Corner GRUMBLES

It’s an unspoken British rule that when you ask someone how they are in passing, you don’t expect them to actually tell you.

“Up here in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria the phrase used to greet people is ‘Hiya, y’alright?’ which is a question, but you’re not expected to answer!” explains Claire Brooks.

“If you do, the person who said it looks at you as if you’re seriously weird, but usually they’re 100 yards down the road by then.”

Similarly, Claire explains that locals in Barrow also say: “Bye, see ya later!” even to people they’ve never seen before, and will never see again.

“If you say, ‘Oh OK, what time?’ Again, they’ll think you’re a complete idiot.”

Another vote to ban Americanisms from our shores comes from Linda Baker who lives in South Gloucestershire.

She rants: “My pet hate is the word ‘basically’. It absolutely drives me nuts. It doesn’t actually mean anything and is just a filler word but it seems to have crept into the British language from America.”

While Geordie McDonald of North Shields, Tyne and Wear, asks despairingly: “When people say ‘at this moment in time’, what’s wrong with just saying ‘now’?”

And Geordie’s other pet hate is air quotes. He says: “When people put their hands in the air and wiggle two fingers on each hand, it looks like they’re waving to someone behind me. Ridiculous.”

And I will leave you with the phrases people say that make me feel murderous – “my bad”, “pardon my French” and the supremely irritating “this” when agreeing with someone else.

Whoever’s doing it, just stop.

■ Which words, phrases or pet hates really get your goat? Email them to me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk