Overused and empty words

[marylander1940]

Hard-earned money

[OCClient]

Hollyweird

[Danny-Darko]

"totally" - Used to describe absolutely anything and everything.

 

"like" - Used in-between words as a crutch. Very overused in Southern California. Example: Listen to Cher speak.

 

"awesome" - Used to describe anything good.

 

"amazing" - Also used to describe anything good.

 

"It is what it is!" - What did people used to say before they started using this meaningless expression? "That's the way things are"?

 

"massive" - The way the British youth use it.

 

"wanker" - Overused in the UK, British Commonwealth Countries and those that learn British English as a foreign language.

 

"fuck" - when used so commonly in daily speech everywhere, even in the workplace, by women and children! I'm shocked when traveling hearing foreigners using English as a lingua franca (common language to communicate) use it in business and travel as if it wasn't a bad word! We can thank American TV and Hollywood for that! I have no problem with the word in sex talk and among close friends and guy friends. I think it's used in far too many situations where cussing is inappropriate.

 

"way" - Used to describe anything in excess, large or as a substitute for the word "very". It's way overused which is way un-kewl!

 

And so many other things. Especially speech developed in the LA Valley area which seems to be the birth place of contemporary American slang, corruption of vocabulary and bad English usage.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Danny-Darko

[+ poolboy48220]

"fuck" - when used so commonly in daily speech everywhere, even in the workplace, by women and children! I'm shocked when traveling hearing foreigners using English as a lingua franca (common language to communicate) use it in business and travel as if it wasn't a bad word! We can thank American TV and Hollywood for that! I have no problem with the word in sex talk and among close friends and guy friends. I think it's used in far too many situations where cussing is inappropriate.

it's funny how some words are worse in other languages. I worked with a couple who'd just relocated from England. "Dickhead" is a much milder slur in England than it is in the US, and "cow" in England doesn't imply "fat" like it does in the US. They were shocked that Phil Collins got away with saying "wanker" on TV when he guest-starred in "Miami Vice".

[JayCeeKy]

fuck" - when used so commonly in daily speech everywhere, even in the workplace, by women and children!

I once had a housemate who was "FBI" (Foreign Born Irish - he was actually from Ireland) who used the F-Word three or four times in the same conversation without compunction. Only he pronounced it "Feck." I'm not sure if it was just him or whether the Irish are just not as startled by the word. His friends from Ireland used it a lot, too.

[+ Charlie]

When I was a student in Austria a number of years ago, I was surprised that my teachers would sometimes exclaim, "Scheisse!" ("shit" in German). They were surprised when I told them that an American teacher would never use that term in front of students.

Edited February 9, 2021 by Charlie

[cany10011]

When I came to study in America, I used to think fuck was a bad word and never used it at work. I see colleagues nowadays don't mind interjecting it into daily conversations.

[Kent1972]

I enjoy sex talk during sex. Words like dick, cock, and ass have so many uses unrelated to sexual activity that they hold no erotic power for me. I get turned on when I hear “now I am going to stroke your penis to orgasm” or “I want to lick your anus.”

[+ MysticMenace]

I enjoy sex talk during sex. Words like dick, cock, and ass have so many uses unrelated to sexual activity that they hold no erotic power for me. I get turned on when I hear “now I am going to stroke your penis to orgasm” or “I want to lick your anus.”

 

does part of the sex talk include, "I want to fondle your scrotum"? ?

[cany10011]

does part of the sex talk include, "I want to fondle your scrotum"? ?

 

Or, i like it when you lick my perineum???

[OCClient]

To the several posts that chose to start talking about sex ...

 

"I feel you."

[bostonman]

Can we please get rid of the phrase "going viral?" Especially in our current era?

[Lazarus]

Thanks to Offset & Cardi B, the word “clout” seems to be overused.

[OCClient]

A man referring to another man as

girlfriend or worse

huntee

[loremipsum]

“humbled”

 

I see and hear it far too often, and each time it is used erroneously.

[cany10011]

I cringe whenever I hear "on point"

[+ SundayZip]

Seems to me that a lot of commonly used words and phrases listed in this thread are truly useful. They accurately express the user's meaning and are immediately understood by the intended audience. That's a good thing, in my opinion. Example: Someone listed "going viral". This concise phrase is shorthand for a social media phenomenon for which we'd otherwise have to give a lengthy explanation. E.g., We could either say, "Bobbie's latest tweet is rapidly spreading throughout the twitter platform and the larger social media environment by being frequently shared or reposted by an extremely large number of individuals." Or we could say, "Bobbies' tweet is going viral." Please don't make me feel bad about using common, easily understood words and phrases.

[+ azdr0710]

Seems to me that a lot of commonly used words and phrases listed in this thread are truly useful. They accurately express the user's meaning and are immediately understood by the intended audience. That's a good thing, in my opinion. Example: Someone listed "going viral". This concise phrase is shorthand for a social media phenomenon for which we'd otherwise have to give a lengthy explanation. E.g., We could either say, "Bobbie's latest tweet is rapidly spreading throughout the twitter platform and the larger social media environment by being frequently shared or reposted by an extremely large number of individuals." Or we could say, "Bobbies' tweet is going viral." Please don't make me feel bad about using common, easily understood words and phrases.

