehacker AU]

Heading the list was the expression 'at the end of the day', which was followed in second place
by the phrase 'fairly unique'.

The phrases appear in Jeremy Butterfield's Damp Squid, named after the mistake of confusing a squid with a squib

The tautological statement "I personally" made third place – an expression that BBC Radio 4
presenter John Humphreys has described as "the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice."
Also making the top 10 is the grammatically incorrect "shouldn't of", instead of "shouldn't have".
The phrases appear in a book called Damp Squid, named after the mistake of confusing a squid
with a squib, a type of firework.
The researchers who compiled the list monitor the use of phrases in a database called the
Oxford University Corpus, which comprises books, papers, magazines, broadcast, the internet
and other sources.
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The database alerts them to new words and phrases and can tell them which expressions are
disappearing. It also shows how words are being misused.
As well as the above expressions, the book's author Jeremy Butterfield says that many
annoyingly over-used expressions actually began as office lingo, such as 24/7 and "synergy".
Other phrases to irritate people are "literally" and "ironically", when they are used out of context.
Mr Butterfield said: "We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often – an anecdote, a joke, a
mannerism – and the same seems to happen with some language."
The top ten most irritating phrases:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science

20 of your most hated cliches

According to an online survey,
cliches like "at the end of the
day", "24/7" and "literally" are
among the most reviled. Here
are 20 more that particularly
irk Magazine readers.
1. My vote for most irritating
cliche has to be "basically". I
even manage to irritate myself by using it, although I do try not to.
AS, Salford, England
2. A few minutes ago I said "basically" was the most irritating cliche.
I've changed my mind: "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.
Ian, Sheffield
3. My most hated expression has to be "to be honest". What does
it mean? Are you normally dishonest then? To my shame you might
even catch me saying it.
John Airey, Peterborough
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".
Alex Brodie, London
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.
C Starkey, London
6. Overused cliches I dislike are "let's face it" and "let's be
honest".
Clive, Nottingham
7. The worse cliche I hear is "touch base". If anyone knows where
that came from please let me know so I can go back in a time
machine and stop it from ever being said. I have a feeling it was a
1980s invention.
Hazel, Notts
8. I was looking at your well-worn phrases and although "at the end
of the day" is a bad one, I absolutely detest anyone
saying "110%"or "150%" or any other variant. It is 100% and
nothing more. You can't get more than a whole. I'm glad I got that
off my chest...
Par, Dundee
9. My old boss used to tell us that everything was "in the
pipeline". One disgruntled staff member commented that this
pipeline seemed to be a very long and very clogged-up sewer.
Al, Wellington NZ
10. The phrase I hate is "the reason being". Particularly when
used by people who are trying to sound educated. They invariably
show off their lack of education with the next phrase.
Alex Knob, UK
11 and 12. "I'm not being funny but..." is one of THE most
annoying things that a person can say, and is usually followed by a
highly irritating and officious remark. Beginning a sentence
with "You know" is another one, especially popular with sportsmen
such as David Beckham. Please make these and other irritating
cliches illegal.
Rosie Spectacle, Tunbridge Wells, UK
13 and 14. I hate, hate, hate it when people invite me to "touch
base" with them at a later date. Or how about when someone
announces that they'll have made a decision "by the end of play
today"? However, possibly the most annoying of all cliches must be
when those misguided amongst us declare the importance
of"singing from the same hymn sheet". "Go do one", I say...
Kristian Turner, Cambridge
15. "Can't get my head round it" - a ridiculous thing to say!
Kay Rhodes, Sutton Coldfield, UK
16 and 17. Cliches to hate: 1) Basically 2) A raft of
proposals 3) To roll out (new initiatives etc).
Steve Barnett, Sunderland
18. "Don't just talk the talk, you got to walk the talk". How
annoying is that?
Richard Bridges, Barnet
19. "Lessons will be learned". Most pointless and annoying cliche
ever.
Laura Albins, Ipswich
20. The use of the word "actually". I find it so annoying when
listening to reports on the Today programme that I end up "actually"
counting the times the word is used.
Peter McGregor, Dunblane