Which words or expressions annoy you the most when you hear them repeatedly used by other people in conversation?
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132 Comments
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0
hellhound
Pikachu
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flatearther
Kawaii, hands down.
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smartacus
Apart from the usual "you know," two Americanisms really bug me: When people say "I could care less" instead of the correct "I couldn't care less," and the absurd "My bad" instead of "My mistake."
0
Simon_Foston
When the word "enjoy" is misused.
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Tahoochi
Are you like, talking about like a word? Or like a phrase? Or like, anything that like... just annoys me?
Also, any word or phrase in Japanese that allows a sentence to run-on forever. Example: nano de, desu no de, desu ga, ...mashita ga, and many, many more.
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neverknow2
All of them! But also: えええ! (eee!) This is really annoying! Not everything in this world is amazing! I hate it when people here pretend that it is.
0
KallyPygous
'so so' 'let's action this' 'um, I guess' 'metabo' 'honmake?' 'I wanna' 'I'm gunna' .... The list goes on. I hate Jafakean.
0
Beelzebub
In the middle of a conversation: "Excuse me while I check my phone for mails."
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inakaRob
sumimasen, yoroshiku, gomen, any engrish, and basically every katakana word.
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inakaRob
what wrong with "my bad". thats just an example of slang really. like saying cool, or yabai.
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wontond
It is what it is.
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Pukey2
It doesn't make grammatical sense, that's why! I'm always waiting for a noun to follow.
Japanese: kawaiiiiii, oishiiiiii, eeeehhhhh, sugoiiii, saa, any word that is accompanied by sucking of the teeth. annoyance is amplified when these words are said by useless tarentos that appear in a window on the corner of the TV screen.
Expressions used by some JT posters: 2 man - can people just say 20,000? irritating.
0
Altria
Makes a fella sound like Jar Jar Binks, son.
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Tahoochi
inakaRob: I can understand hating any Engrish, but what's wrong with sumimasen, yoroshiku, and gomen?
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Brainiac
"Let's do lunch" irks me. Whatever happened to "Let's have lunch?" Also, overuse of the "F" word bothers me. I find it hard to enjoy many modern movies because screenwriters don't seem to be able to have characters say more than a few sentences of dialogue without someone uttering the "F" word.
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Disillusioned
"So, so" and "long time no see" are the two most annoying Jangrish phrases I hear. And, of course, the ever present, "Kowaiiiii"
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DenDon
huh?! been to many English speaking countries?
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billybudweiser
****Actually**** Doesn't actually serve any real purpose in a sentence. Doesn't serve any real purpose in a sentence.
0
flatearther
The word Engrish. Is there a Japanese equivalent for it? Jalish or something? For those people who speak awful broken Japanese, mixing up kowaii and kawaii, shrieking out domo ayreegahtoo, etc. yet they babble on about engrish this and engrish that.
0
cow76
my bad doesn't have to make grammatical sense because it's used idiomatically. English is full of idioms.
Any misused katakana word can be mildly annoying. 'Challenge' is the worst and 'metabo' when people just mean 'fat'.
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nandakandamanda
In English English? 'Totally devastated', and 'At the end of the day..." Grrrrr...
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2020hindsight
Disillusioned
Those are both English expressions; nothing to do with Japan. And I think you meant Kawaii (unless that was a joke).
I think I agree with the posters that hate "My bad". Irritating. I also hate the way English people say "I was sat on my sofa" instead of "I was sitting on my sofa".
But I think the worst hate is "can you revert back to me" type of phrase. How can a word be so corrupted.
0
Blacklabel
From the business world: "Mitigate" and "we need to get on the same sheet of music" (Im not in a $#$&*damn orchestra!, plus why is the same sheet of music always expected to be THEIR sheet?)
0
Weasel
ch'yeah, whatever.
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Blacklabel
Oh and "To be honest...",- do you have to notify me in advance when you are being honest? That also means all the times you DIDNT notify me of that, you were NOT being honest?
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rajakumar
All the bad words like, WTF,Sucks,F word(profanities) and anywhere there is overuse of F word profanites.
You can find much overuse of these profanities on youtube,where there is total no sensorships.
It can be used ,F words,but should only be very minimum,and in very appropriate situations.
People seem to overuse it,to grab attention,these days ,without being more careful with words.
0
franz75
Could you give me your TPS reports A.S.A.P?
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Patrick Smash
"You build bridge" really annoys me.
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Disillusioned
I pity all those so-called 'native English speakers' who would use the phrases, "so, so" and "long time no see" - Sad!
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Patrick Smash
People who talk crap for ages, and say "If you'd just let me finish..." when someone else tries to get a word in need a good slapping too.
