The "hated words" thread

[SadieKate]

We have the "favorite words" thread so I thought I'd start the opposite. In another forum, I asked for a comparison of brake calipers - specifically how well do the calipers stay in adjustment.

When I asked one of the responders to clarify his answer, he said "it's possible to overthink this." Grrrrrrrrrr! The word "overthink" is overused. It just raises my hackles. I find it arrogant and perhaps chauvinistic. I generally try to evaluate my initial response to perceived chauvinism but in this case it also seems that I never hear a man use that word to another man. I've decided that users of it are either arrogant (you can't possibility be as smart as they are) or they are unwilling to admit that they can't explain their answer logically.

I also dislike it when someone says "no biggie" instead of a simple "you're welcome" or "happy to help." It conveys to me that the person doesn't understand your appreciation of their actions. Maybe I'm just turning into an old fuddy-duddy on that one. Sometimes "thank you" and "you're welcome" can be the most powerful words in a relationship.

The "overthink" poster also had overused his keyboard's shift key and broken it because he had underused capitals.:p

Gripe, gripe, gripe. Do you all have words that just set your teeth on edge?

[slinkedog]

It bothers me when people say, "I don't care," when you're asking them for their input. Example:

1st person: Do you want to go to the beach or the mountains?

2nd person: I don't care.

To me, that implies lack of interest. Instead, I wish they would say, "Either one is fine with me."

Silly, but it bugs me.

[SadieKate]

If you don't care, don't be whining later. :p

[slinkedog]

Exactly!! :)

[7rider]

"Irregardless"
Arrrrggghhhh!!!!! That's NOT A WORD!!!!

[RoadRaven]

caring

I really and truly dislike the word caring when it used in this way

"She's such a caring person"

It feels condescending and creepy and ingenuine...

LIke the "have a nice day" NZ seems to have adopted from American movies and the golden arches.

[mimitabby]

Can't

[snapdragen]

It bothers me when people say, "I don't care," when you're asking them for their input. Example:
1st person: Do you want to go to the beach or the mountains?
2nd person: I don't care.
To me, that implies lack of interest. Instead, I wish they would say, "Either one is fine with me."
Silly, but it bugs me.

That is my entire family in a nutshell.:rolleyes: A whole gang of noncommittal people. Drives me crazy, I now demand "Make a decision!" when I get the "I don't care".

[mimitabby]

"Irregardless"
Arrrrggghhhh!!!!! That's NOT A WORD!!!!

I hate this too. there's a guy here who is supposed to be smart
and he says it all the time. Drives me NUTS!

[Nokomis]

"Nitty gritty." Worked with someone who used that phrase constantly.

[oxysback]

My boss uses "irregardless" all the time. I've told him it's not even a word! Kind of gets on my nerves because he's not an uneducated man. LOL!

[mtbdarby]

That is my entire family in a nutshell.:rolleyes: A whole gang of noncommittal people. Drives me crazy, I now demand "Make a decision!" when I get the "I don't care".

Sounds like a lot of guys I've dated:p

Whatever and Like. Valley girl days are gone people...

[snapdragen]

Here's one - it's more of a phrase, and the way it's used drives me crazy.

I work with a woman who uses "and then I turn around and" when she is talking. For instance:

"Snap prints the insurance claims, and then I turn around and mail them."

[oxysback]

"Irregardless"
Arrrrggghhhh!!!!! That's NOT A WORD!!!!

LOL! Lots of us must have been posting at the same time!

[SadieKate]

Can't

Phoebe Dinsmore: [giving Lina diction lessons] Repeat after me - Tah, Tey, Tee, Toe, Too.
Lina Lamont: Tah, Tey, Tye, Tow, Tyo.
Phoebe Dinsmore: No, no, no Miss Lamont, Round tones, round tones. Now, let me hear you read your line.
Lina Lamont: And I cayn't stand'im.
Phoebe Dinsmore: And I can't stand him.
Lina Lamont: And I cayn't stand'im.
Phoebe Dinsmore: Can't.
Lina Lamont: Cayn't.
Phoebe Dinsmore: Caaaan't
Lina Lamont: Cayyyyn't

Jean Hagen was so good in this role. "I cayn't stand'it" has become a standard joke line in our family.

[mimitabby]

how about this:


"you wouldn't believe it, she literally blew up!"
but she didn't really blow up, she just yelled.

LITERALLY is overused.

[RoadRaven]

LOL

Two of the first words in reply to this thread (good thread idea, btw!!!) are "care" and "caring"

What does that say about our society and our misuse of words?

[Running Mommy]

My sons fave word at the moment is "addicting"... UGH! When is school going back again?? All I hear is "Oh I LOVE those. They are addicting" all day LONG!
Ten year olds! They latch on to one thing and run with it! :rolleyes:

[SadieKate]

"very unique"

It's either unique or it's not.

