At the top of the list

Hooray! The expression "at the end of the day" has topped Oxford's list of 10 most irritating phrases. I'm glad to learn that I'm not the only person who hates it; Ever since moving to the UK I've learned to despise how often this meaningless bit of verbal decoration is used. I've heard it used twice in a single sentence, and then again in the following sentence, the way some people say 'umm'.

Unfortunately I have a new personal hair-puller that didn't make Oxford's list: After this US election season (and UK politicians are also using it lately) if I hear one more dubious assertion beginning with "make no mistake..." I'm gonna hurl. I mean really, thanks buddy -- I wasn't planning on making a mistake, but cheers for the warning.