Meaningless twaddle

So much of what we say says nothing. And often that is entirely the point. When we say things like "how are you?" and "nice weather we're having," we are just filling blanks. Eventually, if we're lucky, a real conversation might get started. In the meantime, we exchange meaningless twaddle until somebody says something meaningful, or at least interesting. Sometimes that never happens and the small talk continues until one party breaks away and tries again with somebody else.

Yet so often even meaningful conversation contains meaningless twaddle. Consider some of these phrases that we hear all the time:

"It's as easy as ABC"

"Going forward"

"Crunch the numbers"

"Give 110 percent"

"Not exactly rocket science"

"Knock on wood"

"Let me put in my two cents"

"On the same page"

"Let's not reinvent the wheel"

And so on.

Sometimes such phrases are not exactly meaningless, for some cliches do mean something. They can be a shorthand way of saying something that would take more time to say if we avoided the cliches. Yet so often they add nothing at all to the conversation. Instead of saying "let me put in my two cents," why not just say what you have to say? Rather than "give 110 percent," saying simply "do your best" covers the same ground without causing a cringe among those who know 110 percent is mathematically impossible.

"Not exactly rocket science" stopped being amusing ages ago, as did "reinventing the wheel." Such phrases add absolutely nothing to the conversation. Nor do they add anything to the reputation or prestige of those who say them.