Phrases to avoid

The folks at Oxford have gathered together a “Top Ten” of phrases to avoid in your writing because they are so “irritating.” 

1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. I personally
4. At this moment in time
5. With all due respect
6. Absolutely
7. It’s a nightmare
8. Shouldn’t of
9. 24/7
10. It’s not rocket science

Many more are added in the comments — mostly business lingo and the sort of thing that Dilbert pokes fun at.

And BBC Magazine collected a “Top Twenty” of most hated clichés.

1. Basically
2. To be fair
3. To be honest
4. Going forward
5. The fact of the matter is
6. Let’s face it
7. touch base
8. 110%
9. In the pipeline
10. The reason being
11. You know …
12. I’m not being funny but …
13. By the end of play today
14. Singing from the same hymn sheet
15. Can’t get my head around it
16. A raft of proposals
17. Roll out
18. Walk the talk
19. Lessons will be learned
20. Actually

To be fair, there are a few there that only crop up among the Brits … but all of them things that, to be honest, we could all use with using a little less. Now to see, at the end of the day, if I can walk the talk …

(via LifeHacker, wherein are a few entertaining comments, too)