[Wahine]

"Orientate"

The "can't" thing is a real issue with me too. I deal with it all the time with clients. For eg:

Client: My leg was soooo sore I couldn't walk to the bathroom.
Me: Then how did you get to the bathroom?
Client: I walked, but it really hurt.
Me: To me that means you *could* walk to the bathroom but it was difficult because of your pain.

Then the patient usually gets a little huffy because because I'm forcing them to be honest with themselves and me. All of my client's have to get used to a little tough love.

[SadieKate]

"incentivize"

What is with our culture that we have to add "-ate" or "-ize" to perfectly good verbs?

[Jenn]

"Experienced rider".....hmmm wow...that's a toughie....how many of us have run the "Tour".....

[mimitabby]

"Orientate"

The "can't" thing is a real issue with me too. I deal with it all the time with clients. For eg:

Client: My leg was soooo sore I couldn't walk to the bathroom.
Me: Then how did you get to the bathroom?
Client: I walked, but it really hurt.
Me: To me that means you *could* walk to the bathroom but it was difficult because of your pain.

Then the patient usually gets a little huffy because because I'm forcing them to be honest with themselves and me. All of my client's have to get used to a little tough love.

lol. yeah really.
but what i meant was. You can't do that anymore. Ever.
people misuse it and i'm glad you can call them on it. but when the word
means what it really is; that's about the saddest thing i can think of.

[csr1210]

"I seen..."

Drives me nuts - my boss must say this at least 10 times a day. One day I will "literally":p blow up:D and scream that it's "I SAW or I HAVE seen!!!!!"

Okay, I feel better now -- like I've re-orientated myself:p ....but really, it has gotten to the point where I have a very difficult time saying the word "seen" -- even if I'm using it correctly.:rolleyes:

Okay, I will stop now!

[mimitabby]

where do you live (general geographic location okay here) CSR1200 that your boss would say that?

[slinkedog]

"I seen..."

Drives me nuts - my boss must say this at least 10 times a day. One day I will "literally":p blow up:D and scream that it's "I SAW or I HAVE seen!!!!!"


I have a sister-in-law that says this all the time... makes me totally insane!!

[Voodoo Sally]

Here are my peeves.

"Could care less." If you could care less, than you must care some amount. It's supposed to be "couldn't care less."

"Graduated" high school. It should be "graduated FROM high school". And going even further back (50 years?), they used to say "WAS graduated from high school."

That didn't "phase" me. The word is actually spelled faze.

"Nonplussed". This means the opposite of what many folks think it does. It means shocked, or speechless. People mis-use it when they mean unfazed, or unaffected.

[mimitabby]

Here are my peeves.

"Could care less." If you could care less, than you must care some amount. It's supposed to be "couldn't care less."

"Graduated" high school. It should be "graduduated FROM high school". And going even further back (50 years?), they used to say "WAS graduated from high school."

That didn't "phase" me. The word is actually spelled faze.

"Nonplussed". This means the opposite of what many folks think it does. It means shocked, or speechless. People mis-use it when they mean unfazed, or unaffected.

what is graduduated? I've never heard of this word.

[SadieKate]

Not a hated word, but a pet peeve: when people quote my typos and make them live for eternity. :p

[Wahine]

what is graduduated? I've never heard of this word.

LOL. Me neither.

Another favorite:

Negative impact.

It doesn't make any sense. If it's a negative impact, does that mean that things separated. Isn't that the same as exploded?

[Voodoo Sally]

what is graduduated? I've never heard of this word.

Oops. Sorry. :rolleyes:

[bikerz]

I don't like the use of the verb "grow" with non-natural things. Nothing wrong with "I want to grow tomatoes" but "I want to grow the business" just irks me. There are many terms in common use in business or politics that bug me in the same way - "I've been tasked with doing x,y,z" comes to mind.

[mimitabby]

oh yeah..
and "on my plate"
to refer to non-edibles "I have a lot of things on my plate, i need your help"
and waitresses that say about the $100 meal you are eating "are you still WORKING on that?" BLEAH!

[csr1210]

Mimitabby -- I live in rural south Texas, but REALLY, all of us do not speak this way!:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by Voodoo Sally
Here are my peeves.

"Could care less." If you could care less, than you must care some amount. It's supposed to be "couldn't care less."

OH YES!!! I almost posted that one myself!

[HappyAnika]

"solutions" As in, "Our company provides solutions". Ok, that tells me nothing.

"variability" What happened to "variation"?

[snapdragen]

Oooh, I hate "on my plate". We hear that a lot around here. How about "dialog" as in "We need to dialog with XXX"

[SadieKate]

"think outside the box"

[Mr. Bloom]

"incentivize"

What is with our culture that we have to add "-ate" or "-ize" to perfectly good verbs?
Oh, that one really irks me too! The word is "incent".
We "Incent" people! We don't "incentivize" them!
:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Mr. Bloom]

"nucular"

Come on Mr. Prez....the man with his finger on the bomb should know what kind of bomb it is!

