Which overused phrase is most annoying?

WHY do so many people say ‘you know’ in nearly every sentence they utter? Football pundits are probably the worst offenders. In an hour-long TV programme I watched recently, one of them said it 61 times.

DAVID MILNES, Sevenoaks, Kent.

POLITICIANS often begin their pronouncements with ‘to be clear’, then proceed to say something that is muddled and ambiguous.

ANGELA PRUSS, Chigwell, Essex.

TO AVOID answering questions directly, politicians who have memorised their irrelevant reply often begin with ‘Well, what we must remember is . . . or ‘What’s important is that . . .’

R. HARRIS, Tonbridge, Kent.

I’VE HEARD a lot of people, including celebrities, preface statements with ‘I’m not going to lie’. Does that mean if they don’t say it, they are lying?

DEREK WARD, Southampton.

THE phrase that really annoys me is ‘going forward’ instead of ‘in future’. Another is ‘at this moment in time’ instead of ‘now’ or ‘at the moment’.

DAVID BECK, Waterlooville, Hants.