Annoying word for 2013

[Kevin Slater]

Totes McGotes.

 

[video=youtube_share;xRibRj770J8]http://youtu.be/xRibRj770J8

 

Now I'm uncomfortable using Sprint, as they've clearly been eavesdropping on my conversations.

 

Kevin Slater

[Nvr2Thick]

I can't think of a word that really annoys me. In a similar way as Richard, I choose to celebrate diversity.[/color]

 

Great point! Diversity is a word that has been overused and misused well beyond the point of annoyance. Cities and companies are creating diversity celebrations and groups that are little more than cliques. Much of what is done in the name of diversity is self-congratulatory and divisive. Banding together to embrace uniqueness, if done thoughtlessly or with self-importance, is not inclusive and does not represent the intent of celebrating diversity.

 

...and yes, I know that wasn't your point.

[bigvalboy]

I've been getting annoyed with the overuse of "actually" when it actually doesn't need to be in the sentence at all. Such as "the restaurant is actually on the corner of 5th & Main." It's actually on the corner? Not just on the corner?

 

But I'm willing to adopt this as just a pet peeve. Or should I say I'm actually willing to adopt it?

 

 

Ooops...guilty as charged. "Actually" you are right. (sorry I couldn't resist)

[bigvalboy]

I prefer to celebrate the divirsity of the english language and cheer on all these new idiomatic expressions of a vibrant living language....hurray to all these annoying words....makes us all more alive. Foolow that with the understanding that since classical Greek times intellectuals have been bemoaning the death of civilization as we know it...

 

+1...I was beginning to think what a tough room this was. So thanks for your post Rich, "actually" I'm with you.

[rocky]

Sorry, it's listening to some one who repeats, "you know" NO I DON"T KNOW AND STOP IT

[+ beethoven]

I think that Obamacare adds to the richness of our political vocabulary, just as Reaganomics did. Someone wrote in recently, claiming that all the horrible usages here "celebrate the diversity of the English language." Well, NO, THEY DO NOT. But I consider Obamacare to be an exception.

 

Pet peeves: "At this point in time." When I hear that, I ask the speaker, "Do you mean NOW?"

 

Also, "closure" used to describe a road that has been temporarily closed. Say CLOSED, Goddammit! Closure refers to the psychological or emotional process of coping with a difficult or tragic event, such as a death in one's family.

[+ deej]

Pet peeves: "At this point in time." When I hear that, I ask the speaker, "Do you mean NOW?"

 

My pet peeve is "utilize".

 

I've NEVER seen a situation where "utilize" was better than "use".

[Guest]

I am fed up with the term Obamacare. This was coined to try and put a negative spin on the programs. Like it or hate it, call it by its correct name which is.....

 

The Affordable Care Act

[Lohengrin1979]

My pet peeve is "utilize".

 

I've NEVER seen a situation where "utilize" was better than "use".

 

I made use of the word "utilize" once in a final paper in university. The professor became overwrought and the usage cost me 3 percentage points. It was an English class. I learned my lesson.

 

 

Lohengrin

[+ deej]

Now I'm uncomfortable using Sprint, as they've clearly been eavesdropping on my conversations.

 

Totes adorbs.

[Steven_Draker]

Someone wrote in recently, claiming that all the horrible usages here "celebrate the diversity of the English language."

 

You're twisting the idea, sweetheart. Nobody claimed that.

 

This thread is about annoying words: e.g. viral, troof, twerk ...

 

One can honor the diversity and treasures of the English language. For "all the horrible usages" blame the people, not the language.

 

[Bosguy]

I think most of these words/phrases are annoying, but I think the part that really bothers me is the extent of use and the settings in which they are used.

 

Boston Bill

[+ poolboy48220]

My pet peeve is "utilize".

 

I've NEVER seen a situation where "utilize" was better than "use".

It's got a very specific definition, something like 'to put something to use to its full or most profitable effect", often in the sense of using a thing for something other than its intended use. The sign "Please utilize these hooks for your coats" is not proper use

[tyro]

Not even if the hook is a drunken, belligerent octopus?

Well, thanks for ruining MY Boxing Day, PB..........

T

[rvwnsd]

...Also, "closure" used to describe a road that has been temporarily closed. Say CLOSED, Goddammit! Closure refers to the psychological or emotional process of coping with a difficult or tragic event, such as a death in one's family.

 

The usage that bothers you is correct and the usage that you feel is correct is technically incorrect, as "closure" is not a process but rather an end state. Here's why:

 

According to the Merrian-Webster dictionary, the primary non-archaic definition of the word "closure" is "an act of closing : the condition of being closed <closure of the eyelids> <business closures>."

 

The closest definition to your understanding of the word is non-archaic definition number 6, which is "an often comforting or satisfying sense of finality <victims needing closure>; also : something (as a satisfying ending) that provides such a sense."

 

Again, "closure" is the end, not the means to the end.

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

While we're at it, using "the American People" to justify your tiny little cause annoys the shit out of me. There are some 300 million members of the group "the American people," and 99.999999% of the time this phrase is used, a sample of about 37 people is the actual count.

[Professor Mitch]

On this one, I stand in full agreement with you. We now represent a majority of something.

[rocky]

"you know" for some this is a nervous or uncertain response. I sat through an interview for a key position and the candidate used "you know" over 100 times in 30 minutes; how do I know, I was marking them down with slash marks

[AdamSmith]

Not even if the hook is a drunken, belligerent octopus?

T

 

Sure! You would then simply be utilizing the word in its catachretical sense.

 

...the most pleasurable mode of speech.

[tyro]

Whew! I feel much more ejamacated now!

T

[AdamSmith]

ejamacated

T

 

That word ever sounds far too pleasurable.

 

http://scifiinterfaces.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/barbarella-103.jpg

[+ FreshFluff]

Nate, the other word that is used along with "actually" is "literally." It's literally on the corner. Help! Robe Lowe on Parks & Rec uses literally all the time. He even emphasizes the T.

 

A better substitute for both those words in that context would be "right."

[+ honcho]

I made use of the word "utilize" once in a final paper in university. The professor became overwrought and the usage cost me 3 percentage points. It was an English class. I learned my lesson.

 

I'm wondering if any of the (known or not-so-known) teachers of writing would be willing weigh in and say,

if one is trying avoid repetition of a single word, whether "employ" would be an acceptable substitue for "use" in lieu of "utilize"?

[+ honcho]

< irrelvancy >

 

According to the Merrian-Webster dictionary, the primary non-archaic definition of the word "closure" is "an act of closing : the condition of being closed <closure of the eyelids> <business closures>."

 

For those of us in the computer business, "Closure" is a programming language construct which is a bit of code that can be executed later with variables pre-bound to a set of values.

 

Happy new year < / irrelevancy >

[+ Charlie]

I'm wondering if any of the (known or not-so-known) teachers of writing would be willing weigh in and say,

if one is trying avoid repetition of a single word, whether "employ" would be an acceptable substitue for "use" in lieu of "utilize"?

Most academics have their language quirks--some would say "employ" is a perfectly adequate synonym for "use," others would think it pretentious. I think penalizing a student for using "utilize" is just arbitrary use of power. I had an English teacher who insisted that there was no such word as "gotten," the correct form of the participle was always "got;" when I took that rule with me to college, my linguistics professor laughed.