[Zen]

Ooo!Ooo!

conversate

what-not

and my absolute most hated word impact instead of affect or effect . Cold weather impacted the crops.
NO
It's how did that affect the crops or what kind of effect did that have on the crops?
Though it can be used in place of effect, the more common usage means the striking of one thing against another; forceful contact or collision.

Impact is overused. As you may have concluded by now, this one really has a negative effect on me.

[7rider]

LOL. Me neither.

Another favorite:

Negative impact.

It doesn't make any sense. If it's a negative impact, does that mean that things separated. Isn't that the same as exploded?

Oh, heck. In the regulatory world, under the various statutes, we deal with "negative impact" all the time. Like when a regulation puts you out of business. That would be a negative impact. You balance that with the positive impacts: like those rare occasions when a regulations is (bonus!) going to boost your business (well, assuming it's doing that NOT because the reg put all your competitors OUT of business. Oops!). :eek:

[SouthernBelle]

Two of my biggies have already been mentioned.

Conversate. The word is converse.

& grow a business. Hate that!

[Wahine]

Oh, heck. In the regulatory world, under the various statutes, we deal with "negative impact" all the time. Like when a regulation puts you out of business. That would be a negative impact. You balance that with the positive impacts: like those rare occasions when a regulations is (bonus!) going to boost your business (well, assuming it's doing that NOT because the reg put all your competitors OUT of business. Oops!). :eek:

I hear ya. I just wish people would say negative effect, instead of impact. (See Zen's post above).

[crazycanuck]

How about the poor use of countable & non countables in sentences. Also, the use of present progressive versus present simple.

There is 5 cars in the parking lot. GRRRRRRRR..:mad: I want to jump up and down and tell the person to go back to primary school to learn english.

"Like" ARHGHGHGHHGHGH..I sit beside a young lady at work & every second word is "Like". :mad: I'm supposed to be a nice team member & not say anything :mad: AHRHRHHGHGHGHHG..

I'm going to go off and kill a few small imaginary creatures..

C

[LBTC]

Oh, you guys really posted a lot of good ones already!

How about "real" when it should be "really". i.e. It was a real hot day. Not.

And for some reason, just when DH says it to me, "let's pick up the pace here" argh. Can't you tell I'm going as fast as I can?

There are so many! When I think of more funny ones I'll get back to ya!

Hugs & butterflies,
~T~

[Mr. Bloom]

We live in an area where I'm convinced that no one was taught proper english:

"We have went to the mall" Huh????????

"We have did our job" GEEZZZZZZ!

"we done done it now"

I knew I grew up in Alabama, but I assure you that the grammar is not nearly as bad there as it is in the Midwest!!!

[Jolt]

One mispronunciation that bugs me: when people say "defribulator" when they mean "defibrillator". As for words I just plain dislike, I'd have to say the "f-bomb" tops my list.

[salsabike]

Hey, that's one of our big favorites too!!

Also:

Disirregardless
Utilize--why is that better than "use"?
flustrated



Phoebe Dinsmore: [giving Lina diction lessons] Repeat after me - Tah, Tey, Tee, Toe, Too.
Lina Lamont: Tah, Tey, Tye, Tow, Tyo.
Phoebe Dinsmore: No, no, no Miss Lamont, Round tones, round tones. Now, let me hear you read your line.
Lina Lamont: And I cayn't stand'im.
Phoebe Dinsmore: And I can't stand him.
Lina Lamont: And I cayn't stand'im.
Phoebe Dinsmore: Can't.
Lina Lamont: Cayn't.
Phoebe Dinsmore: Caaaan't
Lina Lamont: Cayyyyn't

Jean Hagen was so good in this role. "I cayn't stand'it" has become a standard joke line in our family.

[SadieKate]

Ooh, ooh. You made me remember prostate vs prostrate.:eek:

[yellow]

I hear ya. I just wish people would say negative effect, instead of impact.

A related one...in my line of work, we discuss project-related effects. Some people that I work with actually use "impacted" as a verb, as in "the wetland would be impacted by..." Arg! The only thing that can be impacted is a wisdom tooth. I'm with you, Wahine. I prefer to use the word "effect" instead of "impact" (but I seem to be alone on this most of the time with my coworkers, which begs the question: is it me or are they all uncouth?).

And as SK knows, I say "very unique" all the time. Why? I have no idea. Where did I learn that one? I'm trying to overcome this shortfall in my life. :rolleyes: Sometimes I even say "very super unique". I tend to overuse the word "super" for emphasis. :o Super fun, super cute, super whatever...

My most hated words are irregardless, orientated, and potable. Regarding the last one, I hate it because most people mispronounce it and that hurts my ears. And we all know by now that the first two aren't really words (though "irregardless" is now accepted as slang and does occur in some dictionaries).

