Words that Should be Taken Out and Shot

[johnw]

OKIDOKI everybody, so here goes:

This impactful post has incentivized me to craft a plan to better utilize the liberty to ethnice, and architect a sutainable utilization of , and to proactively target and combat misuse of factoids, in the English language, conductive to an inflamable "English misuse gate"

Now you can do better than that

gr8!

and pretty much all of leet speak. Or if you really want to be a poser, 1337 speak.

[Ron Williamson]

gr8!

and pretty much all of leet speak. Or if you really want to be a poser, 1337 speak.

If you really want to be a poser,it's poseur.
R

[rev412]

necessitate

[Willin']

+1

empowerment

viral

mash up

[David W Pratt]

Donn-
I like a little Latin, the inscription on Magic of the Swatchways is "Ehue, fugaces labunter anni"
How the racing years pass by.

[Donn]

"Ehue, fugaces labunter anni"
How the racing years pass by.

Horace's second book of odes:

BkII:XIV Eheu Fugaces

Oh how the years fly, Postumus, Postumus,

they’re slipping away, virtue brings no respite
from the wrinkles that furrow our brow,
impending old age, Death the invincible:

not even, my friend, if with three hundred bulls
every day, you appease pitiless Pluto,
jailor of three-bodied Geryon,
who imprisons Tityos by the sad

stream, that every one of us must sail over,
whoever we are that enjoy earth’s riches,
whether we’re wealthy, or whether we are
the most destitute of humble farmers.

In vain we’ll escape from bloodiest warfare,
from the breakers’ roar in the Adriatic,
in vain, on the autumn seas, we’ll fear
the southerly that shatters our bodies:

We’re destined to gaze at Cocytus, winding,
dark languid river: the infamous daughters
of Danaus: and at Sisyphus,
son of Aeolus, condemned to long toil.

We’re destined to leave earth, home, our loving wife,
nor will a single tree, that you planted here,
follow you, it’s briefly-known master,
except for the much-detested cypress.

A worthier heir will drink your Caecuban,
that cellar a hundred keys are protecting,
and stain the street with a vintage wine,
finer than those at the Pontiff’s table.

[JimD]

There was a tv show last night on the subject of human sacrifice. The write up for the show actually contained the word 'sacrification'. I did not watch it.

[The Bigfella]

scotted

[Jim Mahan]

whole nuther

[AnalogKid]

Eventuate - AFAIK it can always be replaced with the perfectly acceptable and well-accepted word "happen".

[Lew Barrett]

Carbon neutral.

[purri]

going forward

[The Bigfella]

going forward

go backwards a bit and you'll find going forward has been done

[purri]

go backwards a bit and you'll find going forward has been done

Why thank you mate and duly noted.

[Curtism]

Most if not all of the words in books such as this should be candidates.

[beernd]

Pro active

[Keith Wilson]

I think 'whinge' and 'take a meeting' are anglicisms; perhaps we could just deport them back where they came from.

Mere death is far, far too good for 'proactive'.

I'm inclined to let purely slang usage like 'epic' and 'awesome" slip by; slang comes and goes like the tide, and what will we make fun of in twenty years if we get rid of it? It's far out, man!

[Lew Barrett]

I am not so understanding of awesome as you are, Keith though I do acknowledge it and other youthful slang as easy pickings.
My least favorite use of words like awesome are as adjectives in Craig's List ads where it adds nothing to the information stream and instead becomes a disincentive to follow up on the ad. (As in: "I have an awesome 1997 Honda for sale.") How awesome can a 1997 Honda with 177,000 miles be?

[seanz]

Or worse, "Wow!!!!! Awesome 1997 Honda".

Why do people put "Wow" into the title of an online sale? Do they really think it will have a positive effect? It just make me doubt their perception of reality.

[johnw]

The use of garnish to mean garnishee. Picture this: Times are tough, a lot of guys are getting pink slips, so when you get your pay packet, you're a little nervous opening it. Inside, clipped to your paycheck, is a sprig of parsley. Your wages have been garnished.

Could be worse, they could have been garnisheed.

[Donn]

Here's an appropriate use of the word "epic." From the Turner Classic Movie schedule for tonight:

[Keith Wilson]

How awesome can a 1997 Honda with 177,000 miles be?

Not very. But that's flat-out lying, not merely poor use of language. It's an ancient if not honorable tradition when selling a used car

[JimD]

go backwards a bit and you'll find going forward has been done

going nowhere

[hanleyclifford]

an editor I know would like to shoot anyone using "utilize"

Negatron, take that one off the list: drill sergeants everywhere need that word to function.

[Canoeyawl]

Another word from the Craigslist disincentive list is "Gorgeous". Right up there with awesome, there is no accounting for taste.

I sytematically look (locally only) with the hope of finding a real furniture "piece", but my search has been reduced to the single word "drawer(s)" and I quickly sift through the results with a keen eye for the word "dovetail", but "Mahogany", "Teak" and "old" are also eye catchers.
So far the odds are about one in ten thousand, but it happens.

[noddyone]

From the 'get-go'. 'Renewable energy'. 'Gonna'. 'Appraisal'.

[devout]

I remember a game called "Bull**** Bingo" where everybody in a sales meeting gets his own unique list of MBA buzzwords (incentivize, out of the box, synergy, all the culprits). When someone uses the word you cross it off your list. First person that crosses off all his words shouts "Bingo!" and gets to leave early.

Fun thread, this.

[beernd]

I think 'whinge' and 'take a meeting' are anglicisms; perhaps we could just deport them back where they came from.

Mere death is far, far too good for 'proactive'.

I'm inclined to let purely slang usage like 'epic' and 'awesome" slip by; slang comes and goes like the tide, and what will we make fun of in twenty years if we get rid of it? It's far out, man!

Say no more man, and pass that joint !

[beernd]

I can't help it but I find :
Legendary new 'whatever' , I mean like, you know far out, way cool.

[Bobcat]

"just sayin.." I hate that, especially in Internet posts. Someone trashes a person, idea or notion in the harshest terms and then adds that phrase as if to say, "not really."