Hated Phrases

[Mike Hughes]

Q. What's worse than using a phrase someone else hates?

A. Using one you hate yourself!

Following on from Lee's superb "cascade of information" which phrases really make your teeth itch?

Mine has to be 24/7. Nasty.

Because we hear them 24/7 on the TV

Mike

[jont]

Irony. Great trait of the British

[cdicken]

One I really hate is 'Thanking you'

e.g.

"Can you hold please?"
"I guess"
"Thanking you"

Generally it is done in a terrible nasally whine with the "you" going up to an almost hypersonic pitch - and puts me in the mood to do a murder.

[george]

Bt's been on my case lately to renew my business broadband account. They've phoned a few times now offering me 10% off plus a few other things that I probably have already but never really investigated. Anyway I say `send me an email with the info and i'll have a read later`... and they say... I'm sorry we can't send emails from here! Great advertisement eh?

[Mike Hughes]

Yeah, I've had exactly the same thing (I also do the 'send me an email' thing.)

Even worse is that now I've newed I'm getting lots of calls from BT along the lines of:

BT: "It's just a courtesy call really to see how your business broadband is going?"

Me: "It's been working fine for the two and a half years since I got it."

BT: "Are you aware of the other services that come with it"

Me: "You mean VOIP? I'm not interested."

BT: "So you don't need any help setting it up?"

Me: "Nope"

If they call me on this one more time I think I'll ask them to send me an email.

Mike

[Pete Harris]

"We're at the business end now" - This phrase is used all the time these days - even Wimbledon is there today.

[Miranda Stamp]

So if I buy 2 of that £7.99 item, what discount will you give me?


Or more usually:

'Do you have xxx in stock?' Yes we do.
'How many do you actually have *in stock *' Several hundred at the moment (severe case of over-buy of a new product)
'SO if I ordered them from you can you send them out straight away then?' Yes
'And you really do have lots in stock' Yes
'OK so if I bought 12 what discount will you give me?' We offer 10% when you buy 10 or more at the moment
'Oh your competitor xyz is offering silly% discount, can you match that?' No I am sorry our offer is 10 or more for 10% discount, I suggest you order from xyz if you want them cheaper, xyz's base price is more than ours anyway, so there's not actually a lot in it
'Oh I did, I ordered from them 6 weeks ago but they don't have any in stock and don't know when they'll get more'
Well I'd better take your order then, the courier goes in an hour.....