Forum Topic

“Reaching Out” for Hated Phrases

I see in John Cameron’s thread that Simon Lightwood, MP, and Minister for Local Transport thanks Fleur Anderson for “reaching out” to his Department regarding Hammersmith Bridge. I detest the phrase “reaching out” and I wondered if anyone else felt the same, or has their own pet hates when it comes to phrases?

Martine Guy ● 92d24 Comments

Gifting. Urgh! Gift is a noun. What’s wrong with giving? Another one I hate is someone beginning a sentence with “So”.

Lisa Cottam ● 89d

Perhaps we need a tsar for Hated Phrases?At the very least a warrior or champion!

Ed Robinson ● 89d

My objection is not to americanisms such as movie but to pretentious phrases  like 'drilling down' or 'deep dive',  whose aim is to show that the speaker is tackling the job seriously even if the only evidence for this is familiarity with the latest buzz words.

Steven Rose ● 89d

My kids laugh when I ask if they are going to the pictures.

Andy Pike ● 89d

Oh yes, irritating when people refer to their 'lives' as a 'journey'. Also Brits who talk about a'movie' instead of a 'film'.

Bill Christie ● 89d

Probably “on a journey”. Then they’ll be “across” whatever it is they are talking about.

Jonathan Callaway ● 89d

As long as it's not the abyss ...:-)

Michael Ixer ● 89d

This morning on the radio I heard a Labour  minister promising that the government would 'lean into' something or other.

Steven Rose ● 89d

Thank you for all the infuriating, annoying phrases.  I agree with all of you. Michael, that made me laugh about the buzzword bingo.  I would probably do the same if I were in a meeting and people were saying this awful business speak. Richard, See It, Say It, Sort It ARGH!  It irritates so much.

Martine Guy ● 90d

With the failure of the growth budget I'm sure they'll find another word soon.

Andy Pike ● 90d

It's strange how some terms become the dominant one in any economic discussion. In this government it is of course "growth" and in the last, it was "the deficit". I don't think most people, including me, really understand what these things fundamentally mean.

Richard Carter ● 90d

I know someone who got into trouble playing buzzword bingo with colleagues in a meeting - they involuntary shouted out "bingo" :-)

Michael Ixer ● 90d

Dislike increasing use of ‘grow’ eg the economy/business, when expand, enlarge or increase are readily available.

Peter Evans ● 90d

"I also dislike blue sky thinking, drilling down into the granular detail"Good grief I'd struggle not to laugh if somebody came out with either of those at a meeting🙄I agree Martine that 'reaching out' is a particularly irritating Americanism that has crept into our language, as is 'gotten' which may be grammatically acceptable to many, but not to me Others which aggravate me are: at pace at the end of the day (I may even have used it myself🤭)thinking outside the box squaring the circle flag up (because a particularly annoying work colleague was always flagging up stuff during meetings - I think it made her feel important😺)

Sue Hammond ● 91d

I hate the phrase too. Also the get go instead of the beginning.

Lucille Grant ● 91d

And another infuriating phrase in the endlessly repeated terrorism warning on the transport system: "See it, Say it, Sorted."

Richard Carter ● 91d

Not exactly a hated phrase, but infuriating anyway, is the silly practice of knocking off 1p from a price to make it look less - as if someone looking at a sofa priced at £799.99 would be scared off buying it if it was quoted at £800.And allied to this, the pathetic practice of saying something costs "from £x", when it's much more likely it'll be substantially higher than £x.

Richard Carter ● 91d

Although I dislike 'reaching out' I do most definitely see and understand it as much more of an effort to try to communicate with someone than just writing a letter - which government departments are not keen on and can actively discourage!  They seem to prefer you to fill in badly constructed forms!'Affordable housing' irritates me as it gives the impression to the uninformed that it is affordable to all those needing a home when it  most definitely isn't.

Philippa Bond ● 91d

Whenever someone says they're going to "reach out" I always think of the Four Tops ...

Michael Ixer ● 92d

Local Transport = going nowhere

Ed Robinson ● 92d

Best Practice

Jane Carter ● 92d

The most abused words in the English language are “lessons will be learnt”.  They never are of course. I also dislike blue sky thinking, drilling down into the granular detail (but lacking the bandwidth to process it) and a million other management-speak nonsenses.

Jonathan Callaway ● 92d

'Working people'.

Steven Rose ● 92d

Agreed such a load of nonsense.  My pet annoyance is “deep dive”.Perhaps some of these politicians should try this for Hammersmith Bridge but remember to take a snorkel.

Robert Wheeler ● 92d