Oscar Wilde, Sheridan Morley, Tim Heald, Peter Ustinov, Stephen Fry and the like are all part of the tradition of the great British Raconteur. Wordsmiths and linguists create pictures with words in and sharpen our appetite for knowledge.
However, what I have noticed recently is the devolution of the English language to almost a form of communication that consists of grunts and groans, much like our Neanderthal fore bearers
There’s the ubiquitous “like” that we have all grown familiar with over the last few years. “Like” has pretty much become the modern equivalent of “um” used add infinitum in each and every loud conversation that assaults one’s ears.
If ever there was a phrase born out of stupidity its “I’m not gonna lie”. If someone was going to lie, they would not say “I’m going to lie” so what on earth is the point of declaiming that you aren’t about to lie?
Ending sentences with “To be fair” is also a pointless exercise as it actually means that one has considered all facts and is a move toward impartiality. No one who uses this sentence ender has considered any facts!
Then we have, possibly the most redundant word currently being bandied about “Literally” I mean, what is the point of saying it? It’s generally said when the thing that is being referred to is not “literally’ true or has happened. Or its used to emphasise something that doesn’t need emphasising.
What we are also facing are a plethora of annoying slang terms that seem to have been created in a laboratory; “Holibobs”, “Amazeballs”, “Totes”, “My bad”. Slightly grating? You bet, Pointless? Certainly. I’m pretty sure that there will be more additions to the dictionary this year. Perhaps I’ll invent one and copyright it
I need not say why I find “110%” both infuriating and clearly an impossible statement, but my current least wanted expression has to be “You got this”.
“You got this” What? What is it that you've “got”? every word of encouragement has to have a “You got this” attached. This is peak Americanisation and frankly I find it almost intolerable. I would prefer a strong “Come on, you can do this” followed by a firm handshake on task completion.
I’ll finish this with a message for the “You got this” users.
You don’t attend a US High School, you don’t coach a University Basketball team, and you don’t work as a motivational speaker so just stop saying it!
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having said that;