[SadieKate]

The only thing that can be impacted is a wisdom tooth.If that's the case, then your dogs must have very unique anal glands. :p

[Veronica]

Irregardless, the potable water can be impacted by the real unique prostrate prostate whose owner should have been orientated to properly utilize the facilities. :D

V.

[yellow]

If that's the case, then your dogs must have very unique anal glands. :p

You mean your dog has very super unique anal glands. My dogs seem to just have normal ones. ;)

[yellow]

Irregardless, the potable water can be impacted by the real unique prostrate prostate whose owner should have been orientated to properly utilize the facilities. :D

V.
:p

Did the facilities include a defribulator?

(OK, I'm just waiting from someone to bring up engrish (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=6796&highlight=engrish)again...it's been a while).

[kiwi girl]

how about this:


"you wouldn't believe it, she literally blew up!"
but she didn't really blow up, she just yelled.

LITERALLY is overused.

Yeah but my pet peave is a colleague who uses it differently ..

he'll say something like

'I literally just got off the phone with [so and so] about that'

when he says it, it is usally true - but I'd hope that if it wasn't true he wouldn't say it, so why does he need to add the literally

[Lifesgreat]

A word: "Network" used as a verb.

A phrase: "Think out of the box". How did I get in the box? Why am I in the box and you aren't? Is it bad to be in the box? Maybe the box is a nice place :D

Another word: "like" as in "I was like, going to call you, like, but I was, like, hungry and I, like, had to go get some lunch before I, like, starved to death.

Mispronounced: "specific", pronounced "pacific". As in "I didn't want to get too pacific about the plan."

[whippetgirl]

What a great thread...

I hate when people say "I'll try" when they really won't.

[bmccasland]

Pet peeve - when some one starts with - Can I ask you a question?
Isn't that a question? What if I say "No"? Why don't you just ask the question????

And local vernicular - instead of Ask, it's AX. "Let me ax you a question." This mispronnouncation is out of the mouths of well educated people too. Although I have to admit they received all their education in Orleans Parish, which has the full range from failing public schools to very well respected Universities.

I have an ax in my garage, I've used it to chop firewood.

Synergy. A project has synergy with another one. The project synergizes...
EXSQUEEZE me?

[snapdragen]

More from people is work with, mammyogram instead of mammogram.

We have a form used to followup MediCal claims, called a Claims Information Form or CIF. One woman calls it a sniff (the same one that is constantly turning around...)

[sgtiger]

Hilacious. I'm not sure if I hate this word for itself or because my friend's obnoxious ex used it all the time and the word became associated with him.

Also, I hate these lead-in phrases and any variation of:

It's none of my business, but...
I shouldn't be saying this...
I'm not racist or anything, but...
I know this will sound racist...

I don't know why people think by saying these types of phrases that they're are excused from what comes out of their mouths after.:mad:

[uforgot]

George Carlin would approve of this thread.

[eclectic]

Great Thread and Responses :D

Realator instead of realtor
liberry instead of library
que-pon instead of coupon

"Yelled" as in a student speaking to the principal "Then Mrs A really yelled at me . . ."
No I did not yell at them I spoke sternly in a low tone of voice.
Anytime anything is said as a reprimand we "yelled" at them.

One day I DID yell at them then calmly said "now you know what yelling is" :D

Gay as in "that is sooooo gay"

retard as in "I/you are such a retard" or "that is just retarded"

AND I am totally w/ the person who said the one about:
"can I ask you a question?"
First of all it is "MAY I ask you a question and NO you CAN'T!" (there that is yelling :lol:)

hmmm I think totally used to drive me crazy and now I am using it :eek:

Whew :D good thing it is summer vacation

[East Hill]

"Yelled" as in a student speaking to the principal "Then Mrs A really yelled at me . . ."
No I did not yell at them I spoke sternly in a low tone of voice.
Anytime anything is said as a reprimand we "yelled" at them.

One day I DID yell at them then calmly said "now you know what yelling is" :D


I've had that happen far too often at work. My workplace is extremely noisy, and I have to give explicit instructions. Quite often I start off a sentence in a loud, but not 'yelling' voice. Halfway through the instructions the noise stops (I work at an airport) and I find that I am now 'yelling'. It's difficult to explain to new people that I am NOT 'yelling', but then I bellow at them and announce, "Now, THAT is 'yelling'.

My 'hated' word: 'Fer' = 'for'

:D

East Hill

[Voodoo Sally]

Oh yeah, "realAtor" is a classic.

"JewLEry" is another one like that.

[RolliePollie]

Oh my, this is the perfect thread for me! I'm certainly not perfect when it comes to grammar, but some of the things you hear coming out of people's mouths just drive me crazy!!!

