I read this article last week called "14 Shitty Sayings" on a site called Wait But Why. It was glorious. The author talked about some common phrases and how they either make no sense or just really suck. I nodded my head as I read along. I've thought about how unhelpful a lot of sayings are, but I've never been like, "let me gather the bad sayings and explain why they're bad in a post." The person who wrote this nailed it. For instance, s/he writes:
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Why? Why, if someone fools me twice, should I feel shameful? And what kind of dick fools people twice? It should go, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, seriously get the hell away."
Word. I hate that saying. Why am I wrong for giving people the benefit of the doubt? You intentionally "fool" someone twice, you're the one who should be ashamed.
Pair that with this gem:
"I’ll forgive…but I will never forget. Oh, won’t you? Well at least you forgave me, in that ominous vengeful way. Thanks for that."
Really, there's no point in forgiving someone if you're always going to hold what they did over them. Or if you're going to forever associate them with their wrongdoing. I hate this saying so much. There's a difference between forgiving someone and acknowledging that they've apologized.
The author also mentioned the saying, "I slept like a baby." I'd also include, "It's like stealing candy from a baby." Anyone who has had kids or has taken care of kids or has simply been around kids knows that 1. babies don't sleep well and 2. Stealing candy from a baby is hard. Taking anything from a baby is hard. Especially when it involves sugary sweetness. There's pulling, stickiness, and screaming involved. Not exactly something easy or enjoyable.
I'd like to add to the list of shitty sayings.
Before writing the phrases I can't stand, let me just clarify that I don't think you're a bad person if you say these things. I say a lot of these things. Except #14. And usually when I say these things, I mean well. I'm assuming that's true of most people. But that doesn't mean the phrase makes sense, nor does it mean that it is the most sensitive thing to say in any situation. So please, don't read these and be like, "I say this all the time! Oh no!" or, "F you, I say this all the time! It makes perfect sense!" I've said most of these phrases, but that doesn't mean they aren't dumb.
Without further ado, here are some other sayings that tick me off.
1. The relatively new but much overused YOLO. I don't dislike the overall idea of this. It makes sense to "seize the moment" and recognize that this is your life and you should enjoy it. I hate YOLO because of the way people use it. "I'm gonna jump off the roof of this house into the pool twenty feet away even though it's dangerous and I could die because YOLO." Nine times out of ten, when I hear people say YOLO, they're doing something that suggests they don't, in fact, understand that they have this one precious life. You're yoloing wrong.
2. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. I hate this saying. I understand that it's normally used to say don't be greedy, and there is most definitely such a thing as wanting too much. But I hear this phrase used all the time, and usually it's regarding someone who isn't being greedy. Also, it's just a dumb saying. Why would I have cake if I didn't want to eat it? If you have cake in front of you, by all means, eat it. It's kind of the point.
3. Curiosity killed the cat. Why on earth would you want to discourage curiosity?? Curiosity and wonder and questioning are wonderful things.
4. Blood is thicker than water. Not always.
5. Welcome to the real world. While I acknowledge that the world is not always the happiest place and it's often way too hard to function in the world, this saying is awful. All it does is make young adults go into the world thinking there's nothing good coming. And that they have to do bad/manipulative things to get by.
6. He(She) had it coming to him(her)/What goes around comes around/Anything related to karma. Oh, so all these bad things that are happening/have happened to me are my own fault? K, thanks.
7. It is what it is. Again, what a pessimistic thing to say. Might as well say, "This sucks but I have no hope that it will ever change so I'm going to not try and things will always be like this."
8. He who can, does; he who can't, teaches. To this I say one thing:
9. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Revenge is a dish best not served at all.
10. Cut to the chase. The only thing that bothers me about this is that when people say it, they're usually being exceptionally rude.
11. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. To an extent, and for a certain period of time, maybe. Possibly. But in almost every relationship, romantic or otherwise, it's usually better when you see the person.
12. There's no such thing as a silly question. Yes, actually, there is.
13. Everything happens for a reason. No, everything doesn't happen for a reason. Do good things often come out of bad situation? Sure. But there's no reason kids are abused, people are killed in accidents, etc. This kind of ties into #6 for me. When people say this, it minimizes what you're going through. Let me grieve or process without telling me there was a reason for this - don't worry, just because I don't think things happen for a reason doesn't mean I don't understand that good can come from bad things.
And my absolute least favorite saying:
14. Money can't buy happiness. You never hear poor people say this. Obviously, money doesn't guarantee happiness nor can it buy things like true love or real friends. You know, the whole, "the best things in life can't be bought." Absolutely. But money can buy things like food, shelter, and health insurance. All three of those things make being happy easier. It's hard to be happy at all when you can't afford to live. So please, don't tell me that money doesn't buy happiness while I'm eating my Sugar-O's cereal in water or when I'm missing work due to some debilitating illness that could have been prevented with proper health care. This saying is especially bad when a wealthy or middle class person says it as a response to hearing a working class person say they wish they had more money. If you honestly think money doesn't affect happiness, you're privileged and likely delusional.
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| See, they know. |
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Charlotte
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