In one job I was in a few people kept saying “...at the end of the day” so often I thought they almost needed a temporary ban on saying it. Although I guess it’s difficult to come up with alternate ways of saying things. But it I did get a bit sick of hearing it after a while.

“Bear with me”
“With all due respect”
“pro-active”
“Touch base”
“at this moment on time”

I particularly hated “...at the end of the day”, especially because hearing other people say it made me realise how often I said it.

I also can’t stand people ending every sentence with “...you know what I mean?” or just “...know what I mean?”

Translations into everyday English, as learned from many hard years in corporate America:

“Bear with me” - 1. a warning that the following statement will be either factually incorrect, racist, ignorant, short sighted, or all of the above. Often mistaken for original thought.
“With all due respect” - 1. to show absolutely no respect for, 2. a polite way of implying the complete ignorance of the recipient
“pro-active” - 1. to do something unethical before someone else does, 2. to react to a past event by claiming it hasn’t happened yet
“Touch base” - 1. to spy on, 2. to impose my opinion on you
“at this moment on time” - 1. Now, as in “Where are we at this moment in time?” 2. Never: implied, as in “We are not funding your project at this moment in time.”, Forever, as in “We are suspending your financing at this moment in time.”

Remember the most valuable lesson of working in the corporate world: “Why work when we can meet?”

oooo good Burkenhare!

The ONE I have always felt like puking when I hear it:  ‘It’s not personal, it’s just business”.....which of course means you have no value except as an exploitable business minion.

How about “Sorry, you’re overqualified for this job,” meaning “We don’t want to hire you even though you need this job because: 1. You really are overqualified and we know as soon as you find a better job you’ll quit and we’ll have wasted all that time training you; or 2. You’re too close to retirement age.”  My mom hears that a lot and it really frustrates her.

Crafty Dragon - 28 March 2012 05:48 PM

How about “Sorry, you’re overqualified for this job,” meaning “We don’t want to hire you even though you need this job because: 1. You really are overqualified and we know as soon as you find a better job you’ll quit and we’ll have wasted all that time training you; or 2. You’re too close to retirement age.”  My mom hears that a lot and it really frustrates her.

She’s not the only one.  I started hearing this when I was in my mid 40s and it didn’t stop.  Finally I gave up and now just collect Social Security.  I did have some prospective employers tell me exactly what you’ve said.