...the kind that exasperate me
We all use them, those clichés that help us to 'let off steam' but what do they actually mean? Here are just a few examples.
Good Grief! How can grief ever be good? It makes no sense to me.
Good Lord! There are, no doubt, many Lords who are, indeed, good, but why do we have to shout out about their goodness when we're exasperated?
Gordon Bennet! Most people are aware that he was once a politician and I can understand why people might want to exclaim a politician's name when they feel exasperated but we could at least use a more up-to-date example. I can think of a few politicians from recent times who deserve this accolade but I won't name names.
Stone the crows! I like this one. It's not because I would ever stone a crow. They may be large, raucous birds but I wouldn't ever hurt one. It's because I imagine myself doffing a flat cap whilst saying it and adding, 'Cor blimey, Guvnor!'
Modern ones are every bit as exasperating as the older, well-worn examples above:
OMG or as Daughter tweeted the other day, OMGeeeeee. I suspect it was tweeted with a degree of irony, but even so!
What expressions of exasperation exasperate you?
I probably overuse 'Oh sh*t', so am in position to complain about Gordon Bennet!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, there's that one as well. I dropped my paint brush at art class last week and proclaimed that phrase loudly across the classroom!
Deletemy husband uses, "I'll be go to hell" if he has an "oh sh*t" moment. Maybe it's a Texas thing.
ReplyDeleteNever come across that one, Joanne, so I'm guessing it must be Texan!
DeleteHow's about "Hell's bells!" "Holy crap!" and "God bless America and all the free world!" (My grandmother used to say that last one, and now I find myself saying it from time to time.)
ReplyDeleteNot surprisingly I've never used your grandmother's favourite but 'hells bells' is a satisfying one, most probably because it rhymes.
DeleteI'm guilty of using 'good grief', 'yikes' and even 'gosh' (that one with a bit of o play at being posh). They are cliched, aren't they? But I still think it's better than the range of swear words people seem to use as fillers these days, my biggest hate being the 'f' word, which seems to be used in all its forms simply to fill gaps. I really hate that one.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, Val. The 'f' word is used so inappropriately these days. In my day (groan - that phrase makes me sound ancient!) the 'f' word was only used as an absolute extreme profanity. Yikes is fun. It makes me think of Tom and Jerry and other cartoon characters and there's nothing like thinking about cartoon characters to brighten your day :-)
DeleteI'm afraid the one I hear most - from the OH therefore I have to put up with it - is unrepeatable in polite company! Strangely enough, when some tosser cuts me up on the road my usual expletive is "Ye gods!"
ReplyDeleteGood old 'oh, bum' does it for me!
ReplyDeleteLol as said by David Cameron to Rebecca Brooks,thinking it meant lots of love!!
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ about Gordon Bennet.The father was a newspaper magnate and the son an entrepreneur who did lots of "silly" things.A balloon race which still happens-the first car rally(Paris to Sydney)-grand prix round Paris.GORDON BENNETT has done it again!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDidn't he also go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel?
DeleteAnnie Taylor(on her 63rd birthday!) was the first person to go over Niagara falls in a wooden barrel( in 1901) and survive!Petra
DeleteHi Ros - "oh sugar" ..if I remember to change the words! ... it'd be good if we could go back to these sort of genteel expletives rather than the others that abound in common conversations - dreadful. "Drat" and there's another I can't think of right now ... 'drat'!! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDelete