xkcd

by **DavidSpencer** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:23 pm UTC

"Indisputable" - surely anything can be disputed if one doesn't mind being wrong?

by **Sir Novelty Fashion** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:11 am UTC

Porphyrogenitus. It's such a bugger to spell, and there are too many alternative transliterations/latinisations.

by **The Scyphozoa** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:31 pm UTC

"Practice". Because it has two meanings that are nearly antonyms.

by **Eebster the Great** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:25 pm UTC

The Scyphozoa wrote:"Practice". Because it has two meanings that are nearly antonyms.

They are related though, if you think about it. Not really antonyms. "Practice" basically means "to do" or "doing," as opposed to "theory." Whether you are "practicing" it as in doing it often to get good at it, or simply "practicing" it as in "doing it," it isn't that different.

Even a fake doctor with no medical knowledge can "practice medicine," just badly.

by **Stockton da Vinci** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:40 am UTC

I hate the combinations of letters 'obligate' and 'obligated'... they are not words, nor have I ever felt obliged to use them as such.
Politically, I can't stand jerrymandering- such a silly word, I feel.

by **Iulus Cofield** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:32 am UTC

But how do you feel about gerrymandering?

by **Velifer** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:42 pm UTC

Iulus Cofield wrote:gerrymandering?

Any word coined by a newspaper columnist after some guy who's pulling a dick move is gonna be annoying.
Well, except for santorum. That's only annoying when it gets on the sheets.

Slate ran this today, on changes in meaning. The elitist luddite in me rages at this. How the fuck can hoi polloi (Greek for "the masses") mean the upper class? Words that are changing meaning radically are all annoying. So when you say "presently," do you mean presently, or presently?

by **Iulus Cofield** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 3:15 pm UTC

Elitist luddites gonna elitely luddite.

by **Eebster the Great** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:04 am UTC

Velifer wrote:Words that are changing meaning radically are all annoying.

Interesting usage of the word "radically," then.

"Radical" has only been used as a synonym for "extreme" relatively recently.

by **The Scyphozoa** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:48 am UTC

Eebster the Great wrote:
The Scyphozoa wrote:"Practice". Because it has two meanings that are nearly antonyms.

They are related though, if you think about it. Not really antonyms. "Practice" basically means "to do" or "doing," as opposed to "theory." Whether you are "practicing" it as in doing it often to get good at it, or simply "practicing" it as in "doing it," it isn't that different.

Even a fake doctor with no medical knowledge can "practice medicine," just badly.

"Doing something for practice as opposed to for real", "doing something in practice (for real) as opposed to in theory". The first being what usually comes to mind when the word "practice" is used (i.e. rehearsal, training), the second being what it used to mean. I can't decide if it's MORE or LESS annoying because the older definition is still in use.

by **Eebster the Great** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 6:41 am UTC

The Scyphozoa wrote:
Eebster the Great wrote:
The Scyphozoa wrote:"Practice". Because it has two meanings that are nearly antonyms.

They are related though, if you think about it. Not really antonyms. "Practice" basically means "to do" or "doing," as opposed to "theory." Whether you are "practicing" it as in doing it often to get good at it, or simply "practicing" it as in "doing it," it isn't that different.

Even a fake doctor with no medical knowledge can "practice medicine," just badly.

"Doing something for practice as opposed to for real", "doing something in practice (for real) as opposed to in theory". The first being what usually comes to mind when the word "practice" is used (i.e. rehearsal, training), the second being what it used to mean. I can't decide if it's MORE or LESS annoying because the older definition is still in use.

I understand that doctors do not mean the same thing as Allen Iverson when they say "practice," but my point was that the two meanings really aren't as different as some people make them out to be.

by **Velifer** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:26 pm UTC

Eebster the Great wrote:
Velifer wrote:Words that are changing meaning radically are all annoying.

"Radical" has only been used as a synonym for "extreme" relatively recently.

But "radical" has meant extreme since I was a child, and it came to have the meaning from surfer slang. Like "gnarly" coming from a guy with long bleached hair and board shorts, only the most obtuse would think he was talking about something bumpy. You don't see a sentence in the New York Times like "Dude, after the court hearing, the defendant's council made a public statement that was totally tubular!"

But we do see quotes from the president of the European Central Bank using "presently" in its new sense:

NYT wrote:"Speaking for the central bank, Mr. Trichet told the finance ministers, “We continue to think that the improvement in governance that is presently envisaged is in our opinion insufficient to draw the lessons from the crisis.”

And if I were to ask him in passing about when the interest rate would change, and he said "presently," Do I need to get on the phone to my financial advisors, or do I have a few days?

by **jobriath** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:38 pm UTC

Ubiquitous. I try to pronounce it "umbiqueous" every time. Also it's ugly and overused.

by **goofy** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:56 pm UTC

Velifer wrote:
Eebster the Great wrote:
Velifer wrote:Words that are changing meaning radically are all annoying.

"Radical" has only been used as a synonym for "extreme" relatively recently.

But "radical" has meant extreme since I was a child, and it came to have the meaning from surfer slang.

I think the first use of radical meaning "extreme" can be traced to OED sense 7b "Advocating thorough or far-reaching political or social reform; representing or supporting an extreme section of a party" which dates from 1783.

Anyway, about the complaint that words change meaning: "Languages love multiple meanings. They lust after them. They roll around in them like a dog in fresh grass."

by **gmalivuk** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:25 pm UTC

I don't get all the "presently" hate. There really isn't all that huge a difference between "now" and "soon".

by **Chuff** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:30 pm UTC

jobriath wrote:Ubiquitous. I try to pronounce it "umbiqueous" every time. Also it's ugly and overused.