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Patrick Smash
And "As a matter of fact" used repeatedly by people talking unfactual nonsense.
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bobbafett
the inane Kawaii, the over used and underwhelming sugoi, and the exaggerated and lazy claim of exertion yoosh.
0
terebiko
The one word that bugs the crap out of me, is the misspelling of the word LOSE. It is not LOOSE, it is LOSE. Not just by foreigners learning English, but by native speakers. Examples I have seen:
"What a looser." "Did you loose the game?"
Do a search on Google for "loose the game" or "loose a game" or "he's a looser" and you will be surprised at how often it is misspelled. At least Google adds a "did you mean lose" message at the top of the search results for the latter two.
Drives me nuts whenever I see it.
Disillusioned, you are "pitying" a very large number of people.
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Altria
Pot. Kettle. Black.
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almondjoy
When people ask me "can i ask you a question?" You just did, would you like to try the bonus round?
just spit it out.
0
LoveUSA
The most annoying words in the comments on JT are "she is hot." below a picture of mediocrate talento.
0
blvtzpk
"No! Don't! Stop!"
I'd much rather hear "No...don't stop!!!"
0
Madara
Shikatanai and shoganai really annoys me.
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M51T
"Burglarized." Please replace with "burgled'.
0
ratpack
The really annoying "ne" after every second word spoken by some japanese. The "Nihongo jozu ne" after you have only said "good morning" or "thankyou" in Japanese. The really really really annoying "oishii soooooooo" after something appears on TV whether it be a great looking feast or a plate that looks like a dog just did a crap on it. And the one that takes is the never ending "kawaiiiiiiiiii" comments from everyone and anyone about everything and anything.
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Wakarimasen
Like. Cool (but pronounced kewel). Right?
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KallyPygous
Nothing wrong with this; sat is the past participle of sit. 'The car was parked under a tree,' 'the fish was eaten with gusto' etc. All fine.
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kyourin
"urusai urusai urusai" XD !!
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fairyprince
"you know"
DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!
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IvanCoughalot
It really gets on my papillaries when somebody say something inane and then pauses for a second and says "Basically", then breathes with deep satisfaction, as though the addition of the word "basically" has transformed the crap he said before it into some Shavian bon mot.
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Altria
Non-literal uses of "literally".
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IvanCoughalot
I also can't stand it when people jabber "I'm like" when they mean "I said".
"I'm like, what?" You're like an illiterate who wishes he was in a teen sitcom set in Belair, but is far too ugly and dull to get to an end-of-the-pier show in Prestatyn.
0
Patrick Smash
Oh, and then when English speakers here come out with a long diatribe in English at Japanese people, and then finish it with a single word of Japanese like "deshou?". This is fine when I do it, but annoying when others do it.
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dolphingirl
Some funny posts! Actually, I love the word actually. To be honest, I'm wondering why they are asking this questoin. oops...question.. My bad. This is a so-so topic. I love words! (Even the ones I hate!) They are totally kewel and kawaiiiii!!!
0
IvanCoughalot
When people say "decimated" when they mean "devastated".
"She was absolutely decimated when she got the news." What, 90% of her was fine, was it?
0
SumoBob
Any sentence that begins with "Ware ware nihonjin ha...."
Also, "Yappari", when used a Japanese-held stereotype is "confirmed" by someone asking if you can eat this, or do ~~~ in gaikoku, etc.
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techall
"OFF TOPIC"
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dammit
Saw a couple of foreigners on the train here in Japan a few months back. One was talking in what sounded to me (a non-speaker of Japanese) like fairly passable gaijin Japanese, the other was nodding profusely, grinning knowingly, and repeatedly saying "Aaaah, sousosososososososososososou." as if his life depended on it.
I'm sure he thought it made him look wise and fluent, but I'm afraid it just made him look like a complete twit.
Therefore, the constant repetition of 'sousosososososososososososososou' (with or without the 'aaah' at the beginning) is absolutely my current most irritating expression.
Hell, Japanese people only repeat the sou maybe 3 or 4 times when I hear them say it. He should've used a little restraint!
0
nisegaijin
"i am not gonna go home with you" damnit! not again!
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kinniku
"I don't hate such and such a race, religion or ethnicity of people. Lot's of my friends are such and such a race, religion or ethnicity."
Of course this is always said by people who can't stand that such and such a race, religion or ethnicity.
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kinniku
techall,
LOL!
0
Nessie
Snape waved his wand menacingly. With an orange flash, a mask and lockpick appeared on Harry. Snape had cast his dark and infamous Burglermophus spell: Harry was burglarized.
