10 most annoying words and phrases 2023

[BrumJim]

"I am sorry for the delay..."

No you're not. You are a pre-recorded message. Stop pretending you have emotions.

 

[figbat]

Nothing from here is from 2023 and a good proportion are from the previous millennia.

I'll admit I wasn't around in the years 1-1000 to be able to confirm.

One from me is using a plural where the singular is required. For example having to meet "a criteria", experiencing "a phenomena" or being infected by "a bacteria".

 

[Dogtrousers]

OK here's one that genuinely does annoy me. And has annoyed me for decades, let alone 2023. That is the substitution of "yourself" for "you". As in "we will send the goods to yourself".

I think it originates in a wish to appear polite and a fear that "you" is too blunt, so obviously it needs a fancy polite form. "Yourself" seems to fit the bill.

 

[Gwylan]

"Leverage" as a verb. "We will leverage our AI tech to improve our blah.."
Another corporate Americanism, or American corporatism.

You mean "use" you numpty!

Use to our advantage.

 

[Gwylan]

"Let's run this up the flagpole and see who salutes it!"

So Noughties

 

[Gwylan]

Pivot.

Also means I agreed up so now we have to pivot (away from the mistake).

Swerve to avoid the spear of blame and deflect responsibility.

 

[Alex321]

Just out of interest, are the people who are annoyed by "can I get" all working in retail, serving customers? Because that's the only time you'll hear it with any regularity. Or do you go around earwigging people buying stuff?

If you are queueing in a coffee shop or similar, you will frequently hear it from the people in front of you in the queue.

But it isn't that recent a thing. I first remember being annoyed by it back in around 1998 when my then team leader used to use it - and I would hear that quite often from him, as we used to go (along with another couple of team members) to a local pub quiz night every week.

 

[Gwylan]

Go hard. (Not what you might be thinking.)

Apparently, it means printing something from the digital realm and thereby producing a hard copy eg a poster.

Go hard or go home!

Do it properly the first time!

 

[Gwylan]

I'll admit I wasn't around in the years 1-1000 to be able to confirm.

One from me is using a plural where the singular is required. For example having to meet "a criteria", experiencing "a phenomena" or being infected by "a bacteria".

Not giving people a decent classical education's means they don't know Latin from Greek and just copy what they heard

Stick it in a Venn diagram it's all sorted innit

 

[Dogtrousers]

Fred Trueman: "If you're going to flash, flash hard"

Aggers and Thommo: Tee hee hee

 

[Gwylan]

we used to go (along with another couple of team members) to a local pub quiz night every week.

Management wisdom 101

Never drink or mess ( all meanings apply) with the help!

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

The feels. As in "It gets me right in the feels."

In other words, your vocabulary is so limited, you can't actually explain how it makes you feel.

 

[Beebo]

“Black Friday” as a concept.
It’s hardly new for 2023 but it’s total balls.

 

[Alex321]

“Black Friday” as a concept.
It’s hardly new for 2023 but it’s total balls.

Particularly given that it arises from being the day people in the US go out to start shopping for Christmas, being the day after Thanksgiving.

So it really is a very US specific thing which has nonsensically spread here.

 

[presta]

Any "Americanism", 24/7 really bugs me.

Me too, but there was an interesting programme on Radio 4 once pointing out that a lot of them were originally English. 'Gotten' is from Shakespeare.