Jess and Curly and Sean Conrad (sorry!!)have begun a discussion of words that they hate.
Jess can’t stand the word “dungarees”. Do not mention that you need to change into a pair of “dungarees” while you are in her presence. Word to the wise.
Curly can’t stand the use of the word “bucks” instead of “dollars”. Curly also writes (and this made me laugh out loud): “For example, the term “slacks” makes me irate.”
Update:
I came up with two.
I cannot STAND hearing the word “bro”. I don’t know why but it makes my toes curl with revulsion. “Okay, we’ll meet you there, bro.”
The other one I can’t stand is hearing a married man say that he is “in the doghouse”. It just … makes my skin itch to hear it.
I’ll think of more.
I think “cunt” is the ugliest word in the English language.
I can’t hear the word “plether” without feeling a shiver of nastiness go up my back.
I have mixed feelings about “cunt”. If it’s thrown at me as an insult, then I will knock your teeth out.
Yesterday I was watching live TV coverage of the police shootings here in Birmingham, and the reporter kept referring to “cops” and “cop cars”. I thought I was gonna go crazy. But in a different situation, “cops” wouldn’t have bothered me at all. For me, context is important, there aren’t any words that just set me off. Well, except for maybe “Go Yankees” and “Roll Tide”.
I love this question. All of my choices immediately spring to mind, and all come from the world of talking heads and journalists, listed in descending order of “hate magnitude.” Scratch that; they’re all number ones:
the Arab street
clearly
resonates
sea change
redouble our efforts
at the end of the day
going forward
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be sick.
Bud
Wow. Nicely done, Bud.
I am guilty of overusing “clearly” myself.
And I hate hate hate “Arab Street”. It’s made up, it’s not real, it’s unexamined.
“at the end of the day” … ha ha ha … Now that you’ve made me aware of it, I am sure I am going to hear that one everywhere!!
“whatever.”
I hate it because of how it is used – it dismisses the other person, says that their ideas, their emotions, their desires, mean less than nothing to the person – so little that they would rather ignore the person than respond to them.
Just as I refuse to do business with anyone who I catch lying to me, I tend to drop as friends people who regularly use “whatever” to dismiss their surroundings.
Yes, it is a pet peeve. Why do you ask?
Quite frankly.
It’s also dimissive, superior, haughty and, okay, it’s a phrase not a word, but whatever.
Another phrase I dislike:
“I hate to tell you this, but…”
When I hear that, I know that the person is actually LOVING to give me bad news. They don’t “hate” it at all!
The word “scone” makes me uncomfortable.
“Here’s the kicker…”
“No offense, but…” similar to “I hate to tell you…”
“That’s the least I can do…” meaning, as we all know, “That’s all you’re gonna get from me; you deserve nothing further.” Also similar to “I hate to tell you…”
the word “moist” makes me want to kick whoever’s mouth it comes out of.
hahaha
These are great.
One word I absolutely despise is the word “retard” it just makes my skin crawl.
Oh, and “cunt” is the most vile word there is, I grind my teeth anytime I hear it.
“dialoguing”
“networking”
Any noun turned into an “ing” verb pretty much pisses me off.
This vast array of …
offenses are well-chosen. Except moist.
Moist has no known correlative or direct alternative, only counterparts: damp will not do it, and wet is what moist is not.
Thanks for finding me this page, Red: anytime I find folks who despise “cops” it makes me want to 1) break out and cheer and 2) explain how it is we have delivered that word from the criminal jargon into the common parlance.
I know, I am making myself sick, too.
“Unilateral” and “France” drive me nuts.
Well – I enjoy the taste of scones, I have nothing against scones, but I just don’t like to say the word. Do not know why!!
It’s just the sound of the word.
Bill – This is not about CONCEPTS that you hate, but WORDS.
Nouns used as verbs, especially in a business/social science setting.
Not particularly fond of nuance these days.
Most of mine come from having been a technical writer, and watching the dilbertization of English in the office:
– “Going Forward”
– “At This Point In Time”
– “Pre-Plan” (as opposed to what – post-plan?)
From the media:
– “Bromide”.
In the world of blogs, I’m getting VERY tired of:
– “Asshat”
– “Assclown”
Finally – the hair on my neck stands up when artistes on NPR refer to something as an “Object”, in that languorous, bored tone that artists use when talking to commoners. Bleagh.
Finally, “Fungible”. Yick.
a few phrases i could live without…..
“keep me posted”
“let’s make sure we’re on the same page”
“we’re in a holding pattern”
“411” (as in “what’s the 411”)
“it’s all good”
“my bad”
i’m also not much of a fan of “vagina,” although the various alternatives don’t really work for me either.
ooooh, Allison, I hate “what’s the 411” too. It’s almost as bad as “I’ll see you there, bro.”
Euuuu
I had to come back with a few single-word entries, all from a place we love to hate (but dammit, I truly need my grande skim lattes):
-venti
-macchiato
-and a word that triggers the same level of intensity as some of you feel with earler entries: B-A-R-I-S-T-A
I hate “yo” and “dude”. I somehow am catapulted back in time to the Carwash/modsquad 70’s whenever I hear the word “Dude”. For that matter, I find the word “honky” pretty dumb, too.
