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Annoying things that people say

electra

A question for the autsitc people on the forums:

What figures of speech or expressions really bug you? For me its when people say 'You're joking!' when I've just told them something serious and am clearly not joking.

For instance I'll tell my boss that a bit of equipment has broken down and what does he say? 'You're joking!'. Why does he keep doing this, there's nothing remotely humourous in what I've said and I'm waiting for his instructions on what to do! And its not rhetorical because he waits for a response after saying it and I then say I'm not joking.

Another pet hate is are 'How are you?' when the questioner doesn't really want an honest reply.

  • One thing that annoys me intensely is when people say about spending "quality time" with their families, friends, etc.  I wish they'd explain to us what the difference is between time and quality time.  If they want more time with their loved ones, why don't they just say that?  It's what you choose to do with that time that matters - surely the time itself can't have a "quality"?

    It's being used more and more by people too!  Very annoying.....

  • NAS15840 said:

    "It's always in the last place I look" well I'd hope so, you'd be really stupid if you kept searching for something after you'd found it!



    Interestingly, this came up in a Uni lecture two weeks ago (I'm currently studying sociolinguistics) and the origin of the saying is actually "It's always in the last place I'd look", thus suggesting it's always in the last place you'd THINK to look - which makes far more sense. It is simply as case - as is increasingly so - that between general laziness with language and genuine misunderstanding, the belief is now that the saying really is "It's always in the last place I look". This isn't helped when it's perpetuated by influential people in pop culture, like Lee Evans who made a big joke of it on one of his tours.

    In a similar vein to asking "how are you?", my annoyance is the flip-side of that - when I ask someone what's wrong and they say, "Nothing, I'm fine" then proceed to be not fine, and not at all like how they were beforehand. I do not take hints or cues well; I am easily confused by body language and facial expression; for ***'s sake just tell me what's wrong and then we can talk about it! Then everything will be fine!

    I guess it's the whole 'social convention' thing, about the turn-taking and game-playing. Why? Why must we!? Why not just be bloody straightforward and truthful!? Agh!

    I will doubtless have more to add - great thread! 

  • People talking about 'body language' when they actually mean facial expressions.

    People telling me to 'stop being sorry for yourself' when I'm in the middle of a meltdown.  Don't know what the heck that's supposed to mean: sounds like I've split into two people, one of whom's upset, and one who's standing next to them going 'there there, poor thing'. Actually the middle of a meltdown is the time I'm least able to be detached and least able to stop acting upset, so anybody who wants to say this to me, please wait until I'm calm and can discuss what exactly you mean and if I can do anything about it.

    People (in London) who say 'sorry' before barging past you. If you were really sorry you wouldn't do it. The correct phrase is 'excuse me' with time allowed for the person to move.  Sorry should be for AFTER you've accidentaly bumped someone.

    An advert at the moment, that says a kid's snack is 'made from ingredients like chocolate, wheat and eggs'.  So it's made from carob, cornmeal and ground fish scale merigue substitute is it?

    People who tell me to turn a knob or a screw 'to the left' or 'to the right'.  But if it's circular, then if the 'top' is going left, then the 'bottom' is going right, and vice versa.  So which area of it do you want going in that direction?  I have to ask them if they want clockwise or anticlockwise, but apparently most people just know?!?

  • "I turned around and said to her...." well in that case she'd looking at your back wouldn't she.

    "contains real soap" has anyone ever encountered fake soap?

  • "Just for a change"

    No not for a change for a reall treat lets keep everything the same? Yes? thank you!

  • Drives you round the bend sometimes. There's a sign on a motorway that says 'Tiredness kills Take a Break'. For years, I tried to work out why a weekly magazine saw fit to sponsor a road safety sign in that location, and speculated for ages on what they meant by 'Tiredness kills' - like who, where, under what circumstances? I've been tired lots in my life, but I haven't been killed by it so far.