McClain's Top 11 Abused Expressions
 

Excessively used phrases make me want to squeeze the Charmin - most often because they're used incorrectly. Here is my list of Top 11 Abused Expressions:

11) I could care less - This wouldn't be so bad if people enunciated with appropriate emphasis. Perhaps you should say, "As if..." first?

10) Irregardless - Might as well try "deregardless" or "unregardless". You'll still sound like an idiot but at least you'll be unique.

9) Hearty guffaw - I don't witness this expression that often, but when I see the latter it's accompanied by the former.

8) I personally - Pick just one please. Redundancies are redundant.

7) With all due respect - Used as a preface to insult. Nine times out of 10 the statement following this phrase has nothing to do with respect. "With all due respect, you smell like steaming St. Bernard shit."

6) Intelligent design - What does this even mean? I know what you think it means, but dissect those words and think again. Can you explain this idiom without sounding like a spoon-fed asshole?

5) Literally - Unless you typically speak about figurative actions please refrain from using this abject adverb. Chances are you're not using it properly. "Did you see Dave's reaction to the TPS report? He figuratively shit his pants!"

4) Best practices - Corporate jargon is an STD. Pass it along.

3) For all intents and purposes - Synonym overkill! It's so cliche I can't formulate an argument without using synonymous expletives.

2) Intensive purposes - A failed interpretation and iteration of the previous entry. Tally this one as double fail.

...

1) Trials and tribulations - You have never used the word "tribulation" outside of this expression. Admit it!

"best practices"...you don't work in a healthcare setting, do you?

I always loved "we'll centralize this in your department" and "here's an opportunity for compromise".

The bf persists in saying "nip it in the butt", in spite of my insistence that it's not right.

supposably >:

I also hate it when people say "Oh, I'm so OCD" when they mean, "Oh, I generally appreciate tidiness" or "Oh, I like to organize things".

There's a big difference between liking to organize things and your mom screeching and hauling you into a shrink's office as a kid because you couldn't stop washing your hands or pulling your hair out.

How do you feel about "at this point in time?"

Method to (whatever) madness. I HATE that one. Makes me roll my eyes and want to kick someone in the nuts.

At this point in time
Method to their madness

Those are both really bad expressions I hear too often. GJ! I might use those for a more expansive compilation.

"It's not rocket science" and "pushing the envelope". God i hate cliches.

how about fail or you fail or epic fail

Space age!

I don't know why advertisers think that claiming a kitchen accessory uses materials from the early 1960s is somehow futuristic.

"This is one you don't want to miss!"

bare minimum - my prof uses this phrase all the time and it makes me crazy

Are you one of the old people in school? As I type this, there's a guy who looks like he's at least 30 a few rows in front of me.

Also, I'm in a proofreading and copyediting class right now, and a large part of this is about taking out cliches.

which is why I like Ricky from Trailer Park Boys so much.

"You don't need rocket appliances to figure it out..."

fuck, i don't think people are EVER going to realize that the phrase "i could care less" ISN'T FUCKING ACCURATE

if you COULD care less, then how much do you already care? considering the phrase is used when you DON'T CARE AT ALL, then you couldn't care less, because you already don't care at all, so there is nothing lower than that

>:

Yeah, that one bugs me more than any other. I go nuts when I hear people say that :(

Shit. I thought this was going to be a thread containing 10 photos of McClain being abused with priceless expressions on his face. Consider me disappointed. >:

Like I give a shit.

um, excuse me? did you just call me old?
and no. everyone in my class is old. SOME OF THEM ARE 40 :O

Me myself personally I

Ex: I know you like burgers, but me myself personally I prefer a good weiner.

I BET YOU DO :lol

You left out "which begs the question".

Sometimes, it's the only way to avoid certain doom.

Drill Sgt: Why are you eyeballing me, private? Do you love me? Do you think I'm sexy?

"With all due respect Drill Sergeant, the private thinks you're an ugly motherfucker!"

Also, corporate jargon is a pox upon this world.

"I'm so OCD!" That's like "I'm so dysentary!"

It's only a problem when they insist on nodding and verbally agreeing with everything the professor says. Or holding up class with stupid questions like "Is blue ink acceptable? What about 1 and a half inch margins? Would you be upset if I used a header instead of a footer? I don't have anywhere I need to be, can we further analyze this Robert Frost poem?" There's always that guy.

I was totally ready for this Minimock too :(

Decimate is another one which pretty much everyone ever uses wrongly - even to the extent that by now the definition may have changed.

It should mean that one in ten men have been killed but most people assume it just means destroyed.

I don't think I've ever heard this used outside the internet, though