English is a cool lingua.. well, as weird as well. Here is a list of 10 phrases that are on the tippy of tongue but, strangely enough, mean NOTHING. Curtesy: Contrarian academic Stanley Fish recently had a post on his NY Times blog discussing what phrases he finds most annoying.
10. It is what it is
This newcomer is the epitome of an ear-grating phrase that means nothing.
9. It's all good
The inclusion of "all" only accentuates how much you don't mean what you are saying.
8. To be honest
Not only is this phrase usually followed by something best left unsaid, but it also implies everything else you say is dishonest.
7. No offense
A phrase even more insincere than it is superfluous.
6. Whatever
In a recent survey, 47 percent of Americans chose this word compound as the most annoying phrase of all. Meaning you have permission to smack anyone who uses it and isn't a 12-year-old girl. (And it's a close call on smacking any 12-year-old girl who uses the "w" word.)
5. Don't get me wrong
Isn't it implicit in most human communication that your intention is always to be correctly understood?
4. With all due respect
Really?
3. Everything happens for a reason
A completely worthless utterance that doubles as a vicious taunt to quadriplegics and burn victims everywhere.
2. At the end of the day
At the end of the day, you will be preparing for bed. (With apologizes toJohn Maynard Keynes.)
1. Going forward
Saying this is like announcing your next footstep.
A failed anti-depression drug may end the elusive search for the female version of Viagra.
During its initial clinical testing, flibanserin didn't cheer women up; rather, many who took it reported "an increased libido that they liked." This led to a series of studies in which pre-menopausal women in three countries went on a 24-week course of the drug and documented in a diary the intensity of their sexual desires and how many satisfactory sexual encounters they had.
Researchers found 100 milligrams a day of the drug resulted in "significant improvements" on both fronts relative to women who took a placebo. While Viagra and other erectile dysfunction medications work on the blood supply, flibanserin achieves its action on the fairer sex by heading directly for a female's sexually complicated brain.
Not only is this potentially great news for sexually bored women (and the men who want to have sex with them), but "The Flibanserin Diaries" would make for a terrific high-concept porn. Anyone have a contact at Cinemax?