A friend of mine mispronounces several words and it makes me cringe! She says simular instead of similar, coont instead of couldn't, and warsh instead of wash. The worst is when she says Massachusetts. She mixes up the syllables and it comes out "Massatoosh*ts."

One that really gets me is Oldtimer's instead of Alzheimer's.

And one more (which I'm guilty of myself) is when people say "a whole nother" - since when can you split a word in two and stick another word in the middle? Oh, excuse me, I mean stick a whole nother word in the middle.

I also hate it when people write "alot" instead of "a lot."

Then there's orientated. Hate it! But if you Google it, you'll find it is actually a word, which makes me grumpy because I don't want it to be a word.

[Python]

My two most hated words:

Dentist - means expensive pain

Doctor

Both mean T-R-O-U-B-L-E

[LBTC]

O
Then there's orientated. Hate it! But if you Google it, you'll find it is actually a word, which makes me grumpy because I don't want it to be a word.

Ain't that the truth? :D

[five one]

A good friend of mine thinks you go to kinnygarden before first grade. She also carves a punkin for Halloween.

Many people use then instead of than, as in I'd rather ride my bike then anything else in the world.

I hate the words paradigm and networking. Actually I hate any business related buzz words.

[SadieKate]

To me, punkin is a form of endearment or just a play on a word. For instance, our family uses oderarm-de-underant and irrigirates the fields.

I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book and she talks about the words that families generate and perpetuate. A young child in the family mangled the name of those big pink water birds and they forever became "flingmos."

[salsabike]

Right, like the book title "A Monk Swimming". And some of these, like "whole nuther" are meant to be sloppy slang/fun.

I have a friend, much beloved, who cannot learn how to say "ostensibly". She says "ostenshishly". What the heck. She's still a great person.

[Veronica]

You ought to hear me say Worcestershire sauce. :D

V.

[salsabike]

Shoot, I don't usually even TRY that one.

However, maybe you all will be amused to know that, with a former Navy sub captain for a father in law, I still seem to have trouble saying "Admiral" when I intend to, and have several times called my father in law's good friend "Admirable Long". And I'm sure he is.



You ought to hear me say Worcestershire sauce. :D

V.

[SadieKate]

You're making it too complicated.:) Worcestershire = wers - te - sher. Accent on the first syllable.

[slinkedog]

Oh, and if I hear our president say, "noocyeelur" instead of "nuclear," one more time, I may tear hairs out of my head. And not just the grey ones, mind you.

[Python]

You're making it too complicated.:) Worcestershire = wers - te - sher. Accent on the first syllable.


It's pronounced

Woostershire sauce depending on where in England you come from. Some pronouce it Worseter sauce.

Playing on family words one of my cousins when she was little would call an umbrella a "Humbee-eddy".:D

I had a habit of calling my elder brother (6 years older than me - and the one who's hopefully donating a kidney to my son) a "Higoramus" instead of an "Ignoramus":o

[Veronica]

Nahhhh... you got it all wrong. :p

You change the letters around, add some and get...


War chest er sauce.

Totally wrong - but communication occurs in the mind of the listener. At least my husband knows what to get. :)

V.

[Python]

It's one that's pronounced in all different ways. Think we all know what to get:D Certainly adds flavour.

Ever tried it on toasted cheese? A few drops on toasted cheese...YUM:p

[SadieKate]

Python, thanks. I've discovered that depending on where you learned English (the Queen's or otherwise) some folks just don't hear an R. I've definitely heard an R from some UK-born folks but I couldn't tell you where in the UK. Just like North America, we run the gamut of the pronuciation spectrum. Library, liberry - case in point.:rolleyes:

[Velobambina]

Overused trendy phrases: example--- "my bad." I cringe when I hear that, especially when it comes out of the mouth of a 55 year old executive.

Any business lingo du jour---I've been through countless office/organization reorganizations and every new one brings more ridiculous language.

I dislike affectation in any form, so anyone who uses affected words/phrases/faux accents is a doofus in my book. LOL. Wealthy, overindulged kids who try to talk/dress like they are from the 'hood are a prime example.

[margo49]

I hate anything to do with how I "feel" or "caring" and "sharing"

I don't like the look (printed) or sound (spoken) of German
I have a knee-jerk "anti" to the sound of Yiddish, tho' I think it is a very rich and descriptive language; especially when the topic concerns people, relationships and things that have gone terribly wrong.

I hate these two words absolutely the most (having spent the past few days browsing my vocabulary before putting fingers to keyboard )

1. soul-mate

2. mentor

[margo49]

Also, I hate these lead-in phrases and any variation of:

It's none of my business, but...
I shouldn't be saying this...
I'm not racist or anything, but...
I know this will sound racist...

I don't know why people think by saying these types of phrases that they're are excused from what comes out of their mouths after.:mad:

Yeah, everything before the "but" is bullsh--

[snapdragen]

More family words -- shocks - shoes and socks, and one I've heard from more than one person baskettie - spaghetti.:D

[Python]

I know this isn't really about hated words (sorry for the thread hijack) but seeing the spaghetti one brought this to mind.

