We all have one: the coworker that we just can't get along with.
They can be annoying for a number of reasons. Maybe their voice, maybe it's the way they sign their emails, maybe they bring tuna sandwiches into the lunch room.
A lot of annoying coworkers out there tend to have a "catch phrase" of sorts. And it drives some people up a wall.
We compiled a list of some of the worst sayings a coworker can use.
Redditor EzraMusic98 wanted to know:
"What is the most annoying phrase your coworkers use?"
If you work in an office, you probably will relate.
Having fun at work.
"I have one co-worker who without fail every single time I see him says "Having fun yet?" even if it's only been about 10 minute since I saw him last."
"I had a friend at my last job who was guilty of those stupid cliche phrases. I never had the heart to tell him how irritating and predictable it was LOL. Some of his favorites were: 'living the dream,' 'another day another dollar' and 'just another day in paradise.'"
"I do it mainly because I worked in customer service my entire life and now am basically programmed to interact with a generic and neutral conversation with ANYONE and I do mean ANYONE who gets within a 10-foot circle of me."
"I literally had a job at a hospital for years where that was one of the rules, anyone in a 10-foot circle gets a greeting."
"You are now a Non-Player Character."
"There are a lot of working stiffs like this. I catch myself doing this too, running on a brain off / autopilot mode half the time. I think it's basically a symptom of people not giving a single sh*t about taking the energy to invest in real relationships with people at work. Not in a malicious way. Just it's not important to them. And I totally get that."
One person's dream is another person's nightmare.
"Just livin' the dream! Another day in paradise!"
"'Just livin' the dream!'"
"ME: one nightmare at a time."
"This explains my thoughts on this phrase. A nightmare counts as a dream, so the answer is honest either way you look at it and the person you're answering will just assume good."
The supervisor just doesn't care.
"When we report any technical issue to the supervisor he always gives some basic a** instructions, then proceeds to write 'keep me posted.' Then when we keep him posted he never replies. So we know that it actually means 'I don't give a f*ck about your problem.'"
- Lord-AG
"Yeah my old supervisor would yell when the printer is broken that we never tell him. Then when we did he yelled anyway."
"Your supervisor is saying 'let me know if it gets worse, otherwise I'll assume its fixed.'"
"That's not better but its probably true."
"I'm confused by this …. Assuming that it's that persons job to fix the issue not the supervisors. Wanting to know it's not worse is both essential and an appropriate level of Involvement."
"Otherwise the supervisor isn't supervising they are micro managing."
"I agree. I think the posters point was that not hearing back from the supervisor makes it feel like they don't give a f*ck. I can see how it would come across that way, and maybe [the original poster's] supervisor really doesn't give a f*ck."
Work is not "family."
"Calling us 'family.' I like my team at work. I get along with them very well. But we're not family. I already have a family. Our relationship is professional. After we stop working together I might hit you up for a recommendation or something but our relationship will effectively end there. Work is work, family is (Vin Diesel voice) family."
"There is one person on my team who does this. We're all remote, scattered across the country and have always been, so we have these 'social hours' once a month."
"She refers to the team as her family but we all know it's because she has NO LIFE outside of work, literally, she does nothing, she works like 14-15 hours a day when it's not really necessary to do that."
"Does anyone care enough about her to tell her she might need professional help? That lady could be in a really bad spot emotionally. Could be you, or could be a coworker."
"I'm her manager. I have spoken to her about it so many times I can't count. My boss has talked to her, as well. She gets defensive, pushes back, says she wants to do it (work that much). I have tried. She has some sort of medical issue (personally I think she is anorexic but that's none of my business obviously) that prevents her from having children but she's talked many times about wanting to have a family."
Workers are allowed to take breaks.
"'If you've got time to lean you've got time to clean.'"
"Shut up Matt. I'm not leaning because I have nothing to do, I'm leaning because I'm overworked and my back hurts."
"Matt returns to the back room to check his IG story."
"Yupppppp. F*cking hate this phrase with a passion. And I hate people who actually enforce it even more."
"You make me come in for $7 a hour. Overwork me and make me stand on a hard floor for long periods of time and often forget my break. Co-workers and managers that enforce this need to bug off asap. Let me have a few min of peace long as I get my stuff done leave me alone."
"Just hold a rag in your hand. I used to have stations set up where I would go to 'clean' when it was 'slow.'"
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"My manager would sit in his fat a** in the corner the whole shift. if there were no customers and nothing to do he still wouldn't let us sit down for even 5 minutes. I resorted to sitting in the walk-in just for a little bit of pain reduction."
- murpalim
"Man, there is nothing quite like a minute or two in the walk-in after working hard. The cold is so... comforting."
No one should be this excited about Friday.
"Happy Fri-yay!"
"I have never heard this and I already hate anybody who says it."
"There was a guy who worked the front desk at my company. Every Friday he would great everyone with TGIF!!! My office is pretty close to the front so I would hear TGIF all day long. He would also start playing Christmas music in October."
"I have a coworker that says 'Happy Friday....... Eve.' Don't do that; don't give me hope."
"I don't mind that one because Fridays are indeed happy. I do not like the more sarcastic 'happy Monday,' however."
"Looks like somebody has a case of the Mondays!"
Let us yawn in peace.
"When they see someone yawn 'oh no don't you dare it's too early for that.'"
"The only response to that I can think of is 'eat sh*t.'"
- chittad
"I used to have a boss that told me that every morning."
We'll circle back to this.
"Circle back. This isn't the Oregon trail or some hunting operation. We're office people."
- rykmi
"I use that and then specifically never circle back."
"In education circles in Texas, you'll hear 'We'll cover this state standard now, and, after the next unit, we'll spiral it back in.' Every time I heard that phrase 'spiral back in,' I died a little inside."
Another day another dollar.
"Another day another dollar... every damn day."
"I am guilty of this. I am on lunch right now having just said it."
"I just literally don't know what else to say when a random worker asks me how I am doing, especially when we are walking past each other and I don't have time to formulate a more substantial response."
- Brandyn_
"'Good! You?'"
"Better yet, 'good, thanks!'"
"I was so happy exchanging 'pay day!' Messages with my coworker, but one day he didn't seem as happy later it turned out he was terminated and given some time (months, he was on a work visa) to find another job."
It's just a job.
"I've had a coworker once tell me that working for (company) wasn't just a job, it was a lifestyle."
"Like, no. It's a job."
"I'm a teacher and this is a huge issue. I love my job and I'm good at it. But it is not my life. It's a job I do, m-f, 8-4."
- OhioMegi
"When we actually went on strike, one of the signs I made for us was 'do it for the kids' doesn't pay my rent.'"
This might apply to some jobs though.
"There absolutely are some jobs that are lifestyles. Driving a truck, for example, kind of dictates the type of life you live."
"Working in an office doesn't usually do that though."
- 1CEninja
"That definitely applies to the film industry."
"My boss once told me that he feels like some people only work where we work to collect a paycheck, and he said it like it was just the worst thing he could think of."
"The whole time i was thinking 'Yep, you're looking at one of them right now.'"
It's just the overall attitude.
"I have one co-worker who, every day without fail will say at the beginning of the shift, 'Is it time to go home yet?' Every. Single. Day."
"Well, f*ck. I am that person. Sorry. It's just that I hate my boss and I'm dead inside.
"I hate my boss because he A) rarely comes out from his cubicle to talk to his team. B) when he does, uses the phrases 'There's (insert name),' and 'Gotta keep movin' C) Always has a stupid Bluetooth earpiece in and is deaf in the other ear so can't fucking hear anything you say the first time. D) Everything is 'x number of...'"
- 5ygnal
"I get it. Everyone gets it. No one wants the reminder."
Not everyone's friend's with their coworkers and that's okay.
But if you say some of these things, it might be time to stop and think, "Am I the annoying coworker?"
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