Other Phrases I Dislike

Earlier I wrote a post talking about a pet peeve that I have. I mentioned that I didn’t like the phrase, “I have a question for you. Call me Back”. I basically mentioned that when I get a message like that on my machine, I usually don’t call the person back. (of course there are exceptions) I like a detailed message. It doesn’t have to be long, but I do like it descriptive. You can read the post here if you want more detail. Since that post, I’ve appreciated the friends and family that have been leaving great messages.

Since that writing, I have determined three other phrases that bother me. For your information, they are:

“Missed you last time” – You hear this at church, or meetings, or when you skip a class. I don’t like this phrase because the underlining question is “Where were you last week”. And more often then not, people usually answer it that way. The usual answer is, “Oh yeah, I was in _______ doing ______”. I don’t know, maybe I just have a hard time when I get the feeling that I am reporting to someone. My usual response to “Missed you last time” is “Oh, thanks.”

“Who all is going to be there?” – First of all, I don’t think that is proper grammar. Secondly, anytime I put together a party or get together of some sort, I would call people and invite them. Usually, before they would say yes or no, I would hear “Who all is going to be there?”. I’m sure it’s usually innocent curiosity, but my friend and I have determined that it comes across more like, “Because your presence and the activity is not enough, who will be there that is going to make it worth my time?” If you must know who else will be there, my opinion is that you first tell the inviter that you will be coming and second say something like, “I’m excited, should I let others know? Who have you invited already?”

“Good luck with that.” – While I’m obviously not against people wishing others good luck, I just prefer it to be more specific. That is a very broad way to say it, and to me it comes across as uninterested. When I hear this phrase, I picture a homely boy trying to impress a girl with all kinds of information and future plans, and her response on the way out the door is, “Good luck with that.” If you really have positive and honest intentions, I prefer something like, “Good luck with the _________” followed by some sort of encouragement or compliment. If you are just saying “good luck with that” as a closer, even though you don’t mean it, I’d rather hear nothing at all.

I know these phrases are random, and nit picky, but they are just my pet peeves. They probably don’t bother the common person. But I’m sure you have phrases that bother you. Feel free to share them.