Thread: Epic overuse/misuse of words

There are some words that are overused (in my opinion) and have lost their meaning...

Epic is the first that comes to mind... Epic is along the lines of awesome, iconic, and so many other words that were once meant to convey something truly extraordinary but are now used to describe something that is modestly above average.

There are others that really bother me (last year it was iconic, this year it's epic), but that is not the point of this thread...

What are the words that bother you?

"Alleged" is really annoying to me lately

'Orientated' or worse still 'disorientated'.
I mean how lame do you have to be to add redundant syllables to perfectly good words.
I know, not everyone is an English major, but you should realise that those aren't proper words irregardless.

Well, that's how language works, isn't it? Words change their usage and meaning over time. Think of "knight". Have you ever wondered why there is a silent k, or a gh in there? Have a look at Knight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. There is more, of course, such as the great vowel shift that transformed the [iː] to an [aɪ] and so on. As long as you understand the message the speaker sent, the language "works". Whether the rules you learned in school still apply is a different story altogether, as is semantics. Gay acrylic scales, anyone?

What really annoys me are grammatical errors that can ambiguise entire sentences, like "they're/their/there" or "its/it's".

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

What really annoys me are grammatical errors that can ambiguise entire sentences, like "they're/their/there" or "its/it's".

...and bold text.

Originally Posted by xman

'Orientated' or worse still 'disorientated'.
I mean how lame do you have to be to add redundant syllables to perfectly good words.
I know, not everyone is an English major, but you should realise that those aren't proper words irregardless.

*< linguistics geek >*

...Well, actually, "dis/orientated" is very much proper English.

In the UK. And several of the Queen-acknowledging Colonies.

Removing the redundant syllable is commonly accepted as correct in the US and in "technical" English (though they are virtually the same thing in this day and age - I'm not saying one is more right, Britons!), but both are correct. It more or less just depends on where you are.

Basically, when Webster went through his broad knowledge of the English language to compile the first American dictionary, he took the liberty of simplifying and codifying illogical spellings and pronunciations to "streamline" the language. After all, when you have a dozen different languages all turned into one, you are bound to wind up with some logic-defying stuff jammed in there.

This is probably why American English is the easiest incarnation of English to understand. I was once having a conversation between a French woman, a C0ckney English man, and myself, the Midwestern American. And nearly everything he said, she asked me to repeat. I was much clearer.

All that said, there's no "right" answer. I appreciate the flourish and the idiosyncrasies of traditional British English, and I often find my own accent intolerably boring and lacking in charisma, considering that words are my medium. Such is life.

And strangely enough, after spending a sufficient amount of time in the UK, I now find it nearly impossible to pronounce "dis/oriented." It comes out of my mouth as "dis/orientated." I have to actively focus to say it in the American way, and even then I often get tongue-tied. It's very strange.

Hmmm. Yeah.



*< / linguistics geek >*

Words that bother me... "like," and the insistent, brain-numbing misuse and over-use of it. Ugh.

Originally Posted by xman

I know, not everyone is an English major, but you should realise that those aren't proper words irregardless.

Orientate is in the Oxford English dictionary. It's another version of orient.
In Britain we probably use it to differentiate the noun from the verb.
It's said that we are two nations separated by a common language. The French say that Engish is just French spoken badly.
In the U.S. you often use an adjective where we would use an adverb, which sounds odd to us ancient folk.

My choice for the most overused word: Hero.

I work in an agency where everyone uses the word "problematic". Every thing is problematic . . .


. . . actually, they are all just idiots and cause a lot of problems. There is a big difference.

Originally Posted by xman

'Orientated' or worse still 'disorientated'.
I mean how lame do you have to be to add redundant syllables to perfectly good words.
I know, not everyone is an English major, but you should realise that those aren't proper words irregardless.

Irregardless

Irregardless is another example of adding syllables (that were stolen from another word) to a perfectly good word, oddly enough. Meaning regardless or irrespective, most dictionaries list it as "incorrect" or "nonstandard". The term has caused controversy since it first appeared in the early twentieth century, from what I have read. I think it is called a portmanteau word when you make a blend of two or more words and their meanings into one new word.

To me it makes the speaker sound as though they are trying too hard, as the words "audacity" or "perpetrate" do as well.

It's not misuse but pronunciation.

Nuculer instead of Nuclear. It drives me crazy.
Say it with me: NU - KLEE - UR one more time NU - KLEE - UR.

Here's a phrase that's often misused or misspoke.
I could care less. It should be - I couldn't care less.

O.K. one more while I'm at it.

co-conspirator, I believe it's just conspirator, no co. You are already a co if you are a conspirator.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And by the way, it's just plain sad that that word has to be used so much that it would even bother me.