"At this moment in time" and "like", used like a punctuation mark, shared second place and "with all due respect" came in fourth, the BBC reported yesterday.
The Plain English Campaign polled some 5000 people in more than 70 countries.
"Using these terms in daily business __(2)___ about as professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ring tone on your phone," the campaign concluded.
Its spokesman John Lister told the BBC that footballers __(3)__ partly to be blamed for "at the end of the day"coming out on top in the end of the survey.
"I think people find it irritating, partly because it __(4)__ so overused," he said. "If you've ever heard a football interview, it seems to ___(5)____ used in place of a breath or a comma."
"It's also partly wrong because it's so wrong - at the end of the day, I go to sleep."
The PLain English Campaign ___(6)____ an independent group "fighting for crystal- clear language and against jargon, gobbledygook and other confusing language."
The poll ___(7)___ compiled as part of the build-up to its 25th anniversary on July 26.
People who "touch base" or talk about "ball-park figures" and "bottom lines" __(8)__ not "singing from the same hymn sheet", they are driving others to distraction, said Mr Lister.
In the survey, business phrases in particular received th bulk of the nominations, Reuters reported. They included
Other terms which received multiple nominations included "24/7", "I hear what you're saying" and "to be honest".
"Gobbledygook jargon and cliches really are no respecter of international boundaries," he told Sky Television in a cliche-riddled interview.
He said it ___(8)___ time for people to start inventing new analogies.
"The problem with cliches is they're things that ___(9)____
once fresh but ___(10)____ now so overused that, as soon as you hear it, your mind shifts your impression of the speaker," he said.
He urged people to follow George Orwell's advie to "never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print."
The reason: "These phrases __(12)___ so yesterday.
- The Straits Times Mar 25 2004
