OT: Words that should be banished

[trekgeezer]

I was looking at this page and was inspired to start our own list of phrases or words with think should be banished from the language.

My only problems is I suddenly can't think of anything. So check out the link and see if you can think of  something and in the mean time I' ll see if I can't get my gray matter rebooted.

[raj]

'puter.
It is computer.  Is it so hard to say 3 more letters, or write com instead of ' ?

[Mr_Vindictive]

"proactive" - I hate, hate, hate, HATE this word.

"stupider" - Yes, this is a real word.  Why don't people just say - "more stupid"?

[ulthar]

I have to disagree with a couple on the original list.  An Improvised Explosive Device conveys (to a bomb tech) a LOT more info than just the word 'bomb.'  Maybe it's fair to say the word (phrase) does not need to be on the news every night, but to EOD types, it's very useful.  Ignorance of a highly specialized field led to this suggestion.

Also, Flip Flop is an electronic circuit that is the heart of every CPU and memory component in existence.  To banish this phrase is ridiculous.

Maybe, what they mean is "don't over use words" and "don't use them out of context."

Now, for my entry:

Sexual Predator.  This is presently one of the most over- and misused words on the news.  A sexual predator, as the term came was used in the Behavioral Sciences Unit at Quantico, was a person who hunted others NOT to have sex with them, but to fullfil a sexual desire.  Many serial killers, in their behavior at the time of (or leading up to) the actual killing of their victim, are satisfying some (subconscious) sexual need.  Many do not actually rape or have 'overt' sexual contact with thier victims. Or so the psychological theories go.  Anyway, the term has be co-opted by the popular press to mean just about any male who commits a sex crime.

[Scottie]

Blog is a hated word in my lexicon right now. Because it's everywhere. b***hES!

Society - I come from a college town where the first word a Freshman learns to overuse is society. Society does this, society does that, it's society's fault, we're a part of such and such society. To quote pops mcfly, "Yeaaaaauuurrrgggghhh." Of course, after that comes...

corporations - Without society, we wouldn't have corporations, because everyone knows how freaking wrong it is to have corporations. It's corporations fault we have this, it's their fault we have that. Corporations are evil. Again "Yeaaaaauuurrrgggghhh."

I think I went through a small phase of that, but I have grown up. These kids just throw the words around like they are going to explain themselves. A well developed idea can easily be summed up in that one simple word, because Freshmen just don't have the brain capacity to put their thoughts into completed sentences. Again, I was guilty, but I've since grown up. But oh, it hurts. How it hurts to hear the word abused.

[ThadC]

Politically Correct is a phrase that tends to get me worked up. It does not seem to be as bad as it was a few years ago, but still makes me want to ridge hand some people in the neck.

[Zapranoth]

Impact.  

"Orientated."  As in, I spent my day getting orientated in my new job.

I hate "free gifts."

I hate "irregardless."

I hate "I could care less."

And....

... drumroll...


Nucular.  

If you say nucular, you should have "f***ing moron" tattooed in red on your forehead.  And yes I do mean W.

[ulthar]

Zapranoth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Nucular.  
>
> If you say nucular, you should have "f***ing
> moron" tattooed in red on your forehead.  And yes
> I do mean W.

You need to read this and this.  Seems linguists, and several former presidents, as well as the Merriam-Webster dictionary folks might take exception to your criticism.

[ulthar]

"on the table"

I hate that phrase.  Seen often on crime dramas, like the line "the death penalty is on the table."

[Zapranoth]

I don't care if people defend the usage of nucular, or say it's okay.  The thread is about opinion.  In my opinion, nucular totally, totally irritates the p**s out of me.  It's like that knee-jerk reaction Brits used to have to certain accents.  I can't help it.  It totally irritates me and it should be banished from parlance.

And whoever wrote that Fresh Air piece is entirely too charitable to Bush, saying he's calculatedly trying to sound stupid by saying "nucular."  Some HANDLER of his is responsible for that, if it is so.  Bush *is* stupid, irregardless.  No President representing my country to foreign powers should have such a tenuous grasp of the language as does Dubya.

Ah, I could care less.

[ulthar]

Zapranoth wrote:

>>I hate "irregardless."

Zapranoth wrote:

>>Bush *is* stupid, irregardless.

I am going to assume that you did this on purpose to make a point; if that's the case, I actually think it is kinda funny.

;)

Look, I was only commenting about the Red M for Moron, which I personally thought was a bit harsh for something that in your opinion bothers YOU.  Saying Eisenhower or Clinton or Bush, or a whole bunch of other people should have MORON tatoo'd on their foreheads goes a little farther than "it's just my opinion, and I don't like it."

Well, at least that's my opinion.  Take it or leave it.  :)

[dean]

Corporate Jargon always annoys me, as does typical Hollywood-type phrases like 'This scene is not nourishing me.'


Oh and I'm not meaning to start a crazy definition war, but overuse of the word 'Terrorist' is something which irritates the crap out of me, simply because defining terrorism is bloody hard since there is such a broad amount of groups/countries/organisations which could possibly be defined by it, and as such using it as a pejorative term is sometimes misleading.  

It particularly irked me when Saddam accused the court which is trying him of being Terrorist.  Just throwing around the word without thought [though I'm sure Saddam put thought into it] is just annoying.  Just like how every anti-government person or any bad guy 'back in the day' would be just labelled a Commie.

But that's kind of a contentious, emotional argument, so please forgive me for bringing it up.  But 'Terrorist/Terrorism' is one of my most hated terms, especially when misused/overused.

And anyone who argues with me is a damn Communist...

:-P

 

[Genetic_Mishap]

I hate the word "politcally correct" as well. (This is ignoring the concept of the word for a moment) Nowadays whenever someone is offended by someone, or they are criticized in any way, they bring up "politcal correctness gone wild". "Political correctness gone wild" is becoming the new "politically incorrect". Nowadays many people who complain about politcal correctness have the same mentality as those who came up with PC in the first place.

"People say 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas'! It's political correctness gone wild!"

"My parents are offended when I chew with my mouth open- it's politcal correctness gone wild!"

"This person said that some people who complain about politcal correctness are as easily offended as the PC. I immediatly assumed that by 'some', she meant 'all', and that she likes political correctness. PC woman gone wild!"

***

"Multitasking". I've hated this word since I first heard it. "Here, ma, I'll open this web page in a new window for you." "Ah, my little multitasker!" Hate hate hate.

"Concede". I never minded this until my roomate would always say it. "I concede that some vegetarians don't eat meat for health reasons, but I still think..." Try "I agree", "I grant you" or something once in a while

"Self-rightous" and "pretentiousness"- Personal reasons- the negative connotations of this words kind of ruined my self-esteem for a while. I 'm just starting to get back to not caring if people think I'm pretentious. And, although I hate the word, I still find myself using it, so yeah...

"Anti-social"- due to misuse. Anti-social people are people with no conscience. Not liking to hang out with people is "avoidant". Stop calling me anit-social.

I know  have more...

[Neville]

Maybe we should ban 90% of the words polititians use and we'd live happily ever after. I hate when they (or the media that supports them) use words like "radical" or "liberal" to define all those who are not conservative and "neocon" for what essentially are conservatives.

[Ash]

I've got one:
"non-issue" as in, "That doesn't matter anymore.  It's a non-issue."
Blech!

Another one that people here use all the time that I never cared for is "digress".
"But I digress."

Sounds too much like "digest" as in, "I hope I don't get sick before my food digests."