Here are two:
* Not to mention...
and
* Let me explain...

Why do people say, "not to mention," and then they mention what ever it is?

"You'll have plenty of time to sleep when you're dead."

Said to me by a temporary co-worker some time back, after I complained how tired I was, while working 14 hour days in the midst of the busy season.

Since he wasn't full-time, he was allowed to leave by 5PM. But I couldn't say anything smarmy back to him, because he had a debilitating illness that kept him from working more than six or seven hours a day anyway. So I had no other choice except to run off screaming into the night. :haha:

"Did you find everything all right?"

No, you moron, that's why I'm standing here spending $250 at the fucking Target, because I didn't find everything!

and if you say "no," they ignore you anyway.

oh, and "[whatever] is go gay/ghey" used as an derogative. Pisses me off royally everytime. Me and Hillary Duff agree.

Don't see what's wrong with "what's more..." ...."Do the math" pisses me off. I can't help myself, I hear it and my mind fills in the missing 's'.

Annoyingly, this insidious little phrase has wormed its way into my consciousness and I find myself saying it from time to time. Grrr.

Welcome to the Cellar by the way *smiles*

Oh hey, Cic, you might want to add "God doesn't give us more than we can cope with" to that list.

HLJ 'not to mention' is something that gets used a lot in the UK. I think it's a fairly British style if phrase. Like the phrase "not inconsiderable": on the one hand it means the same as 'considerabe', but it has a different emphasis and tone. Likewise 'not to mention' is a way of throwing a particular emphasis or focus onto the thing you are about to mention.

My goal is to start dropping these sayings into various posts around The Cellar.


Or do you think that that's too gay?

I'm sorry, then - I am one of those annoying people who do say things like "everything happens for a reason," or "something good will come of it," because pollyanna that I am, I believe it. I can think of a few situations that are just flat-out awful beyond redemption, but most everyday problems do indeed have "silver linings."

Like losing your job and discovering that wasn't the right career path to fulfill you anyhow. Or not getting the job your really wanted, but then getting a better one down the line. Or getting dumped by a guy you really loved, then meeting someone better.

Sometimes those things aren't as obvious. For example, when my father had a stroke and died a year later, I was (of course) devastated. I quit my job because my parents had been my kids' daycare and paying for a sitter for two of them would wipe out my paycheck. I'm so glad I had that opportunity to be a full time mom, even though we were really poor. And when he died, it really got me thinking about how short life was - I started doing what I should've been doing long ago, writing and submitting and getting published, because I thought if life's so damn short, I don't have the luxury of being timid about it! My mom died. Inheritance = college tuition + motivation to honor her memory by doing my best at it!

That doesn't change the fact that it was purely awful to have my parents die. But if life gives you lemons...really, trite or not, you can choose to wallow in self-pity, or you can choose to find what actually might be good about the situation, even if that's nothing more than a challenge for personal growth. Life may not also give you a pitcher of water, ice and sugar -- getting them is up to you, and if you sit around waiting for them to be delivered to your door, I guess you're right -- if it did happen for a reason, it was lost on you.

So there.

The sayings that tick me off the most are malapropisms and mixed metaphors. Like the ones I can't think of right now.

Oh, and let's see...."that's random," used by tweens and teens who don't seem to know what "random" means.

I think the main point, Juniper, in people's complaints about such phrases as "everything turns out all right in the end" or "It will be okay" isn't so much the phrases themselves, as the lack of thought/consideration of the person uttering them, the knee-jerk reaction that causes utterance of such phrases, and how trite those phrases have become.

Or that hearing those type of phrases just doesnt give any comfort at the time.

What's your position on "festive?"

Exactly, like the ones on the tip of your tongue but, never mind, drift.
That's part of the "skating on wet ice" problem for me. The physics of skating is that the extreme pressure under the blade of the skate causes the ice to melt locally so you are always skating on wet ice. Not to mention (hahahahahahneeneneerennnnernenenrnernerner neener) that the expression is SKATING ON THIN ICE which is inherently dangerous! helleaux??? and lastly, even if the ice were covered with a thin pool of water it wouldn't really be an issue if you were skating and not falling on your ass.

but whatever, it is what it is, life gives you lemons and you grab it by the horns, is what I always don't say.

I am really glad that I read this thread. Next time some one is in the emotional ringer and looks to me for a little or a lot of support, instead of telling them that it will be o.k.....I'll tell them looks like your just fucked. In fact I know the answer for you, God hates you. Well that's a lie too, there is no God or underling spiritual meaning in the world and you obviously got yourself into the emotional ringer all on your lonesome, and you'll just have to get yourself out. So, your fucked. Have a fucked day. :)

Oh, and nothing is what it is, it's something else, and you can't really see what it is because of your faith, or belief, or lack of faith or lack of education or lack of common sense or lack of blah blah blah...so your fucked. Have a fucked day :)

...silly spellings like "hai" and "helleaux."

Just kidding. I think they're cute and creative. A lot better than ur txt spk, sry!

Juni: and irony, don't forget irony.

Joe: Try "Dude, you are soooo fucked, I'm sure glad I'm not you."Don't forget to rub some salt in it!

I don't like irony very much. Must be why I'm getting wrinkled. I'm more of a wash & wear gal, myself.