Basically, at the end of the day... the phrases driving YOU mad!

As Ireland prepares to play host to Donald Trump, we look at the impact US-speak has on our language

FROM LOL to omigod, we all have our pet hate phrases, the ones that drive you round the bend, sending your blood pressure soaring as you hear them repeated ad infinitum... We polled our readers to find out which ones make them see red. The response was enormous, with an outpouring of irritation at the way words are being used and abused. Today, we present the figures of speech you think are plaguing our everyday speech.

‘Comfortable in their own skin.’ Who else’s skin would they be in? Maggie Barrett.

‘Safe haven.’ Aren’t they all? Brian and Ella Hargreaves.

‘Literally.’ As in ‘she was literally disintegrating before my eyes’. She wasn’t. Vivien Sheldon. ‘Guys.’ It seems to be in regular use in restaurants. It should refer to a male or a boy. I am neither. Patricia Hobbs. No, I don’t have a ‘window in my diary’. Only in my house. Peter Burke. ‘I have to say.’ No you don’t. Jackie Hedges. ‘You know what I mean?’ If I did I would not have asked. David Smith. ‘Free gift.’ Of course it’s free. It’s a gift. Tony Towers. ‘Unchartered territory.’ It’s uncharted. Robin Kaye. ‘At this moment in time.’ Now. Neil Gough. ‘An unexploded bomb.’ Surely all bombs are unexploded. Once they have exploded they are just bits of shrapnel. Richard Armand. ‘Lay down.’ You lay a table. You lay an egg. But you LIE down. Sarah Stephenson. Newsreaders who insist on saying ‘pleece’ should be reported to the police. Lyn Jones. ‘I’ll just jump in the shower.’ Sounds dangerous. Carole Russell. ‘Do every you sentence. know what?’ at the beginning Anna Sellors. of ‘I’m not gonna lie.’ I should hope not! Angela Hunter. Couples who say ‘we’re pregnant.’ The woman is pregnant — not both of you. Marie Williams. ‘Call him/her/them out.’ Ian Sewell. ‘Hu-RASS-ment.’ It’s HAH-rass-ment’ Euan Holt. ‘At the end of the day.’ At the end of the day it is evening, then night. Which do they mean? Monica Mitchell. Let’s do this! Claudia Moore. ‘Ballpark figure’. We don’t have ballparks in this country. Sally Aris. TV chefs who say ‘cook down’ or ‘boil off’. ‘Cook’ and ‘boil’ are sufficient. Michael Cross. ‘Decimate.’ Used to describe heavy damage, when it means one tenth. Benjamin Salter. ‘At all.’ As in, do you have a Clubcard at all? Richard Chaplin. ‘Looking to.’ What on earth does ‘are you looking to move house?’ mean? Mary Baxter. Starting a sentence with ‘So’. It’s a huge distraction during TV and radio interviews. So annoying. Eileen Garner. ‘Blue-sky thinking.’ Often used by inadequate managers. Tom Watson. People who say ‘Haitch’. Roger Heavans. ‘Let’s be absolutely clear.’ Usually uttered by politicians to mean ‘don’t challenge me on this because I have nowhere else to go’. John Thomson. ‘To be honest.’ It makes you wonder what other lies they have been telling you. Graham Shaw. ‘Like I said.’ Usually used at the start of a sentence that does not contain anything which has already been stated. Tim Stanley. People who say ‘ahead of’ instead of ‘before’. Susan Adamson. ‘Early doors.’ Anne Noakes. ‘Empathise.’ Often used instead of sympathise. Dan McCudden. ‘Forward planning.’ As opposed to backward planning? David Woodcock. ‘Two times.’ It’s twice. Ariane MacLaren. Using ‘invite’ as a noun instead of ‘invitation’. Helen Hedges. ‘Basically.’ Almost always used in the wrong sense. Pamela Gelb. ‘It is of paramount importance.’ Mick Kendall. ‘Fur baby’ instead of ‘pet’. Yuk! Pat Knowles. Newsreaders who end with ‘bye bye’. You are not my friend. You are a newsreader, so say ‘goodbye’ or ‘goodnight’. Bill Bourne. ‘Park up.’ It’s park. Catherine Bennett. ‘Whisked away.’ I imagine an airport full of people being hurled up in the air, screaming their heads off. Jackie Taylor. Inane TV judges who say: ‘You took that song and you made it your own.’ Ros Ellis. ‘In terms of.’ Used to add some gravitas. I recently overheard the following in a supermarket: ‘In terms of oranges, which are the easy peelers?’ Good grief. Phyl Reynolds. ‘I’m good.’ Julie Ramsden. ‘The proof is in the pudding.’ It should be ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’. Noreen Adams. ‘Met with.’ Maurice O’Brien. Signage. Just use ‘sign’. David Webb. ‘Ticks all the boxes.’ Lucy Smith. Sports commentators who say ‘to get a result’. Every match has a result. Maurice Boyle. ‘Speaking personally.’ How else do you speak? Maggie Buse. ‘To roll out.’ Brian Hoy. ‘Your call is important to us.’ Sure it is. Christopher Mayer. ‘To die for.’ Nothing is worth that! Susan Barnes. ‘No worries.’ Monica Campbell. ‘Should of.’ It’s ‘should have’. Stephen Wilson. ‘Unpacking facts.’ I didn’t realise they were in a container. Diana Williams. ‘Chillax.’ Jill Sidders. Misuse of the word ‘stomach’ — whether it is models with flat stomachs or builders with stomachs hanging out. These people need urgent medical care! Doreen Clarke. ‘Very unique.’ Often used in Bargain Hunt. Brian Godden. It’s ‘L-EE-verage’ — not ‘Le-VV-erage’. Michaela Kelly. ‘Fill out a form.’ You fill IN a form. Lesley Lewis. When a presenter says: ‘Give it up for...’ What exactly should I be giving up? Valerie Pearson. ‘Activist.’ Usually a selfappointed busybody. Fred Forshaw. ‘Across the afternoon.’ It should be ‘during’. Jeremy Lillies. ‘Think outside the box.’ Which box? Maltesers or Cadbury’s Milk Tray? Keith Wilson-Davis. When ‘Quote’ (the verb) is used instead of ‘quotation’ (the noun). Kenneth Mills. ‘On a journey.’ Often when a person is not going anywhere. Steve Ellis. ‘Pacifically’, when really they mean specifically. Micheal McCusker. ‘Back in the day.’ Mike Parry. ‘This train terminates at . . . ’ The ‘route’ terminates; the ‘service’ terminates. The ‘train’ itself does not terminate at all. Avronne Palmer. ‘Stakeholders.’ Often means a load of busybodies, bureaucrats and quangocrats talking for hours without coming to a sensible decision. Andrew Wallace. ‘Like.’ It either is or it isn’t. Blathnaid Carr

‘I hear what you are saying.’ Normally means ‘I understand the words but totally disagree with you.’ Trevor Bailey ‘I was humbled.’ The people who utter this banality are rarely humbled. Brian O’Callaghan ‘Pre-order.’ If you pay money to ‘pre-order’ a DVD/ book, you are just ordering it. Paul Baxter