A Phrase Past Its Expiration Date

Do you have a phrase or expression that you're really tired of hearing? If so, I'd love to hear it.

Here's mine:

"It is what it is."

The first few times I heard it back in the early part of this decade (the "double ohs"), I thought, "Hmmmm, what an existential way of looking at things," or "Not bad —judgment free."

By about 2004, this phrase started to wear on me. People would use it as a substitute for thinking. They'd see something, and then rather than taking a moment to analyze it or think about it more deeply, they'd take the lazy way out and say, "it is what it is."

These days I regard this expression as a verbal tick — and past its expiration date.

Question: In your opinion what expressions are past their prime?

Comments

[Bill Machi]

There are so many...but the recent phrase "a perfect storm" comes to mind.

I believe it means 2 or 3 circumstances that magnify a situation. But would it have been a situation if those 2,3 didn't happen?

Also since I work in I.T. the use of the word "bandwidth" to indicate the amount of work a person can handle, as in "what's your bandwidth for work today".

[Sue Cooney]

It's not so much each phrase but the conscious or mindful intent or lack of it that I'm sensitive to.

One person can say "it is what it is" as a way of not letting the mind run down an old, habitual and unhelpful track.

Unfortunately
"When I was your age..."
"It's just a stage...."
"My how you've grown."
most often accompany a superior / patronising attitude or intent.

My own sensitivity around clarity and sincerity of intent behind words reminds me of the phrase from old Western films, "white man speak with forked tongue", whoever wrote that line would love this topic.

Whilst I may notice a lack of congruence, it's calling it in the right spirit which I can find tricky.

[FrankReality]

At the company where I work, we have "action plans". Not "plans", but "action plans".

Here's another - "I shouldn't be telling you this". Ok, if that's true, then don't!

And last, just about any business phrase with a war-based, militaristic theme/analogy/metaphor. An example is "the nuclear option". Let's reserve use of military metaphors for true military situations.

[Nutster]

Though already mentioned, I have to give a strong second for, "thinking outside the box." It is annoying because you have someone trying to get someone to think differently....and they start it off by using a hackneyed cliche'. I absolutely cringe when I hear it.

[Randy Bosch]

Where do these things come from? Can we assign "do not sell after dates" to them?

"What do you think?" in response to asking someone for their opinion/knowledge is one of the most overused non-answers.

So, what do you think?