ENGLISH – OVERUSED PHRASES, GRUNTS, SOUNDS AND INTERJECTIONS

                                     

How often do you notice yourself saying the word 'literally'?  This word literally tops the list of phrases and sayings that cause annoyance among readers and listeners.  In fact the words 'basically', 'a safe pair of hands' and 'I'm gutted' ' and 'upcoming' made my list.  If I am asked to list top 10 of irritating expressions, the list will include 'at the end of the day', 'fairly unique', I personally’.

A new book which looks into jargon, poor grammar and meaningless expressions which are often found in modern speech is known as 'Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare'.  The list was compiled by researchers using the Oxford University Corpus database, which alerts them to new words and phrases by monitoring books, papers, magazines, television, and the internet. The database tells which words are being misused and it also identified expressions which are disappearing. 

The author of the book Jeremy Butterfield, also a lexicographer, said that many over-used expressions are considered to be annoying. They actually started off as office lingo - such as 24/7 and synergy. He also 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.'

So, what were the top ten most irritating phrases:  

1. At the end of the day: Usually used before we say what we believe to be an important fact of a situation we are describing. ‘In conclusion’ and ‘when all is said and done’ have the same meaning. 

2. Fairly unique: Here's a classic example of an oxymoron - two words which seem to have an opposite meaning. Grammatically, this is incorrect. An object can either be unique, or not, but it cannot be fairly unique.

3. I personally: I and personally have the same meaning, after all, I is personal so there is no need to use the two together.

4. At this moment in time: Simply put, this expression means ‘now’ or ‘at the moment’. This expression is used too much and is overblown. 

5. With all due respect: This expression is used before something impolite is said, or before we disagree. Most people seem to dislike this phase because it makes it OK to be rude to someone when we use this expression first.

6. Absolutely: This adverb means very or completely. But most people tend to find it absolutely annoying when it is used to mean yes or I agree. A person using it most often is one of our best Cricket captain Saurav Ganguli.

7. It's a nightmare: This idiom means a very bad experience. But it is felt that people use this expression too much in spoken English to mean a lot of undesirable things like a bad movie or a bad book.. 

8. Shouldn't of: This expression is used in the U.K to express regret about something we have, or haven't done. It is also used to criticize the action of others. However, in the way that it is used here it is not good English. The correct expression is shouldn't have. 

9. 24/7:  This expression is used to refer to something that never stops. It is considered to be annoying because it is office jargon, not always true and the word always is deemed to be a better replacement for 24/7.

10. It's not rocket science: This expression meaning it's not difficult is disliked because it's a cliché.

Holophrase

A holophrase is a single-word phrase such as Okay that expresses a complete, meaningful thought. In studies of language acquisition, the term holophrase refers more specifically to an utterance produced by a child in which a single word expresses the type of meaning typically conveyed in adult speech by an entire sentence. The adjective holophrastic is used to denote a phrase consisting of a single word.

 

Interjections, mumblings and grunts

From a sociolinguistic viewpoint they may well be "non-lexical conversation sounds." From the point of view of traditional grammar, they are interjections. They are word or phrase conveying no independent meaning, especially one inserted in a line of verse for the sake of the metre. Words like "you know," "like," "mmh" and "ah." are pretty standard, since without any elements of colloquial speech, a written interview will look preternaturally contrived and formal and ‘vocal pauses’ like these make them sound authentic. However, excess of them becomes irritating and a distraction.

I picked this list from a dictionary of interjections https://www.vidarholen.net/contents/interjections/

Like the sounds themselves, most of the interjection can be made stronger by stretching them out, such as "aaaaaah!!!" or "awwwwwww!!". This list mostly describes the shortest canonical representations. Note that some are listed several times with different meanings, and as alternate spellings under other entries.

 

aah! aaah, aaaahh "Help!" Fright, shock. Sometimes it means "ahh" instead. aha a-ha "I understand" Understanding, triumph (can also be used as "ahh") ahem "Attention, please!" The sound of clearing one's throat. Used to get someone's attention, especially if they don't know (or apparently forgot) that you're there. ahh ahhh, ohh "Ok, I see" Realisation, understanding. Sometimes it means "aaah" or "eh" instead. ahh ahhh.. "So relaxing" Relief or relaxation argh augh "Damn!" Annoyance, anger, frustration aww aw, awww "How sweet!" Shows sentimental approval (also see next entry) aw oh "Come on!" Mild disappointment or protest bah "Whatever" Dismissive, annoyed boo booh "That's bad" Disapproval, contempt boo-hoo boohoo "I'm crying!" Used, often sarcastically, to imitate crying. brr brrrr "It's cold" Being cold, shivering duh "That's dumb" Expresses annoyance over something stupid or obvious eek eeeek "Help!" Girly scream. Surprised, scared. eep "Oh no!" Surprise (female) h? huh? "What?" Misunderstanding. Also see "eh?" below eh? huh?, eyh? "Is that right?" Stereotypically overused by Canadians eww ugh, ewww, yuck, ick "Disgusting" Disgust, dislike fuff "Bullshit" Contempt and disregard gah "This is hopeless" Exasperation and despair gee "Really?" Surprise, enthusiasm, or just general emphasis. grr grrrr "I'm angry" Anger, snarling, growling. Often used for dogs and other animals. hmm hm, hmmmm "I wonder" Thinking, hesitation. humph harumph "I don't like this" A snort, to express dislike, disbelief or annoyance. hah heh "Funny." The first syllable of "hahaha", when something is just a little funny. "Hah" can also be used spitefully in one-upmanship, as in "Hah, got you again you loser" haha hehe, hahaha, bahaha "Funny!" Regular laughter. huh "Really?" Mild, indifferent surprise hurrah hooray, huzzah "Let's celebrate!" Generic exclaimation of joy phew "That was close!" Expressing relief ick yuck, ich, yak "Disgusting" Disgust, dislike mhm mmhm, uh-hu "Yes" Agreement, acknowledgement. mm mmm, mmh "Lovely" Pleasure. Sometimes it means "hmm" instead. mwah m-wah "Kiss!" The sound of blowing a kiss nah "No" Informal no nuh-uh nuh-hu, nu-huh "No, it isn't!"/"Did not!" Childish negation or refusal oh "I see" Realisation ooh-la-la oh-lala, la-di-da, la-dee-dah "Fancy!" An often ironic (or just funny) way indicating that something is fancy or high class ooh oooh "Wonderful!" Wonder, amazement (ohhh can also mean ahhh) oomph umph "I'm exerting myself" A grunt made on sudden exertion. Also used as a noun to mean "power" or "energy" ("This song needs more oomph!") oops "I didn't mean to do that" Being surprised at or acknowledging your own mistakes ouch ow, ouch, yeow "That hurts" Expression of pain oww oww, ouch, yeow "That hurts" Expression of pain oy oi, oyh "Hey, you!" Mainly British: Used to get someone's attention, similar to "hey!". Also used disapprovingly ("Oy, you spilled your drink all over me!"). oy oy vay "Oh no..." Mainly Jewish: Used to express self-pity, similar to "woe is me!" pew pee-yew "It stinks!" Used for foul odors pff pffh, pssh, pfft "That's nothing" Unimpressed phew "That was close!" Expressing relief psst Whispering "Hey, you!" Used to quietly get someone's attention, often to tell them a secret. sheesh jeez "I can't believe this!" Exasperation, annoyance (corruption of "Jesus") shh hush, shush "Be quiet" Used to make someone be quiet shoo "Go away" Used to drive away animals or small children tsk-tsk tut-tut "Disappointing" disappointment, contempt (this is a clicking sound) uh-huh mhm, uh-hu "Yes" Agreement, acknowledgement (easily confused with uh-uh) uh-oh oh-oh "Oh no!" Concerned for indications that something will happen uh-uh unh-unh, unh-uh "No" Refusal, especially if your mouth is full or if you refuse to open it (easily confused with uh-huh) uhh uhm, err "Wait, I'm thinking" Indicates a pause in, rather than the end of, a sentence umm uhh, ummm "I'm hesitant" Being hesitant or skeptical (usually interchangable with "uhh" above) waah waaaaah "I'm crying!" Used, often sarcastically, for imitating crying or whining. wee whee, weee "This is fun!" Used by children when doing something fun, and often ironically by adults when something is fun but childish whoa "Hold on." Can be used to suggest caution as in here, and also stereotypically used by marijuana smokers to express dumbfounded amazement ("whoa, look at the colors!"). Originally a sound used to make horses stop. wow "Amazing!" Impressed, astonished yahoo yippee, woohoo "Let's celebrate!" Generic exclaimation of joy yay "Yes!" All-purpose cheer. Approval, congratulations and triumph yeah yeeeeaah! "Yes!" Common slang for "yes", sometimes also used as an interjection. yee-haw yeehaw "I'm excited!" Much like "yahoo", but almost always associated with cowboys. yikes "That's a bad surprise." Fear and alarm. yoo-hoo yoohoo "Hey you!" The often ironic/comical, seductive call of a woman to get someone's attention yuh-uh yuh-hu, yu-huh "Yes, it is!"/"Did so!" Childish affirmation, often used to counter "nuh-uh!" (not to be confused with yoo-hoo). yuck ick, ich, blech, bleh, eww, ugh, yech "Disgusting!" Disgust, dislike whew "I'm surprised"

 

You will realize that there are some cultural connotations in these interjections, but some come out to be universal and quite independent of the language being spoken. They are not included in normal dictionaries because they just signify noises people make (ahh, ow, grr) rather than exclamation words (hey, stop, yes). Stand alone, and they may mean nothing, but in a sentence they convey the desired expression remarkably well.