Ju
st a quick note today. There are several loose ends I need to tie up before I head off to Scotland.
Yesterday from 1-4 PM, I sat attentively in front of my televesion watching the New England Patriots play the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. It was the NFL’s annual game in London at the Venue of Legends or Wembley Stadium as it is better known. Pre-game coverage was as exhausting as the Democratic National Convention. Some found symmetry in the return of the pre-Tea Party Patriots to the Motherland. In a nation, that like ours, is fascinated by celebrity, the infiltration by Tom Brady and his super model wife, Gisele Bundchen, sent the paparazzi into camera flash overload. It was a home game for Tampa Bay by draw but this was not home for either 40 man squad.
I am an Anglophile. I admit it. But I guarantee that you have never heard me use the expression, “across the pond.” Yesterday, the pre-game and play-by-play announcers used that expression ad nauseum. Its usage almost seemed mandated by the NFL in order to psychologically reduce the distance and time zones of their newest market, London. Transatlantic or overseas sounds too far away. Lets use “across the pond!”
As I sat in front of the tv listening, I heard more “across the ponds” in 10 minutes than I heard in a lifetime. I am leading the campaign to retire that idiom.
And here are some more I hope to never hear again:
Piece of cake
Drop in the bucket
All Greek to me
New York minute
When pigs fly
The whole nine yards
Raining cats and dogs
Heat of the moment
Elvis has left the building
And the rest. Do you have any you hope to never hear again?
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No phrases to get rid of but can we ban the use of the word “literally”?
I think ” It is what It is” can diffuse any awkward situation. I’ve settled many disputes with that.
We should ban the precursor ” to tell you the truth…” This saying or warning implies that he or she is full of shit 99% of the time and that this sentence is the exception. What do you think?
“To be honest…” (similar to Kevin’s post)
“What’s more…”
Phil, does that mean we would have to ban “figurtively” also?
Kevin, and Beth, I hate them both but I say them both. Bad habits are hard to break. Kevin, you hit the nail on the head…oh wait. Lets ban that too.
Christopher, did you notice how all of these idioms are a century old?
I would think “with all due respect” should go too.
I’ve got a word that I associate with a lie….the word “absolutely”. However, I do love that when I hear some one use the word “but”…which to me is indicative of “Behold the Underlying Truth”….example: I love Jane’s dress BUT the color is bright. The truth always seems to come…after the BUT.