Words I Hate

[Liquid]

That depends entirely on your perspective and what you mean by something. Ask a quantum physicist and he'll probably tell you that everything you call something is indeed unique. The question then becomes; to what degree is something unique.

I can't profess to a knowledge of quantum physics.

The use of "very unique" in every day speech is factually incorrect. It's often found in sports commentary or analysis but also in other walks of life.

"His southpaw boxing style is quite unique"
It isn't. It is a less common style than an assumed majority of the population due to the estimated 90% prevalence of right-handedness. He is not the only boxer who boxes with the left hand being the power hand.

His left-handed boxing style is uncommon. It is not unique.

"He has rather unique views to etymology; the idea that Celtic languages form a continuum with Italic languages is not held by many scholars."
Again, being in the minority is not unique. Holding views which are contrary to the mainstream can only be unique if you are the only person who holds them.

His views are unorthodox. They may even be factually incorrect but they are not unique.

 

[Vegard]

"His southpaw boxing style is quite unique"
It isn't. It is a less common style than an assumed majority of the population due to the estimated 90% prevalence of right-handedness. He is not the only boxer who boxes with the left hand being the power hand.

The key word in that quote being his. If it said "The southpaw boxing style is quite unique" I would agree. Any boxer's style consists of more components than southpaw vs orthodox. Am I inferring too much nuance or are you inferring too little nuance? Hard to say for certain, isn't it?

"He has rather unique views to etymology; the idea that Celtic languages form a continuum with Italic languages is not held by many scholars."

Again, what I infer here is that the unorthodox idea that he holds is part of a greater set of ideas, beliefs and perspectives which when seen as a whole makes up a rather unique view on etymology. Again, we're both making assumptions.


I also think it's important to remember that we're monkeys making noises that are associated with meaning that's subject to interpretation. That will always lead to ambiguity, meaning that our individual perception of reality is quite unique, even if we don't like to admit it.

 

[Liquid]

The key word in that quote being his. If it said "The southpaw boxing style is quite unique" I would agree.

There's an element of truth in this but it still cannot be partially unique, especially for an individual.

Unique as a word is fine if it applies but it either is unique or it isn't.

I also think it's important to remember that we're monkeys making noises that are associated with meaning that's subject to interpretation. That will always lead to ambiguity, meaning that our individual perception of reality is quite unique, even if we don't like to admit it.

That's a very Dotini answer.

By which logic we can disregard the definitions of pretty much any word; no word is an absolute and is free to be used and misused in any number of ways. It's an anarchic method of communication to not have particular rules and grammar.

 

[W3H5]

Had a really good one this morning thinking about this thread on the way to work but it’s completely slipped my mind. I’ll edit this post once I remember.

 

[Vegard]

By which logic we can disregard the definitions of pretty much any word; no word is an absolute and is free to be used and misused in any number of ways. It's an anarchic method of communication to not have particular rules and grammar.

Anything less than 100% accuracy = total chaos?

"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." - Albert Einstein

 

[TexRex]

That's a very Dotini answer.

Aaaaand the gloves are off.

 

[AUTISTICBOYX]

Aaaaand the gloves are off.

I'll have a double Dotini, extra dry. Shaken, not stirred.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Fungible.

 

[Pupik]

By which logic we can disregard the definitions of pretty much any word; no word is an absolute and is free to be used and misused in any number of ways. It's an anarchic method of communication to not have particular rules and grammar.

You bring up a lot of words or phrases used by sports announcers. Let's remember that most of them spent time hitting their heads against objects and/or crashing into things, and getting paid for it. There's going to be some erroneous utterances made these kinds of people.

 

[TexRex]

There's only so many ways you can say "he/she [hits/throws/kicks] the [ball/puck] and [makes/scores] a [goal/basket/run]" before it gets old.

 

[Daz555]

As a Briton my top word hates are:

Overuse of the words amazing, basically and literally (with the latter now accepted in the dictionary as meaning both literally and NOT literally!......WTF?).

Overuse of the word like. Its like amazing how often people are like literally using the word like all the time like.

American's use of the phrase I could care less when they clearly mean I couldn't care less.

Number one hated word/phrase though has to be Brexit.

 

[bjl23]

Artificial, it just seems so fake to me

On a serious note,

Palindrome, I really wish this word was a palindrome. For those who don't know what a palindrome is, it's a word or number that is the same backwards.

Any word that is spelt differently to the pronunciation (knife, lamb, dumb and especially Phonetic) look up the meaning of Phonetic, it really grinds my gears.

 

[JohnBM01]

I can't believe I haven't officially posted anything in this thread! I could go on about just about every word I dislike, but here are some recent ones to me:

* I recently have been annoyed by the word vacay. "Vacay" is a casual girly term meant to short for "vacation." I am not as offended by it as I am "sunnies" (to mean "sunglasses"), but it is much less annoying to me than "bae."

* There are people who hate the word "toxic" to mean something other than anything radioactive materials. To me, I hate the word hack in regards to things other than actually hacking someone in cyberspace or in regards to attacking something viciously. For example, "25 daily life hacks to living a better life." As someone who was hacked online before, I hate when "hack" is used in the context of modifications or tips.


