Those annoying things people say

You tinker, Ron!

At least I know when I am in Oxford to take care of mad cyclists ! 

Now there's one that gets me....You tinker! lol

Only joking Edward...

And yes, lots of mad cyclists for sure. They are also colour blind as they can't work out what the red on traffic lights means.

   One phrase that "does my head in "  ( and that is another candidate) has to be all these politicians who keep saying :-

          " In these difficult times.... "    yeah I know difficult times for the masses but some folk seem to swan through them ok.

Another annoying trend is the addition of superfluous words, such as

'At this moment in time' = 'Now'

'At the end of the day' = 'In conclusion'

'Have a good day, take care' = 'Goodbye' 

Generally, the use of English has become less concise. Perhaps the most economical use of English is in the King James Bible, where the precisely honed words have an impact which is lacking in many modern translations.

e.g. in the Common English Bible, John 11:35 is translated as 'Jesus began to cry' and in the King James Bible, 'Jesus wept'. The fewer words have far greater impact.

Terms and phrases that bug me:

1. My administration will be transparent
2. Let's peel back the onion a bit
3. When people make "Air quotes"
4. That ship has sailed
5. "Really" as a declaration rather than a question
6. What happened has happened; we must now move on. (Usually an attempt to hide guilt or divert attention, a la Hillary Clinton)

Idioms are interesting, but some are so obscure that the meaning can be lost on non-native English speakers. Similarly with Cockney Rhyming Slang, although with certain rhyming slang words, it can be embarrassing to explain what the meaning is ! And since this is a family-friendly site, I will not elaborate further.