"Could care less" really irks me lol. Like, if you just stop and think about it it makes no sense? If you could potentially care less about a topic that means you must care at least somewhat in the first place?
this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2025
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Any phrase that people say after someone sneezes
Why do we have to acknowledge sneezes? Everyone does it. Just let people sneeze and move on
I always say “Fuck you” because I enjoy the looks.
I just overheard someone describe how their friend was "demolitioning" her house.
So, yeah, that.
I hate it when people verb their nouns too. It's egregified when they start participling their already verbed nouns.
So when it's done it'll have been demolitionized?
Like... destroying it with a bulldozer? Idk what that means
the verb form of demolition already exists, it's demolish(ing)
Just... why?
Because people can be very, very, very ignorant of their own language.
Pedantic as hell but when someone uses decimated wrong, folks want it to mean annihilated but it doesn't
Decimate
/dĕs′ə-māt″/
- To inflict great destruction upon
What's the issue?
Not the person you replied to, but I'm guessing that they're a stickler for the original meaning, which is "to reduce by a 10th", hence the "deci" in decimate. It comes from a military discipline practice that could only have been invented by the Romans. The force to be punished is divided into groups of 10, and each group is given a bag containing 9 white pebbles and one black pebble. They each take turns reaching into the bag blindly and grabbing a pebble. The people with the white pebbles are then each given a cudgel and ordered to bludgeon the poor bastard with the black pebble to death, hence reducing their overall numbers by a tenth, or decimating them.
The issue is that this second definition is another tragic loss to ignorance that led us to literally have no way to refer to things literally any longer: prolonged misuse (@elbucho@lemmy.world ably explained the proper use) has led to another vague word that used to have a precise meaning.
“Just sayn’!”
what the fuck does that even MEAN.
It means they're not trying to imply anything more than they're saying. Just saying.
keep going.
the structure of the sentence - “i am just saying”
the word saying is being used as a verb, but in a completely nonsensical way that defies the word’s definition.
this annoys me almost as much as the people write “sike!”, instead of the actual, properly shortened word “psyche!”. it makes us collectively look dumb as shit.
Would it surprise you to learn that Fox News had a segment called Just Sayin' a while back? It was basically the usual shithead pundits oversimplifying an issue and having a half-assed "hot take comment" typical of the ones one would find on fox news.
“SLEEPY JOE BIDEN IS SO SLEEPY!! LMAO JUST SAYIN’!!!”
It predated both Biden and trump, but you've got the tone right. "Obama claims to be for public healthcare, yet he want to regulate health care providers. Just sayin."
what the fuck does that even MEAN.
It's a cop-out phrase most frequently used by people want to deflect consequences for stated opinions (usually hateful or stupid) or to deliver veiled insults without accountability.
Grinds my gears
That phrase really grinds my gears
🤣
When people "speak to" a topic. Just say "about".
fuck around and find out… people just think they sound so goddamned cool when they say it. it’s the worst.
To be fair, it's shorter and punchier than "play stupid games, win stupid prizes".
I have recently started appreciating this, mostly as a shorter form for the scientific process - f around (perform the experiment) -> find out (record observations) does notexactly cover the 5 steps, but is short enough to conway the gist
"To be honest..." / "If I'm being honest..."
So, what, you're normally lying?
"It is what it is"
A tautology is a tautology.
"Tell me how you really feel" (said after you share a harsh opinion on someone / something)
Didn't I just do that?
"I'll hold down the fort"
Why? Is it threatening to float away?
I'll admit that last one is a bit David Mitchellian.
"all but" is the single most unnecessary phrase. It is confusing to non English speakers since it means the opposite of what the parts mean ("everything except"), it flows weird, and you can just remove that phrase and get the same meaning from the sentence. I see it all the time in journalism and it feels like it only exists to hit a word count.
It sounds contrived. That's why it irritates me anyway lol
I feel the same way about the term "dead ass"... It just sounds like someone's trying too hard for some reason
"not gonna lie..." So does that mean you actually lie most of the time unless you notify people??? "you got this!" That is the most low self-esteem encouragement ever. No Bridgett, you don't got this, your going to mess it up like you always do.
"Burglarize."
A "burglar" is called such because they "burgle".
It's already a verb. You turned it into a noun. Then you turned that noun back into a verb. What the Hell is wrong with you!?
All of a/the sudden. Means the same thing as 'suddenly' and doesn't flow right
"Toot sweet."
Learn French toot sweet or stop using what sounds French to your ignorant ears. (Replace French with every other language you don't know but think you're using.)
"On God" has bothered me since I first heard it. Mostly because it's an older phrase being used incorrectly in modern times. I've never seen it used like "I swear, on God, I am telling the truth!" No! It's used like "oh my God" and feels like it started because someone made a typo for "OMG" into "ONG."
I haven't come across it hardly ever, but now when I do I'm gonna see the ONG behind the scenes in my head.
I don't know if I'm upset about this yet. But I got my eye on you.
Lol
“What I’m saying is… is that the Earth is only roundISH.
Why do so many people insert an extra IS ?
There's no way they can be called out, they said ish! They didn't say x! They said x-ish!
“No notes” “Adulting”
Basically everything that Redditors say.
No no when talking about taboos or faux pas. Talk like an adult.
"Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are."
It's a saying used to express the idea people can be judged by what friends they have. It's just false though, as it assumes everyone else judges each other for their differences. By the same logic, everyone here must be an extrovert because everyone here hangs out with extroverts.
“Lost in the sauce” is one I can think of right away. Like are you five?
Based.
Fucking useless word.
Euphemisms and bowdlerisms. For example, don't say "heck" or "darn". Either have the faux-courage it takes to say "Hell" and "damn" or reformulate.
Also, stop eliding words. F__ you if you think somehow invoking a specific word while pretending you didn't type it fooled anybody.