0
BlackOut
waaaaa, OISHIIIIIIIiiii
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cleo
But those are passives; it only works with I was sat on the sofa if someone or something else put you there.
My own pet hates - in addition to I was sat - I could care less, What a looser, and the f-word used to describe inanimate objects that are clearly unable to, and people who aren't at present.
0
michaelqtodd
I`m just happy if people speak to me at all
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Foxie
You know what really annoys me, you know, is when people, you know, can't finish, you know, one sentence, you know, without using, you know, YOU KNOW.
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Osakadaz
'yabai' and 'kisshoi' ..I work at a girl's high school...especially when grown-ups use these expressions.I feel like nutting someone when I hear it.
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cleo
Aw, bless!
:-)
0
bobbafett
when talking with American women or listening to the Williams sisters and Britney Spares and they say things resembling "it was like really cool or I was like all over it"
I really hate that.
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KallyPygous
"aw bless" - horrible and patronising, usually the kind of thing some old frump says.
0
Foxie
In Japanese: anta ha..., anta yuta..., anta shiteru..., anta dayo..., anta, anta, anta....dakedo watashi no namae ha 'anta' janai, Foxie desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
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johnnyreb
the "f" word is used far too often. especially by brits.
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DenDon
so most of them then. you really have no idea eh?
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Patrick Smash
DenDon, long time no see is not English. It is spaghetti western Mexican. I really hate it when people add "eh" to the end of sentences too, that is really bloody irritating. As is the use of "right".
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flatearther
The phrase "long time no see" certainly is English. Whether it's proper English or not is in question, I suppose? Well, I've heard people use it in just about every English speaking country I visit, heard it used in movies from the 1930's and have a Japanese-English dictionary that translates it into sashiburie (forgive any misspellings), so it is very commonly used. The problem with English is that it's a LIVING language, which means it evolves. This is why slang exists, this is why British slang and American slang are different. So, it is English.
That being said, I really don't know what you're holding against the phrase. It's one of my favorites, being that it's usually accompanied by a smile and a hug at the airport.
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donkusai
For me, I really hate when some people who don't say "long time no see" think that therefore no one else on the planet must say it. It's a common phrase that I hear a lot (yes, by native speakers in a native-English country).
I dislike "tabun" in Japanese. All I really want is a yes or a no.
In English, it's "pwnd" or whatever alternative spelling (or misspelling is used).
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dolphingirl
Patrick Smash: If you don't like hearing 'eh' at the end of sentences, I wouldn't go to Canada if I were you!
0
ptolemy
Only three things really. Honey, you're out of (fill in any alcoholic beverage I enjoy).
Dad, can I borrow (fill in anything of mine, especially money)?
Honey, the trash is ready to take out.
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ptolemy
Oh, rats. I forgot:
"Boda boom - boda bing." It makes me want to scream when people say that.
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Tilmitt
Anything spoken in American English is unbearable.
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bdiego
long time no see is English. It's called slang.
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DenDon
wrong
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DenDon
sorry, wrong eh?
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oberst
you know, this is old hat, you know...........
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grafton
What I hate is when people can’t get their heads around positive and negative.
Example being when Americans say “I can be bothered” when what they really mean is that they “can’t be bothered” and what is this nonsense of using “then” when they should be using “than”? I accept that there is going to be some difference between the two languages but taking an accepted expression and twisting it into something that becomes nonsense is going too far. (Please also note that I used the word “too” not “to” which is a different word with a different meaning).
0
seijichuudo9sha
Example being when Americans say “I can be bothered”
I have never heard 'can or can't be bothered' used by another American.
0
flatearther
I've never heard the expression "I can be bothered" used in lieu of "I can't be bothered" and I'm a native Californian. I'm not trying to be rude, but where exactly are you meeting your "native" speakers? Here in Japan?
0
diggerdog
the main thing that makes me want to kill people is when i complain about something in a shop or where ever and rather than help me or fix the problem the person just says Moushiwake arimasen . Then thats it!!! Well are you going to help me or not? Well of course not you are just going to bow and say that 10 times and do NOTHING you moron! Customer service needs serious help if thats the only thing they can come up with. Everytime i hear that i have to stop myself from smacking out the retard that said it.
0
TanakaTaro
People saying they did something "on accident" gets me every time. The use of the preposition "on" makes it seem like there was intent, therefore it was actually "on purpose".
Pronouncing "buoy" as "bu-ey" instead of "boy" is annoying. No one pronounces "buoyancy" as "bu-en-see" do they?
The number one Japanese word that annoys me is "metabo". Metabolic syndrome doesn't just mean someone is a little fat. According to the WHO it requires:
So when people tell my friend (who has a body fat% of around 10%) that he is metabol because he was a waist of 36" it gets rather annoying.