 

Very good point. I don't mind the phrase "going viral" because it explains an entirely new phenomenon for which no other phrase ever existed.

 

My concern is with those who co-opt a word or phrase only because it sounds more 'technical', fancy, detailed, or special than a previously used word or phrase for the same function. 'Curate' is a currently hot word for this. Formerly used, of course, only for art collections and similar, bars, paint stores, department stores, grocery stores, etc. now have "specially curated selections of the finest.....". It's a pretentious word that marketing types have discovered.

 

Just sayin'!

[+ SundayZip]

Very good point. I don't mind the phrase "going viral" because it explains an entirely new phenomenon for which no other phrase ever existed.

 

My concern is with those who co-opt a word or phrase only because it sounds more 'technical', fancy, detailed, or special than a previously used word or phrase for the same function. 'Curate' is a currently hot word for this. Formerly used, of course, only for art collections and similar, bars, paint stores, department stores, grocery stores, etc. now have "specially curated selections of the finest.....". It's a pretentious word that marketing types have discovered.

 

Just sayin'!

 

Ha! I agree about "curate". I recently heard someone on a home improvement TV show say they we're going to curate their client's closet. Huh?!

[bostonman]

Since I was the one that objected to "going viral," I will say this:

 

No matter the literal meaning of the phrase, which I understand, I also tend to feel that that meaning has changed - does it really at this point literally refer to the sharing/duplication of something on the web, or more simply that it's become immensely popular? I don't think most people, when using the phrase, really have statistics on how much it's been shared, simply that it's something that has become the latest sensation. (i.e. one can view a "viral" video without literally sharing it). That may be a misuse of the phrase's original intention, but as we know, that happens all the time with idioms.

 

My main objection is the resonance of the phrase as we are going through a horrible pandemic that is causing an incredible amount of suffering and death. There must be a better phrase we can use that doesn't have to constantly remind us of this devastating time - especially when "going viral" in the internet sense is a celebratory thing. To me, it trivializes the world we currently live in.

 

I tend to think that one would have better taste and decorum than to talk about how your phone "went dead" in idle chat during a wake, no matter how accurate a description that may be. Or in using the very common expletive "Jesus Christ!!" in a church, even if you're a Christian and still say it in other places. Etc. It's how and when a phrase is used in a specific environment, not its derivation.

 

I just think it's currently in bad taste. That's all. To use another overused phrase, "so sue me." (Which is probably not something I'd say idly while in a courtroom, lol.)

[+ Charlie]

The president of our HOA announced in a meeting that she had turned down two job applicants because she suspected they had conspired together on their applications; her explanation was that both had used the phrase "ready to hit the ground running," which she had never heard before! Several of our jaws dropped (literally, not figuratively).

[samhexum]

'voter fraud' and 'stole the election' (apologies for putting something political here, but these will be the most overused and empty words for the rest of the 21st century)

[bostonman]

I cringe whenever I hear "on point"

 

I grew up with the ballet terminology of "en pointe" (very often Americanized as "on point"), and understood the other meaning of "on point" to mean "to stay on the subject." It was when I started hearing it in the context of hookups to mean being "good looking/in shape" that I thought was strange. If a guy asked me if I was "on point" I would tend to tell him that I wasn't a ballet dancer - which would confuse the hell out of them lol.

[bostonman]

stolen election

 

Especially if it lasts more than 4 hours. ?

[+ SundayZip]

Since I was the one that objected to "going viral," I will say this:

 

No matter the literal meaning of the phrase, which I understand, I also tend to feel that that meaning has changed - does it really at this point literally refer to the sharing/duplication of something on the web, or more simply that it's become immensely popular? I don't think most people, when using the phrase, really have statistics on how much it's been shared, simply that it's something that has become the latest sensation. (i.e. one can view a "viral" video without literally sharing it). That may be a misuse of the phrase's original intention, but as we know, that happens all the time with idioms.

 

My main objection is the resonance of the phrase as we are going through a horrible pandemic that is causing an incredible amount of suffering and death. There must be a better phrase we can use that doesn't have to constantly remind us of this devastating time - especially when "going viral" in the internet sense is a celebratory thing. To me, it trivializes the world we currently live in.

 

I tend to think that one would have better taste and decorum than to talk about how your phone "went dead" in idle chat during a wake, no matter how accurate a description that may be. Or in using the very common expletive "Jesus Christ!!" in a church, even if you're a Christian and still say it in other places. Etc. It's how and when a phrase is used in a specific environment, not its derivation.

 

I just think it's currently in bad taste. That's all. To use another overused phrase, "so sue me." (Which is probably not something I'd say idly while in a courtroom, lol.)

 

You have a good point @bostonman. I could have found a better example than "going viral". Your comments are right on point (not to be confused with En Pointe).