at the end of the day

[AndyR]

A girl I used to work with (she was my boss) years ago always used say "At the end of the day..."

I took her to task over it because it was cover for "I know it's wrong, but that's what my boss wants... why can't you just shut up and do it wrong?"

She even agreed with me... "I know exactly what you mean, but, at the end of the day.... oh my! I do say it a lot don't I?"

We both fell about laughing. She wouldn't bluddy go out with me though :lol:

Sadly, I use at least one of the others in speech ("To be honest..."), but I have been trying to phase it out recently.

There's another phrase I use a lot at work: "We're f***ed", as in "At the end of the day, if we were being totally honest with ourselves, we're f***ed..."

[38thBeatle]

I can't stand it when people start a sentence with "I mean". Nor can I stand the phrase "at this moment in time". Another pet hate is  "Worst case scenario" . Not only that, it is the way that things are said. The upwards inflection that has become the norm is irritating. I don't watch any of the soaps but do they have a compulsory " and whassats spost ter mean" in each "episode". 

[Johnny Mac]

Good thread! My pet hate is "He/she turned round and said....Used to hear it all the time on talk sport phone ins.
Also ATEOTD see i made a new word from it.

You should hear how the younger generation talk in London. "My days!"

[Will]

There's another phrase I use a lot at work: "We're f***ed", as in "At the end of the day, not being funny, but... if we were being totally honest with ourselves, we're f***ed..."

:D

[Antag]

What about "to be honest..."?

It can be worse.  I had a colleague who used to say "To be brutally honest" & the guy who sat next to him used to start sentences with "The reality of the situation is...".

I launched a concerted campaign to tease them out of it.  I started every discussion with, "OK, to be brutally honest about the reality of the situation..."

Neither of them do it anymore :)

[nfe]

"I'm not being rude, but..." Yes you are, or you wouldn't feel compelled to excuse yourself pre-emptively.
"I'm not racist, but..." As above.
"No offence, but..." You're going to say something offensive now and want to prepare folks for it.
"With all due respect..." With no respect whatsoever, then.

All bug me.

[Will]

"I'm not being rude, but..." Yes you are, or you wouldn't feel compelled to excuse yourself pre-emptively.
"I'm not racist, but..." As above.
"No offence, but..." You're going to say something offensive now and want to prepare folks for it.
"With all due respect..." With no respect whatsoever, then.

All bug me.

With all due respect NFE, look it up - its in the Geneva convention http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af-Id_fuXFA

[Dr. Stein]

 :?

I say most of these things, in moderation at least.

"After considering arguments X, Y and Z, then, I conclude that..." just isn't very colloquial. "At the end of the day", "basically" or similar just says it more easily.

"To be honest" or "look" is used to express the fact that what you're about to say might be controversial in some way.

"Worst case scenario" means exactly that, and it's quite a useful phrase.

There's nothing wrong with any of these phrases, but what is annoying is when people start misusing them - that's annoying with literally anything...

[MDV]

At this rate, soon enough, before you know it, if this goes on like it is, we arent going to have anything left we're allowed to $%&#ing say!

[Nadz1lla]

It's like Canadians when they put "Right?" at the end of everything, lol. My mate interviewed Devin Townsend with the aid of my Dictaphone. Devin's a lovely chap, but damn, EVERYTHING ended in "right?" to the point where I actually started to cringe every time he said it. I think it's something to do with not being able to articulate your sentences enough and you feel you have to add "filler".

[MisterMuncher]

Every time someone says "at the end of the day..." complete the sentence with "it gets dark". Youll only have to do it once or twice each.

[Bob Gnarly]

Every time you say "at the end of the day" and some smart arse rudely interrupts and says "it gets dark". Say "Not in Norway during the summer". You'll only have to say it once or twice. :)

[shobet]

But then they can retort 'Only in the North of the country you c--k' and who will look like a fanny then?

[Bob Gnarly]

Then you can say "Obviously" Therefore retaining your cool demeanour.

In that exchange the one who doesn't resort to petty insults is not the one who looks like a fanny. :)

[shobet]

I bet you'd pull a face like your constipated when you'd say 'obviously' as well. And you're still a c--k.