And there you go. Maybe I'll check in more often to talk about my own words I hate.

 

[TexRex]

There are people who hate the word "toxic" to mean something other than anything radioactive materials.

Just don't use it in combination with "entitled" and you should be okay, eh @Terronium-12?

To me, I hate the word hack in regards to things other than actually hacking someone in cyberspace or in regards to attacking something viciously. For example, "25 daily life hacks to living a better life." As someone who was hacked online before, I hate when "hack" is used in the context of modifications or tips.

Well that cinches it; the title of this thread absolutely must be changed to: "Hack", And Other Words I Hate"

It's been mentioned enough.

 

[Terronium-12]

Just don't use it in combination with "entitled" and you should be okay, eh @Terronium-12?

Why, Tex?

Why?

Funny enough, both you and @JohnBM01 pointed out words I hate as they're used today. Add to that list "nostalgia" and "rose tinted shades" which both are increasingly used to dismiss another's opinion when they prefer something older.

Also, I goofed and double posted at first.

 

[Liquid]

Palindrome, I really wish this word was a palindrome

Palindrome is a good example of a hetrological word, a word that does not accurately describe itself. This concept of a word's definition not applying to itself might be why it annoys you. Other famous examples include monosyllabic, long and unwritten.

Phonetic only half counts because Ph making a F sound comes from Greek. Any word that has a Ph making an F in it is of Greek origin and a Greek stem; Φ or φ is the Greek letter Phi and φωνή (foni) is the Greek word for voice or sound. The letter originally made a genuine aspirated plosive Ph ('puh') sound but became a voiceless labiodental fricative ('eff') during the linguistic evolution of classical Greek language to today's modern demotic Greek language. In Cyrillic script Ф and ф also make an F ('eff') sound and originate in the Greek alphabet (note also - alphabet).

So if you acknowledge that Ph is a Greek F then phonetic is a phonetic word. A somewhat similar story exists with the Greek letter Psi Ψ which gives example words like psychic but in Greek you really do pronounce the P ('psee') and so do other languages that have words like psychology.

The opposite of this is autological or homological words such as short, noun and unhyphenated.

 

[zzz_pt]

I hear a lot of people saying "me, personally, I think" and it always sounds very wrong and wierd to me.

In Portuguese, saying "Eu, pessoalmente" (Me, personally) is incorrect.

But I'm not sure about English. Is it correct?

 

[Liquid]

I hear a lot of people saying "me, personally, I think" and it always sounds very wrong and wierd to me.

In Portuguese, saying "Eu, pessoalmente" (Me, personally) is incorrect.

But I'm not sure about English. Is it correct?

It is grammatically incorrect because me is the inflected form of I. I is only the nominative form.

The problem is that almost no native English speaker knows this because native English speakers aren't taught grammar and using the word me in certain nominative cases where you additionally refer to yourself in the first-person just... sounds better.

In fact, despite being 100% correct it sounds really pretentious to say something like "You and I will go to the shops together" and definitely not "I and you will go to the shops together".

Usage is the ultimate arbitrator of language, me suppose.

 

[zzz_pt]

It is grammatically incorrect because me is the inflected form of I. I is only the nominative form.

The problem is that almost no native English speaker knows this because native English speakers aren't taught grammar and using the word me in certain nominative cases where you additionally refer to yourself in the first-person just... sounds better.

In fact, despite being 100% correct it sounds really pretentious to say something like "You and I will go to the shops together" and definitely not "I and you will go to the shops together".

Usage is the ultimate arbitrator of language, me suppose.

Thanks. That's what I guessed. So many people say it though. And I hear it mostly from native English speakers indeed. Why they're not taught grammar is surprising though.

 

[TexRex]

It seems to I that it evolved from one offering the question to oneself for the benefit of others engaged in conversation ("Me? Personally, I think...") but people got lazy and dropped the question and the appropriate pause. Of course that doesn't make it any less incorrect. Of course it's also rather redundant even in its apparent previous configuration.

 

[Liquid]

It seems to I

Still incorrect.

 

[TexRex]

Still incorrect.

That was the joke.

 

[Liquid]

That was the joke.

Me didn't recognise that.

 

[Liquid]

Dudette

 

[Liquid]

Chore.

 

[TexRex]

Bae.

 

[CTznOfTime]

Wonderful



Especially when said by a coworker of mine...
She has good Intentions but IMO she is overusing this word, as in she is using it to describe everything and how she feels...

"Oh it's so wonderful this... It's so wonderful that...."

It annoys me to no ends when I hear that word from her... I just want to be deaf...


Edit: just thinking about this annoys me.... I need to find the opposite thread to this.... Words that I like...where is it?

 

[GTV0819]

The word "oligarch" when people use it as an opportunity in politics just to destabilize a nation and turn it into a basket case.

 

[W3H5]

Tragedy... one of those words I struggle to say properly, and struggle harder to spell.

 

[Liquid]

Tragedy... one of those words I struggle to say properly, and struggle harder to spell.

I don't remember that verse in the Bee Gees song.