Top 10 Most Irritating Phrases In PR
Oxford University recently compiled its list of “top ten irritating phrases,” as reported by The Telegraph (side note: 2703 comments at time of writing!):
- At the end of the day
- Fairly unique
- I personally
- At this moment in time
- With all due respect
- Absolutely
- It’s a nightmare
- Shouldn’t of
- 24/7
- It’s not rocket science
It’s true – every one of those phrases is over-used and irritating.
I’d like to add my own top ten from the world of horrendous PR (this is separate, though related, to my little rant about clear writing a little while back). Many of these are just unnecessary adjectives that serve no real function. They’re often used in conjunction with each other for extra horrendousness:
- Moving forward
- Cutting-edge
- Leverage (it’s not a verb, people!)
- Viral video/marketing
- Utilize
- Cost-effective
- Innovative
- Value-added
- Forward-thinking
- [insert word here] 2.0
What would you add to the list?
