Phrases You Shouldn’t Say Unless You Really Mean Them

We all know someone who says things they don’t mean on a pretty regular basis, and I’m pretty sure we all want to stab them in the temple for their ridiculous exaggerations (and repeating their ridiculous exaggerations over and over again). Ok, so your impulse may not be that drastic, but you get the point - you’re usually extremely aggravated by them. Either way, the person is obnoxious and you need them to shut up immediately.

I’m Sorry

This is a phrase used rather frequently and improperly. I hear it everyday at work, at least nine times a day! And I have to wonder how many people actually mean it when they say it. I also wonder why they’re saying it in the first place. Chances are, it wasn’t even applicable to their situation! According to dictionary.com, sorry means: feeling regret, compunction, sympathy, pity, etc.: to be sorry to leave one’s friends; to be sorry for a remark; to be sorry for someone in trouble. Don’t say, “I’m sorry” to me as soon as I walk into your office - I hadn’t said anything yet, and neither had you, so what the hell are you feeling regretful or sympathetic for? Nothing. So shut your mouth.

If you’re in front of me in the line to wash your coffee cup in the break room, don’t apologize to me because you got there first - what logical reasoning do you have for that? None. It doesn’t matter that you’re going to wash your cup before me; you earned that right by deciding before I did that you needed to wash your cup! And chances are, I don’t want to chit-chat with you about your drive to work this morning, anyway, so don’t try and use the “I’m sorry!!!1111” as a conversation starter. Wash your cup and move on. Bye now.

I Hate You

Hate is a very strong emotion that should be saved for criminals and the like, not me because I said I didn’t want to go to the movies with you, dolt. According to Wikipedia, hate is: an emotion of intense revulsion, distaste, or antipathy for a person, thing, or phenomenon, generally attributed to a desire to avoid, restrict, remove, or destroy the hated object. It’s not funny for you to say, “I hate you!”, so don’t; I don’t care that you’re kidding, we’re not 8 years old any more.

I actually know someone who says this quite often, and it’s always for no good reason and it’s getting on my last nerve. When someone says something over and over, it starts to lose its meaning, kind of like with The Boy Who Cried Wolf. And if this person says, “I hate you!” all the time… they probably say, “I love you!” all the time, too, which probably means they’re not being sincere. If you’re going to say it, own it and mean it. It’s pretty easy.

I Love You

This should be a phrase saved for your family, your significant other, and friends that are like family (If you must), period. So you called me to tell me you’re done with exams, great! There goes another 5 minutes of my day I can’t get back. At the end of the conversation, you have to throw in, “I love yoooou!!!” - YEA RIGHT, I’m calling BS. My Dad loves me; you’ve hardly known me for 6 months and we don’t even hang out outside of work. So not only is what you said false, it was AWKWARD and insincere. I’m flattered (kind of) that you like me so much you feel the need to say, “I love you”, but love is something that’s sacred, and it’s definitely a term that shouldn’t be used so loosely. And I promise, I’m not going to be offended that you didn’t give me my daily reminder that I’m loved. I know who loves me, and I love them back. Kthx.

I’m really not trying to be mean here, it’s just that when you say “I love you!” as I’m leaving your office ten minutes after you said “I hate you” for not wanting to leave work for lunch today because I’m broke, it really doesn’t mean anything to me.

I know there are plenty more examples of things you shouldn’t say unless you mean them, those are just 3 that I hear all too often in my life. What are some examples from your life?