0
BobbieWickham
'I forgot my wallet'
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telecasterplayer
"Good on you", or "good on him," "good on her".. etc It's bad enough when Aussies say it, but Americans sound positively brain-damaged.
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dolphingirl
For anyone who cares: 'long time no see' has been in British English usage since the early 1900's, deriving from Mandarin Chinese. North American use came from literature.
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Patrick Smash
People using French expressions in English annoy me. Especially " a certain je ne sais quoi" or " a spirit of esprit de corps", and that kind of pompous nonsense. If an English expression exists, use it, don't intermingle with French.
0
boboh
"It was, like, totally cool, cos I, like, said to her she should, like, text him and, like, hook up".
You get the idea. Irritatingly used by US female teenagers and wannabe US female teenagers worldwide.
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dolphingirl
Thousands of English words are of French origin: ballet, bouquet, cafe, hotel, liquor, bon appetite, bon voyage...and don't forget 'menage a trois'!! The beauty of English that it IS intermingled with other languages and continually evolving!!
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Nessie
I agree, Patrick. One of my bêtes noires.
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cleo
Nessie -
Please be seated is formal English, while Please be sat is off.
I love the English language.
:-)
0
tigerguy
Here are some annoying ones, "gaijin da", "I'm an English Teacher", "Oh I have that too..", "Dude", "Whatever", "You're the best",
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Cicada
You people have little patience. No wonder you are all frustrated to the point where you jump at the chance to complain about what people say in conversation.
Look closely at the question. It says " when you hear them repeatedly used". I think any word or expression used repeatedly is annoying, so this question is stupid.
You doubt me? Then think of the words and expressions you love most. If you heard them repeatedly all day in conversation would you love them, or would you be annoyed?
0
GenevaMan
Patrtick I feel for you, because I feel the opposite, or more or less the same. I am native french speaker, and I can't stand when french speakers intermingle their conversation with english words. Words like manager, email, weekend, barbecue etc.. are widely used in french, but some people go too far, when they speak about their "petite girlfriend", or when they use the F-word. People from Quebec are actually doing this often, and it sounds just dumb.
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bdaniel08
GenevaMan I completly agree with you but...
The beauty of French is that it IS intermingled with other languages and continually evolving!!
:)
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Mz
The c-word which seems to be uttered more and more often in US movies and TV shows
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my2sense
no worries and cheers, but they are pleasant to hear at times...
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Pukey2
But Canada is officially a multi-lingual nation. Don't the German speakers in Switzerland use 'merci' instead of 'danke'? It's going to happen, just as it does in India. It's when you have people who use words from a foreign language which has no official standing in that country and which the speakers don't understand but just use the words because they're 'cool' (eg English as used in Japan).
As for the 'F' word, it's not the actual word but it's overuse which I find annoying. I tried watching Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver on TV and I just had to stop watching. It was so annoying because, in addition to their moaning and complaining like a couple of obasans, every sentence had to include the 'F' word. Are all chefs so irritating? Obnoxious and arrogant.
Other complaints:
wassup, kewl, anyways. And any English word used in Japanese when there is a perfectly acceptable Japanese word.
0
DeepAir65
"honto"
That one really winds me up - ask the wife! They ask you something and they say honto - no actually I'm lying to you! Even though I know in that context it is a "umm" or some such to keep the conversation moving it gets to me...
0
Antonios_M
The Americans "you know", "gonna", "wanna" and the "f..." words sound extremely irritating to me. Moreoever, "so cool" (especially when used by Japanese), "hey dude" and thousands of more.
In Japanese...."eeeeeeeh", "kawaiiiii", "yabai" (especially when it is pronounced as "yaabe" by stupid Japanese girls).
0
ensnaturae
Thinking on, I dont care about vocabulary, as any sounds/words might be used to express a good thought or idea. It's the ideas expressed that annoy, or not. Dressing them up in perfectly enunciated vocabulary, as poetry or prose, wont make garbage into perfect logic or beautiful thoughts. One written word makes me growl a bit - thats the often seen 'occassionally'. Mixing languages looks like a good way to go, to me - it seems to be the natural way for change and developement to happen.
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noborito
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IvanCoughalot
When people think they can make their next inanity more profound by preceding it with "y'know what?"
Yes. I know what. You're a halfwit.
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jamplass
I have met many youthful native English speakers who seem to be incapable of uttering a complete sentence without at least 2 or 3 "like"s. The thing is, most of them have no idea how idiotic they sound.
