Top Ten Irritating Phrases
Researchers at Oxford University recently compiled a list of the top ten most irritating phrases. This list is very useful to business writers because we certainly want to avoid using them, and they illustrate the morphing nature of language.
The researchers who compiled the list monitor the use of phrases in a massive language database, called the Oxford University Corpus, which comprises books, papers, magazines, broadcast, the internet, and other sources.
The database alerts the researchers to new words and phrases, and can tell them which expressions are disappearing, or being overused so much they have become irritating to hear or read.
The top ten most irritating phrases:
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
Are there other phrases you find annoying in business writing?
Learn More: Business Writing Courses
