stupid expressions

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Some expressions are stupid.

Which ones annoy you?

The one that annoys me is "Have your cake and eat it"

This doesn't make any sense - what is the point of having cake if you can't eat it?
 
joescrivens said:
Some expressions are stupid.

Which ones annoy you?

The one that annoys me is "Have your cake and eat it"

This doesn't make any sense - what is the point of having cake if you can't eat it?
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Dudley Moore, the actor, made that very same comment regarding that expression in a movie of his from the 1980s; made me always think of the logic of any expression thereafter.
 
'King Kenny' - What is that all about? Never been a King called Kenny.
 
The expression "You're missing the point" annoys me. Generally people that use this either haven't explained themselves clearly or are using it as a wind-up technique for disagreeing with someone's opposing view.
 
tiler65 said:
You use that expression about a certain person all the time.
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I just did a search of the term "King Kenny" whith my name as the poster. There wasn't one post where I used it. Apart from the one above (and now this one).

Also, it's not an expression, it's a name - in this thread we are talking about expressions such as:

"Have your cake and eat it"

or

"Gift of the Gab"

or

"Pie in the sky"

etc.
 
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Spuff said:
The expression "You're missing the point" annoys me. Generally people that use this either haven't explained themselves clearly or are using it as a wind-up technique for disagreeing with someone's opposing view.
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is that mainly in forums or open speech also?
 
joescrivens said:
Some expressions are stupid.

Which ones annoy you?

The one that annoys me is "Have your cake and eat it"

This doesn't make any sense - what is the point of having cake if you can't eat it?
Click to expand...

It is usuall negative, in that "You CAN'T have your cake and eat it", meaning that you can't have the best of both worlds...you can have one or the other. Keep the cake, or eat the cake...not both. :)

Incidentally, I hate the phrases that were overused, primarily in business, and so on, such as "Pushing the envelope" and "Let me run this by you" and other such things. Annoy the hell out of me! :)
 
One of my old managers was the king of buzz word phrases, although we all held the opinion he didn't know what he was actually saying most of the time.

We were proven right when he said to me "We need to do things differently.... think laterally, think outside the box".

OOOOOKAY!!! Those expressions mean totally different things, which one would you like me to do :LOL:
 
Russ77 said:
One of my old managers was the king of buzz word phrases, although we all held the opinion he didn't know what he was actually saying most of the time.

We were proven right when he said to me "We need to do things differently.... think laterally, think outside the box".

OOOOOKAY!!! Those expressions mean totally different things, which one would you like me to do :LOL:
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There, see? Some of those annoying phrases..."Think outside the box". What? What box? :bonk:
 
Bend The Light said:
It is usuall negative, in that "You CAN'T have your cake and eat it", meaning that you can't have the best of both worlds...you can have one or the other. Keep the cake, or eat the cake...not both. :)
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I never thought about it that way.

In which case it does make some sense - but still what is the point of keeping cake and not eating it?
 
Bend The Light said:
There, see? Some of those annoying phrases..."Think outside the box". What? What box? :bonk:
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It's a bit like "blue sky thinking" :LOL:

I think what it means is don't think in a conventional manor with a "box" being a conventional shape.

But I agree, it's still a rediculous saying...... how about some more....

Get your ducks in a row

Draw a line in the sand

Take it offline

Win-Win

Bottom Line

Touch Base
 
One that really annoys me is a West Country thing (maybe even Bristolian?); “where’s that to?” no, no, no, you mean “where is that?” it’s even got me annoyed typing it!

“I don’t want to be rude but…” either you do want to be rude, in which case just say what you mean, or just keep quiet.

Not an expression per se, but people who say “axed” instead of “asked”.
 
My ex hated it when I would use "I'll just have something to put me on" meaning I'll have a snack because I'm a bit hungry. "Put you on what?" followed by "AAAARRRGGHHH!!!"
 
Bend The Light said:
There, see? Some of those annoying phrases..."Think outside the box". What? What box? :bonk:
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Indeed,"think outside the ****ing box", **** the ***ing box.


Ahhhh.........that feels better.........:D
 
When I lived in Glasgow they used to say they were going to "Get their messages" meaning food shopping - what's that all about.

they would also say "See you at the back of 2" - depending on who said it it could mean

"2.05pm"
"1.55pm"
or "2.55pm"
 
"things aint what they used to be" ---- of course not, if they were we would all be stuck in ******* time warp !!!!:wacky::wacky:
 
"Low hanging fruit"

"Rough order of magnitude"

"Take to the next level"

I have experienced people who could fill a page of a report with these sort of phrases. They are all a smokescreen to allow the user to disguise the fact that they have a very limited knowledge of the subject. Challenge them on what exactly they mean and they will try to counter that by alleging that whoever cannot understand must have some sort of weakness.
 
My old boss once said " iff we get out of this we will come up smelling of trimps" he wad sn idiot.
 
I often have a bit of something "on the side" with my dinner...such as crisps with a sandwich, or bread & butter with fish 'n' Chips...the missus hates it.

But then my missus "Puts Up" sandwiches for my daughter's school lunch!
I always wonder where she puts them up, or if she gives them a bed for the night!
 
never understood how you can chop a tree down and then chop it up....
 
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I hate the phrase "reach out" as in "I'm going to call you".

If you try to reach out to me I'll break your ****ing fingers
 
Well, it's not really an expression, but it drives me insane nonetheless....and that's when someone can't sting together a sentence without saying "you know" a couple of dozen times.
Granted, it's generally sportsmen / women, but a staggering amount of politicians also do it.

Also, when someone starts a sentence with the words "I don't mean to be funny........." I just want to punch them because i know that they're not going to be remotely funny!
 
joescrivens said:
Some expressions are stupid.

Which ones annoy you?

The one that annoys me is "Have your cake and eat it"

This doesn't make any sense - what is the point of having cake if you can't eat it?
Click to expand...

Maybe it was meant to be "You can't eat your cake and have it too" that makes much more sense :D
 
Yv said:
'Cheap at half the price' - aarrgghhhhhhh...... I think its meant to be ironic but ever since childhood have only ever heard used to indicate something is genuinely cheap and ergo, makes no bloody sense at all! :bang:
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It doesn't make any sense because the actual saying is "cheap at twice the price"
 
"Winning hearts and minds."

There are so many things wrong with that phrase... :annoyed:
 
Have your cake and eat it isn't an expression, it's more an idiomatic phrase or proverb. It means you want to benefit from both states. The best of both worlds, to put it in cliche form.

It's better to say that you want to play with your Stars Wars figures, but still keep them in the box to retain their value.

Most expressions, idioms, phrases and proverbs made perfect sense in the beginning, but get confused over time by people using them incorrectly or substituting words when they aren't supposed to.

Perfect example is an American's tendency to say "could care less", which makes no sense in the context that they use it, yet 300 million of them have never questioned it.
 
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joescrivens said:
When I lived in Glasgow they used to say they were going to "Get their messages" meaning food shopping - what's that all about.

"
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Common saying in Welsh too, but I've never heard it said in English though.

There's also a good 'posh' welsh saying "Yn rhad ac am ddim" used when we mean for free, literally translates "(going) for cheap and for nothing"
 
Edit : Removed.
 
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Next Friday

The next friday is tomorrow, but they mean not the next friday, the friday after.

This Friday is the next Friday.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
Next Friday

The next friday is tomorrow, but they mean not the next friday, the friday after.

This Friday is the next Friday.
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No, tommorrow is this Friday. Last Friday was last week, and next friday is in 8 days time. :)

or is that what you said? :bonk:
 
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