It makes me cringe every time I hear it. I probably don't need to since I've yet to say it, but I resolve to never say "At the end of the day..." in the context of, well, in most cases, anything. Most of the time, there is no need to preface a thought with that phrase. A pretty accurate definition offered by Urban Dictionary called it "a verbal crutch" and I couldn't agree more. What I thought was just an epidemic within the professional sports world has not only been heard among my senior leadership at work but out of the mouths of congressmen.
Equally cringe-worthy is "...it is what it is..." What does that even mean? It adds nothing to a conversation and makes you sound like a dud who likes cliches. It's usually an afterthought, an under-the-breath statement said at a lull in a conversation, when before this phenomenon, one would just sigh. Hence, this 5-word phrase isn't even worth saying. You're better off just sighing.
I blame these linguistic fads on laziness. I hope they pass soon and we return to days when we spoke of ideas containing sincerity, substance and thoughtfulness.
Equally cringe-worthy is "...it is what it is..." What does that even mean? It adds nothing to a conversation and makes you sound like a dud who likes cliches. It's usually an afterthought, an under-the-breath statement said at a lull in a conversation, when before this phenomenon, one would just sigh. Hence, this 5-word phrase isn't even worth saying. You're better off just sighing.
I blame these linguistic fads on laziness. I hope they pass soon and we return to days when we spoke of ideas containing sincerity, substance and thoughtfulness.
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