5 More Absurd Expressions We All Take For Granted

 

As promised in my last post here are 5 more of those stupid, irritating expressions we see and hear all over and may even use ourselves.

5 Very Unique

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this one, I’d still be writing this, it’s that pointless. If something is unique it is one of a kind, there’s nothing else like it. Something can’t be kind of unique or very unique, it is or it isn’t. There aren’t degrees of unique, it’s all or nothing. The Statue of Liberty is unique. Uluru in the centre of Australia is unique. They are one of a kind, there’s nothing else like them. People feel like they need to add an extra word in front for emphasis, it’s wrong and unnecessary. Stop it.

4 Alot

Just typing the above word was physically painful for me and made my text editor auto-correct. It isn’t even a word. I see this one a lot in the readers’ comments on many websites and I stop reading. A lot has always been two words and it will always be two words. I know the English language is evolving and words get shortened and fused together but, trust me, this is one expression that will stay as two separate words.

3 Irregardless

Here’s one guaranteed to make a lot of people scream and hit things. Another case of feeling as if something must be added to the front, or perhaps just ignorance of the meaning of the original word. Regardless means without regard; the opposite of regard. So by putting ir in front you’re effectively changing the word to mean its opposite, which is regard. Do you see where I’m going with this? Thankfully it irritates enough people to ensure it doesn’t prevail.

2 I Could Care Less

I hadn’t seen or heard this cringe-worthy saying until recently but now it keeps popping up everywhere. I’ve even heard well-known professional speakers use it. It should be I couldn’t care less meaning I care so little that it’s not possible to care any less. Or, to put it another way, the care factor here is zero. To say you could care less implies that you don’t care just a little bit and there is plenty of room for more not caring. Or, to put that another way, it doesn’t make sense. Why would you tell someone you could care less? They couldn’t care less about your degree of caring.

1 A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

Another nugget of wisdom from our parents’ and grandparents’ days when such things were thrown around without questioning the wisdom behind them. How does not spending money that you’ve already earned earn you that money a second time? If I take my lunch to work instead of spending $10 at the shop then I’ve saved $10. I haven’t earned another $10. I wish. If it worked like that I’d double my money every time I refrained from spending it.

Since I started writing about these stupid sayings more have come to my attention, either by way of people pointing them out or just from my own reading. Expect to see a lot more in future posts.

 KEEP THE FAITH