18 Dec

Odd stock phrases

Ever noticed how we use certain phrases, pretty much every day, that … well … don’t really mean very much?

I was talking to a friend, the other day (‘the other day’: a phrase which indicates any day other than ‘yesterday’ or ‘tomorrow’, within the last decade), about a big job that might be coming up, and said; ‘watch this space’.
What does that even mean?

I know it means ‘something exciting is coming up’, but why ‘watch this space?’
What space? The space in front of them? The space in front of me?
It’s just nonsense.

Another one of these is ‘a chance would be a fine thing’.
It’s just a hollow phrase. It fills space. It means nothing in particular.
Want an example?

Or how about; ‘cheer up, it might never happen’?
Usually, this is said when it – normally something terrible – most definitely has happened.
How more people aren’t punched after uttering this phrase is beyond me.

Other personal favourites include;

‘It is what it is’

‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’

‘Everything happens for a reason’

It’s nearly Christmas. I’d like to stay in a good mood. Please avoid these and I promise not to drown you in a vat of cranberry sauce.

That is all.

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