0
GenevaMan
@pukey and bdaniel,
French WAS a language which was made of many languages. However, the french language, thanks to the "Académie Française" is "officially" a language that hasn't evolve for the past five centuries. That is why french speakers can read books written in the 15th century and understand it perfectly, and that is also why written french is difficult to learn for foreigners, because everything in the oral language is far and different for the "français écrit". If you speak a languge intermingled with whatever words you've heard on MTV, this is not french, you just sound dumb and uneducated.
As I said before, French was intermingled with other language. French grammar and orthograph hasn't evolve at all for the past five centuries and it is not evolving, except for slang.
Moderator: Back on topic please.
0
papaclanc
Hilarious. One person hates "honto" which is simply a polite way of showing that one is impressed by the story or fact one just heard, and another has "thousands of more" disliked words. Right.
The most annoying words are those that are misused by the majority, such as "hopefully" and "literally".
0
sctaber56
@ grafton: We are definitely coming from the same place! My pet peeve is seeing misused words (as opposed to misspelled words - there's a difference)in written English. Case in point: its v.s. it's. In my next life, I will not be an English teacher...
0
nandakandamanda
One of my top 100 irritating words is 'robust'. Popularly used by reps of large financial institutions, it always warned me away. The art of lying, even as you claim to be telling the truth.
0
Ah_so
"Inappropriate", as used in a politically correct context, such as, "inappropriate email" or, "inappropriate behaviour".
It is as though everything in the world is carved up into 2 totally objective baskets, the "appropriate" and the "inappropriate".
OK, not used in conversation much, but more the dreaded corporate speak of some jumped up busy-body.
0
Mexicanish
It's funny, all of those annoying Japanese words/phrases people listed I use frequently as a joke (although outsiders may not realizing I'm doing it in jest). I must be annoying a lot of people. Hahaha.
I also love love love swearing, f-word, c-word (love!!), all-words. I don't know why, but being crass is amusing... Swearing is fun and I'm enjoy using random foreign words( Japanese, Spanish, French, German, etc.) especially in happy fun time. [Engrish is hilarious, and I also use it to make fun of people who speak incorrect English.
Words that do annoy me: like being overused. I really can't think of anything else. As some people have pointed out, anything being used over and over and over again is bound to get annoying. I basically don't hate the word basically but in college I basically had a professor that basically said "basically" basically every 5 seconds. Basically it was the most annoying thing that basically anyone could basically do. Basically.
0
Mexicanish
may not realize*
0
twoyen
"Ya know wha'im sayin?"
I hate it when people use this one. And they will say it after every bloody statement or question they make.
If I didn't know what you were saying I would ASK. If I don't ask, then don't ask ME.
0
nightvision
-Street/ghetto slang phrases. Those are the most annoying of all, no matter what language you hear them in. -Cuss words, because who likes to hear them, anyway?
0
chotto
In English "like" used after every other word.
In Japanese, quite a big list, but "gomen" and "sumimasen" because the person saying it hardly ever means it.... but at the top would have to be "sa \ さ" after every, single, freakin', word! Drives me MAD!!!!!!!!
Today SA I SA went SA to SA Tokyo SA because SA I SA wanted SA to have SA fun SA then SA...... etc.
0
InTheKnow
mankind's most annoying/ overused three words: shou ga nai
0
InTheKnow
-Street/ghetto slang phrases. Those are the most annoying of all, no matter what language you hear them in. -Cuss words, because who likes to hear them, anyway?
Hey, cussin' is just fine. the 'f-bomb' is so adaptable.
0
humblesamurai
Which words or expressions annoy you the most when you hear them repeatedly used by other people in conversation?:::: I have to accept people (and what they say) as they are, (only till they finish speaking) here comes my turn to use words I like.
0
ippanjin33
You know Like Man Dude えええええええ？
0
furuigakko
People need to chill, there seems to be a lot of haters posting. Come on now, don't hate appreciate!
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furuigakko
Oh one more thing, as Rodney King so eloquently put it, "Can we all just get along?"
0
ousama
When people imitate other languages, and don't do it properly.
Eg. American person always says "kawaii!" or "itai!", but they are not seriously studying Japanese nor are they conversing with a Japanese person.
Japanese people doing this with English also irritates me.
Unless they are doing it as part of an obvious joke, it seems silly to me to do this sort of thing.
0
SebastianFlyte
Oh my god! Alright!! Yeah!! Yo!! You got it! Are you kidding!!?? Get outta here!!
0
dbung10
same as ousama. People that drop in japanese words into a conversation when they are neither japanese nor conversing with a japanese speaker.
also, not really in conversation, but in text conversation, anyone that uses LOL.
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