I think honky is okay, however, if you tack on the word “tonk” at the end of it, I seethe.
One phrase that sets me on edge is “shit happens”. Sometimes it’s true but most of the time it’s used when somebody screwed up. We all make mistakes, admit it, learn from it, move on….just don’t tell me shit happens.
“Panties” — Eeeeeeee, I hate it!! I could write a whole essay on the many ways and reasons why, but let’s just leave it at that.
A phrase that always grates on me when I’m in the UK or Ireland is:
“I couldn’t be bothered.”
It is used constantly, and always strikes me, in every context, as unduly … I don’t know, callous? Irresponsible? Unfeeling? Thoughtless? HATE it!
“”cunt” cunt cunny cunny blah blah…” Damn, you can write.
That plether is in the doghouse, bro.
No idea what it means, just thought you’d find it obnoxious. :-p
DBW:
I know. My eloquence is definitely something to aspire to, I agree.
I hate the word “tasty” and “pricey” and pretty much anytime you make a normal word end in “y”.
I like “fungible”, but I use it sparingly.
As for the c-word, I had occasion to point out evidence that it has been less acceptable than the f-word at least since the Regency era, commenting at Daniel Drezner’s a couple of days ago.
One word that I forgot which absolutely drives me crazy is the word ‘like’, particularly when people interject it at nonstop in conversation.
Basball announcers who say “he’s hit safely in the last six games in a row”
or “that’s rich”-said archly
knew a girl in grade school who used”jumpin jehosaphats”
don’t like brusque or drapes(as a noun but it’s ok as a verb)
shit faced for drunk
can’t stand rack for breasts
Sorry, but… “albeit” is the worst word ever!
my vote goes to the obnoxious “holla”
Anyways
Treats
Singles (for one dollar bills)
Essentially (Waaaay over used)
I’m all… (he’s all, she’s all, etc.)
and the phrase “Patrick, you’re wrong” and variations on that phrase.
“disorientate” (which is NOT A REAL WORD. it is a backformation from “disorientation” which was itself formed from “disorient” which is the correct verb in that case).
“irregardless” (also NOT A WORD)
The phrase “Don’t get mad at me, but…” It’s kind of like the “I hate to tell you this, but…”. It’s the person’s way of saying “This is going to make you angry but I used that disclaimer so you can’t be angry, neener neener.
(Actually, I also dislike “neener neener”)
“hegemony” or “hegemonic”
“discourse”
“text” when it is used instead of novel, poem, play…whatever form the writing is actually in. It seems to me that “text” is a way of demeaning it, of making it seem less than it is.
“text” used as a verb, as in “I’ll text (message) you”
“patriarchal” or “patriarchy” except when used to refer to the structure of the priestly class in ancient Judaism
“Panties” also bugs me, but “Skivvies” bugs me more.
I’m getting mightily tired of “Duuuuuude!” used as a greeting. I am also tired of “Whass’up” used as a greeting but thankfully the beer ads made that one passe a couple years ago.
“Pimp” or “pimped” or “pimpin'” as something that young (mostly) white men seem to think is a viable aspiration. My concept of a pimp is of someone who hates women and uses them as a way of making money without having to work himself, I suppose that’s why it irritates me so much.
“Whatever” as the dismissive, “I’m the center of the universe so what you are saying does not matter to me” way of ending a conversation bugs me also. However, I’ve been known to use it on myself when I blather on in my speaking or writing – cutting myself off with a “whatever”.
Nouns that are turned into verbs, especially when there already exists a verb that fulfills the function.
“Options” and “feasable”. Too much like business-speak for me.
“so last —-” where the dashes represent week, year, month…a phrase used to denote a faded trend. Likewise “so over.”
“visit with” – those of you who don’t live in the South won’t know this, but there are two cases where ‘visit with’ are used, and it’s sometimes hard to tell which case is being referred to. In the first case, it’s what it sounds like: simply a friendly meeting. In the second case, it means that the person takes you behind closed doors and chews you out, slowly, and figuratively removes your skin and shows it to you. And as I said, I can’t always tell which case someone says when they say they’re going to “visit with” someone, and it makes my skin crawl.
“chubby” both in the sense of “fat” and in the slang usage to denote an erection.
“Literally” used when people actually mean “figuratively”
The shortening of words, like losing one syllable is going to save you so much time:
“‘rents” for “Parents”
“‘za” for “pizza”
“carb” for “carbohydrate”. Oh, and while we’re at it: no fair calling any low-carbohydrate version of a food by that food’s name if it doesn’t actually contain that food. For example: “Low-carb honey” which is actually artificial sweetener plus caramel color.
“Bitch” bothers me, even when people are using it as a verb to denote complaining. (And as for the “c-word” – use it around me as a term of insult or a term denoting women in general and I will reach in your mouth, rip out your spine, and hand it to you. I don’t think everyone understands just how awful and hateful that word sounds to some women.)
“fuck” used as every other word in a sentence. I don’t have a problem with it as an occasional intensifier, but there ARE other words in the English language. (I have noticed that some of my students, they use “fuck” for every part of speech in a sentence, and practically every other word that comes out of their mouth is a derivative of it. I tend to see it as being like strong medicine: use it when you need it, and only when you need it, or else it loses its power).