Oxford University has chosen the 10 most-hated sloppy idiomatic expressions. The Telegraph reports the most hated phrase was "at the end of the day," while "fairly unique" came in a close second. Oxford researchers explained that the phrase "at the end of the day" was chosen because it could be summed up in one word: "finally," while "fairly unique" is an oxymoron.
In third place was "I personally," which was tautological, while coming in at eighth was "shouldn't of," an illiterate rendering of "shouldn't have."
Writer Jeremy Butterfield said the ninth most-hated phrase "24/7" was repeated too often and became office jargon. He pointed out that people were growing increasingly tired of repetitive anecdotes, jokes and involuntary linguistic tics.
Although they did not make the Top 10, "literally" and "ironically" were also chosen as expressions that irritated people.
The Top 10 were:
1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. I personally
4. At this moment in time
5. With all due respect
6. Absolutely
7. It's a nightmare
8. Shouldn't of
9. 24/7 (twenty-four seven)
10. It's not rocket science
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/debates/3394545/Oxford-compiles-list-of-top-ten-irritating-phrases.html