When my son was about 4 years old, he asked what was for dinner. I said "Pork". He thought for a minute then said "Oh. Dead pig":D

[RolliePollie]

We have two local roads called Pierroz Rd. and Jacquier Rd. You should hear all the different pronunciations! I really have no idea how you're supposed to say either. Many people call Jacquier "Jay-Quay", while others say "Jack-wire". Pierroz runs the gamut from "Pierre-rose" to "Puh-rahhs" to "you know, that road over between Placerville Drive and Cold Springs with the funny name."

I don't really want to type my last name here on the forum, but I'll tell you this much...it's one of my most hated words! No one can pronounce it or spell it. And I've had people laugh out loud when I say it. At least it's easy to tell when it's a telemarketer calling on the phone. They murder the pronunciation and I just hang up on them.

[lizbids]

I think the word, "irregardless" drives me nuts b/c it's not a word. Yet so many people use it.

I also hate it when people use Latin phrases without understand their proper useage.

[csr1210]

My husband's boss is always telling someone to massage something -- as in "why don't you massage that idea a little...."
:eek: :eek: :eek: I'm glad that I don't work for him -- that just creeps me out! :confused: My husband is the master of the blank stare -- he can hear this stuff and not even blink:D We call it "the power to ignore" -- that's the super power I'd like to have:rolleyes:

By the way -- has anyone else heard that expression? It was new to me.

[PinkBike]

ohmygosh!!
lizbid's post made me think of the overused phrase everybody is getting wrong lately on sportscasts.
"mano a mano"
It does NOT mean "man to man," phil ligget et al!
It means "hand to hand"
geeeeeeeeez

And a word I'm learning to hate:
Penultimate
its like it was just discovered and now everybody has to use it to sound upscale. all it means is next to last.
sheeeeeeeez

[SadieKate]

Do I get a waiver? I've used it for 30+ years. :rolleyes:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?p=202387&highlight=penultimate#post202387

[stacie]

I'm fixin to go to the store.

[Zen]

I'm fixin to go to the store.

I like fixin.
Since you're fixin to go to the store, get me some orange pop, ya hear?

It's a southern thing.

[crazycanuck]

Heee heeee..Pop..heee heeeee..

I don't hear that word very often..It's hilarious! When Ian arrived in Canada he visted a local fast food joint. She asked him "what pop do ya want with blah blah" . It took a while for both of them to understand eachother..It eventually dawned on him that she wanted to know what soft drink he wanted..

Goes to show that although most of us speak english, it's not always the same english..

C

[bmccasland]

There's soda and pop, and then when I returned to the south, I rediscovered the universal "coke". "Want a coke? What kind of coke do you want? Coke, Sprite, Mr. Pib...?"

[Lise]

I just discovered this thread, and am soooo looking forward to reading it! No time now, must zip over to the Y to swim before the guppies invade (little kid swim time). But I'll throw out some of my most loathed words:

Operationalize. NO! WRONG! NOT A WORD!

Impact. Correct if you mean "one object hit another. There was an impact." Or, "the patient can't poop."
BUT NOT TO BE USED AS A VERB! "It really impacted me." NO! WRONG!

Thank you. Having thus vented my spleen, I'm off to swim. :p

[slinkedog]

Heee heeee..Pop..heee heeeee..

I don't hear that word very often..It's hilarious! When Ian arrived in Canada he visted a local fast food joint. She asked him "what pop do ya want with blah blah" . It took a while for both of them to understand eachother..It eventually dawned on him that she wanted to know what soft drink he wanted..

Goes to show that although most of us speak english, it's not always the same english..

C

LOL! My husband's whole family says, "pop" for soda and we tease them mercilessly about it.

[Thorn]

I second utilize when use will work just fine....it doesn't add meaning or subtlety so why not just use use?

And pronunciations that grate on me....mute for moot as in moot point. The point is not silent.

And pitcher for picture. There may be a picture on the pitcher or a pitcher in the picture, but they are not pronouced the same! The boss uses this one all the time and I have to restrain myself from leaping over the table and throttling him.

[Lise]

And a word I'm learning to hate:
Penultimate
its like it was just discovered and now everybody has to use it to sound upscale. all it means is next to last.
sheeeeeeeez

Penultimate has become popular?

At last! I'm one of the cool kids! :p A teacher made fun of me in 7th grade for using "redundant" (correctly, by the way). "Ooh, don't we use big words?!" I should've replied, "ooh, don't you have a little vocabulary?!" But I digress.

I've read the entire thread, and am comforted to find that many fine women are offended by the misuse of "impacted". Phew. This is a great relief to me. I feared that I was alone in the world.

