Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[gurnemanz]

That is so. It is a bit like everyone wanting to be 'above average' - only more so. No doubt someone will coin 'superoutstanding' (superstanding?) to compensate.

As well as demanding that everybody should be above average, Ofsted now also states that being "satisfactory" is not satisfactory.

[Beef Oven]

As well as demanding that everybody should be above average, Ofsted now also states that being "satisfactory" is not satisfactory.

As is Clegg's view on 'social mobility'.

[amateur51]

That is so. It is a bit like everyone wanting to be 'above average' - only more so. No doubt someone will coin 'superoutstanding' (superstanding?) to compensate.

I read a review recently that noted that the subject was guaranteed to give you 200% effort.

I can feel the language slipping away ...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"When you think about it ... "

Usually uttered by someone who seldom does, as a preface to a platitude.

[Pabmusic]

I read a review recently that noted that the subject was guaranteed to give you 200% effort.

I can feel the language slipping away ...

It's odd isn't it? The desire to create superlatives seems inevitably to drive the meaning down towards mediocracy. It's a little like the second law of thermodynamics - everything in a closed system tends towards chaos. With words, everything tends towards platitudinous mush.

[amateur51]

The interchangeablity of "Don't think I'm being funny, but ..." and "With the greatest possible respect ...", just the accent and background varies, but the insincerity is identical

[mangerton]

Have I mentioned this before?

If any politician uses the word "clear", it almost certainly means the opposite.

"Let me be clear about this". "We've made it perfectly clear". "Clearly....."

[JFLL]

‘Look’, as prefaced to a reply to an interviewer, as in ‘Look, the Chancellor has made it perfectly clear that …’ This always used to be a sign of impatience with the questioner (as though he had asked a silly question), but it now seems to be used almost routinely, presumably to show how serious and sincere the speaker is.

[amateur51]

‘Look’, as prefaced to a reply to an interviewer, as in ‘Look, the Chancellor has made it perfectly clear that …’ This always used to be a sign of impatience with the questioner (as though he had asked a silly question), but it now seems to be used almost routinely, presumably to show how serious and sincere the speaker is.

It became one of Blair's verbal ticks, signalling both irritation (at being rumbled) and impatience (at being rumbled). It was almost a diversionary tactic as in "Look!" "Where?"

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

"Redact" is the latest word that we can expect to done to death in the next few months by those in the media who like to show off a bit.

Was this a response to my message?

[ahinton]

At the risk of mixing threads, "there's a cheque in the post" (or a poke in the chest, as some of us used to say)...

[french frank]

Whenever I hear something is a 'shoo-in', I confuse it with putting shoes on - something I do with increasing difficulty these days which clouds the issue still further...

[johnb]

A word that really gets my hackles up is when 'refute' is used by politicians, etc when they really mean 'deny' but want to give the impression of something stronger.

Even more irritating is the fact that no journalist or interviewer ever challenges people who use 'refute' misleadingly in this way.

[vinteuil]

A word that really gets my heckles up .

... they have really classy hackles in Bristol

[Nick Armstrong]

... they have really classy hackles in Bristol

Perfection, vinrouge!!