TECH: Not more cliches!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

according to the Writer's Digest, July 2004, page 17, the Plain English Campaign recommends using plain, understandable language. They took a poll for the most annoying phrases in English. The results include:

24/7
ballpark figure
bottom line
it's not rocket science
move the goalposts
push the envelope
touch base
between a rock and a hard place
is the glass half full or half empty
address the issue
bear with me
going forward
literally
ongoing
think outside the box

Their 6000 members voted for the most grating cliches as:

4. With all due respect
3. Like (used as a form of punctuation)
2. at this moment in time

and the most grating cliche was (drum roll, please? And flashing spotlights?)

1. At the end of the day

The Plain English Campaign has a website at http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/ it doesn't look as if they have repeated their survey, but it's still an interesting example.