This "hated" word is unique to certain areas, where folks have grown up speaking Spanish at home, but English everywhere else: Drank. As in: (in English), "I drank my pills", because the word "tomar" in Spanish means both "to take" and "to drink". I grit my teeth every time I hear it, but have abandoned all hope of correcting it. Argh, that makes me imagine how much my patients must endure my misuse of words in Spanish...:o

[snapdragen]

I have a girlfriend who says "dranked". I dranked all the juice. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

Here's one that strikes fear into every Information Systems person "I'm a technical kind of guy". Usually said when a clueless moron decides to "fix" something on his PC. :eek:

[Thorn]

Here's one that strikes fear into every Information Systems person "I'm a technical kind of guy". Usually said when a clueless moron decides to "fix" something on his PC. :eek:


Second only to a management type who says to the developer, "I used to write software, too." Which we all translate to "and if you were any good at it, you'd still be writing it"

[five one]

At last! I'm one of the cool kids! :p A teacher made fun of me in 7th grade for using "redundant" (correctly, by the way). "Ooh, don't we use big words?!" I should've replied, "ooh, don't you have a little vocabulary?!" But I digress.


I had a 9th grade civics teacher who pronouced Bourgeois as ber-gor-is. At age 14 I knew how to say the word, but I didn't have the nerve to correct her. I probably would have gotten suspended, or at least paddled. This was the mid-60s in Alabama where corporal punishment was still in use. The same woman said colyum instead of column. Over 40 years later, I can still dredge up the feeling of my teeth being on edge in that class.

[Eden]

I haven't looked at the rest of this thread so someone may have already mentioned this one

NUCULAR - as regarding to a nuclear power plant or device

aaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh

its not NEW-CUE-LER -unless you are talking about the nucleus of a cell
its NEW-CLEE-UR

I don't know why, but this drives me unreasonably batty

[Eden]

Penultimate has become popular?


hmmmm I've heard it a lot recently, but usually in a bike race context. The penultimate stage of the Giro, etc. I do believe they are using it in the correct manner to refer to the second to last stage of a grand tour, which is often, if not usually, the stage that decides the outcome of the race. I'll bet this could lead to the idea that it means the greatest or best.

[indysteel]

I get annoyed when I hear the word "Oriental" to describe someone who is Asian or of Asian descent. I limit my use of that word to rugs. Of course, I'm also not a fan of any of the pejorative words used to describe various groups and minorities. I have one coworker--an otherwise lovely person--who has used a number of such words in my presence, although she's since learned to edit herself in front of me to avoid a comment in return. It's not only offensive but also makes her sound like an idiot.

I also hate that text messaging phrases like "BFF" are starting to enter regular parlance. There's a commercial that plays on just that, with a mother struggling to "speak" to her daughter in "text," that makes light of it. It's a funny commercial, but I think it speaks to a real language barrier that's developing between the old and the young. Apparently, thanks to spell check and text messaging, kids are also having an increasingly hard time with spelling. I can accept that more and more computer and technology-related words are entering our "regular" vocabulary, but at least they're words.

Some misspellings and misuse get on my nerves. advise versus advice; effect versus affect, the word itinerary, recur versus reoccur, and judgment versus judgement (Judgment is the much preferred spelling. I work for a court; trust me on this).

And I hate, hate, hate the phrase "no worries." I have a friend who uses it constantly. I'll say something like, "I'm sorry that I'm just now getting back to you. My cat died yesterday, and I've been really upset." And he'll respond with "no worries." Okay, this is an extreme example, but whatever the context, I always end up feeling like the first and foremost thing that should be on my mind is how my life is affecting him. I hate to break the news to him, but it's not.

I recommend a book by Bill Bryson called "The Mother Tongue." It traces the development of English and provides funny and interesting explanations of the etymology of various words and phrases, especially those that are unique to American English.

[PinkBike]

i hear "pro-nounce-i-ation" instead of pronunciation

and "lair-nyx" instead of larynx

i love words. i do the daily crossword puzzle in about 7 minutes.
but i cant do sudoku (soduku? suduko? sokudu? sukudo?) to save my life!

[SadieKate]

Marketing director in a presentation yesterday - "I had them electronic-fy the print media so that . . . . . ."

Did you notice that all of us in the back row were rolling on the floor in gales of laugher? Some of us were already disgusted because you had already forgotten to mention our product (which the bigger revenue stream) as part of this incredibly important integration plan for our new business unit. Did you actually listen to any of the VPs talk about our unit's product vision? Then you went 20 mins over as the last presenter before dinner when we had been right on schedule all day. During the team building exercise last night your team voted you off the team because they, incorrectly, thought you were the mole in our Secret Agent/Spy exercise. You might want to think about why that happened and "electronick-fy" your observation and respect skills.

[IFjane]

Y'all have hit on every word that I can think of - especially the "seen" thread & the "alot" thread.....both really drive me up the wall! The biggest problem for me is that my SO - easily the sweetest, kindest man I have ever known - says "seen" sometimes. He grew up (Pacific Northwest) saying it and now it is such a habit that he sometimes does it without thinking. I remind him every time he does it & he sweetly corrects himself. :o Still, it is like fingernails on a blackboard.

On a lighter note, when my son (now 31) was about 4 or 5 & was just learning to read, he saw a "Pedestrian Crossing" sign & said, "Mommy, what is a pedesteranian?" :)

[RoadRaven]

OK
I heard one this last week I didn't even know about, but I disliked it instantly

I was watching one of my fave TV shows - Pen & Teller: BullS ** t
It was the episode where they took the concept of the 90's buzzword in tertiary institutes apart... the buzz-word being "diversity"

So there were obviously alot of people talking about diversity... trying to define it, justify it as a concept etc etc...

But one young UCLA woman took the proverbial cake when she said she wanted to more "diversed"

What the f?
Diversed?
And she is completing a degree?
C'mon... gimme a break!

[Voodoo Sally]

OK. This was just in a newspaper (The Durango Herald) article, as the first words! "For all intensive purposes . . ." What? That makes no sense. I've actually seen this before. It's supposed to be "For all intents and purposes . . ."

[SouthernBelle]

I thought of one today that I absolutely despise: Someone saying that they are a "girly girl"

As opposed to....

For me pretty much either an excuse or word for wimp. :D

[BikeMomma]

We have two local roads called Pierroz Rd. and Jacquier Rd. You should hear all the different pronunciations! I really have no idea how you're supposed to say either. Many people call Jacquier "Jay-Quay", while others say "Jack-wire". Pierroz runs the gamut from "Pierre-rose" to "Puh-rahhs" to "you know, that road over between Placerville Drive and Cold Springs with the funny name."
Have to chime in about names of roads, only this one is a name we cyclists have purposely modified from its actual name. Near a little mining town named Coulterville in the Sierra mountain range, there's a road named Pinion Blanco that, although short, is horrifyingly steep, rutted, potholed, etc. However, that's not all -- once you get to the top, you face a descent that is almost as worse as getting up the darned thing -- jars you silly, so much that you think your eyes are going to jiggle out of their sockets. In a word, it's a challenge, and on that spirit alone, we still climb the darn thing. So, we affectionately renamed it "Pain 'n Blackout." First you experience pain like no other, then you nearly blackout. :p :D

Now back to the thread, this one is my husband....gggrrrr:


"I seen..."

Drives me nuts - my boss must say this at least 10 times a day. One day I will "literally":p blow up:D and scream that it's "I SAW or I HAVE seen!!!!!"

AND since his mother says it that way too, now my KIDS are starting to say it. I draw the line there -- arrgh. Irks me to no end. I've given up correcting my husband and my ma-in-law is a lost cause anyway, but I tirelessly correct my kids. I figure it's not too late to save them from the abyss that is the word "seen."

I love this thread, SK! I have to admit, I use the phrase "no worries" all too much....
Friendz and tailwindz,
(dont'cha hate it when people put a "z" on the end of wordz?)
<snicker, snicker> :p
BikeMomma

[ChickieBabe]

Keep up with training your kids! They will not be perfect, but it will help. When I was younger (growing up in the, like, 90's), whenever my mom would hear me misuse "like", she would tell me. Just a "you said 'like' again" inserted into the conversation. Made me much more conscious of what words were pouring out of my mouth!

I laugh at how some people say "suite" like "suit". Lovely bedroom suit!

[Trek420]

"Irregardless"
Arrrrggghhhh!!!!! That's NOT A WORD!!!!

Regina, are we related? That was one of the words my Dad hated regardless of who uses it. Worse still and equally made up: more importantly

[Voodoo Sally]

Since when did the word "as" become a substitute for "because"? OK, OK, I know that it is a correct use, but that use has become so very popular lately, and it grates on me. "I have written my term paper with a pencil, as my computer has just exploded."

Just say "because," or "since," when you mean "because," and save "as" for one of its many other uses, such as "during the time", or "like." E.g., "As I was riding along, a turtle crossed in front of me." Or, "As I said before, we have to use these cover sheets on our TPS reports."

[Voodoo Sally]

The word "chagrin" has become popular lately. And it's usually used incorrectly, and usually preceeded by "much to my" . E.g., "Much to my chagrin, a tornado interrupted my ride." The word "dismay," or "disappointment" should be used here instead.

Chagrin means extreme embarrassment. It can also be used as verb. To chagrin means to embarrass. "I was chagrined to see that I got an F minus." "Much to my chagrin, Ralph noticed my panty line."

[BikeMomma]

Since when did the word "as" become a substitute for "because"?

Guilty!!! :D :D

I also use "awesome" here just WAY too much, but can't help it....you ladies are (think, think)... superb! Yea, that's it! Superb! :p
~BikeMomma