One might even call it ubiquitous.

by **Eebster the Great** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:38 pm UTC

gmalivuk wrote:I don't get all the "presently" hate. There really isn't all that huge a difference between "now" and "soon".

I wasn't even aware it bothered anyone until now. It isn't used that commonly to mean "soon" anyway.

by **Velifer** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:47 pm UTC

Changes in meaning are vulgar and language is awful.

by **Iulus Cofield** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:32 pm UTC

Eebster the Great wrote:
gmalivuk wrote:I don't get all the "presently" hate. There really isn't all that huge a difference between "now" and "soon".

I wasn't even aware it bothered anyone until now. It isn't used that commonly to mean "soon" anyway.

I wasn't aware of the difference until the last year or so. I always understood sentences like "I'll be there presently" to mean approximately "I'll be there as soon as possible so effectively now but I'm limited by physics".

by **goofy** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:06 am UTC

Velifer wrote:"presently" in its new sense:

"presently" meaning "at present" is not a new sense, it's over 500 years old. MWDEU

by **Derek** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:23 am UTC

Velifer wrote:Changes in meaning are vulgar and language is awful.

Its true. Changes do most often start with the common people before becoming accepted in formal speech. And I too am filled with awe by language (its why I post here, afterall).

Yeah, I had to

(was it an intentional set up?)

by **Velifer** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 12:56 pm UTC

intentional setup

People expect the unexpected and absurd in a punchline, so a simple "to get to the other side" is so self-evident that one cannot help but be beset with gales of laughter arising from this stark contrast.

goofy wrote:"presently" meaning "at present" is not a new sense, it's over 500 years old.

No, "presently" meaning "immediately" is that old, before the sense weakened. "Presently" meaning "concurrently" is younger (100 years or so, popular in the last thirty). The Shakespeare quote linked uses the then modern sense of "soon." The queen was not onstage, nor was telepathy involved.

by **Eebster the Great** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:44 pm UTC

Velifer wrote:
intentional setup

People expect the unexpected and absurd in a punchline, so a simple "to get to the other side" is so self-evident that one cannot help but be beset with gales of laughter arising from this stark contrast.

goofy wrote:"Presently" meaning "concurrently"

As I understand it, "presently" is used as a synonym of "currently," not "concurrently." I have never heard something say "two events were occurring presently" to mean they happened at the same time in the past.

by **goofy** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:08 pm UTC

Velifer wrote:
goofy wrote:"presently" meaning "at present" is not a new sense, it's over 500 years old.

No, "presently" meaning "immediately" is that old, before the sense weakened. "Presently" meaning "concurrently" is younger (100 years or so, popular in the last thirty). The Shakespeare quote linked uses the then modern sense of "soon." The queen was not onstage, nor was telepathy involved.

OK, the complaint about "presently" as I understand it is that the "at present, now" sense is wrong. But the "at present, now" sense dates from 1425 according to the OED Online, and it is not wrong according to MWDEU.

You're saying there's another sense - "concurrently" - which is 100 years old. I've never heard of this. It is not in the OED Online, and it is not mentioned in MWDEU either.

by **Velifer** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:13 pm UTC

Just to be clear: I don't find these changes in meaning to be wrong. I find them annoying because they create ambiguity and confusion until everyone settles down and accepts one meaning or another.

If I was working retail and told a customer "I'll be with you presently," unless it was a quaint English Tea Shoppe, I'd expect some bitchy reply like "If ya was helpin' me presently, we'd be done already." (Which may speak to the new meaning presently taking a firm hold.)

Hey, I just figured out I have an OED Online subscription! I'm referring to Def 2.a., which was an early sense that fell out of use, then came back about 100 years ago. I may be wrong, but I think there's a slight difference in the new use, between the old sense of "presently" meaning "immediately," and the new "presently" meaning "as I am speaking."

by **goofy** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:50 am UTC

Velifer wrote:Hey, I just figured out I have an OED Online subscription! I'm referring to Def 2.a., which was an early sense that fell out of use, then came back about 100 years ago.

It never fell out of use. The OED Online says

Apparently avoided in literary use between the 17th and 20th centuries, but in regular use in most English dialects and by Scottish writers

MWDEU says:

According to the OED, it appears to have dropped out of literary English in the 17th century. It seems, however, to have continued in nonliterary use; the OED notes it as common in Scottish writers and "most other English dialects." Although 18th- and 17th-century citations are not numerous, the sense stayed in use. Thackery knew it:
[snip Thackery quote]

Velifer wrote:I may be wrong, but I think there's a slight difference in the new use, between the old sense of "presently" meaning "immediately," and the new "presently" meaning "as I am speaking."

But OED sense 2a isn't "immediately"! It's "At the present time; at this time, at present, now". And it still means "At the present time; at this time, at present, now".

by **emceng** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:07 pm UTC

Regime. I am growing to loathe that word. It's the latest buzzword by idiotic media types are using to refer to any government that is slightly dictatorial, and opposed to the US. It started being used with the Iraq war, but with the Libya, Syria, Ivory Coast things, usage has skyrocketed - and I hate it.

by **Velifer** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:23 pm UTC

emceng wrote:skyrocketed

btw, what other kinds of rockets are there?
"Dirtrocketed" is going to be used to describe a few projects around my office soon.

by **GhostWolfe** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:10 am UTC

Velifer wrote:btw, what other kinds of rockets are there?

I think "sky-rocket" is more a reference to "rocketing" into the sky, rather than, say, lazily floating up there like a balloon.

/angell

by **deskjethp** » Thu May 05, 2011 3:47 am UTC

Ugh... gross words:

Baste (based is fine) It just sounds like sticky stuff that you stepped in or something.
Lump (lumpy is okay)
Bilge sounds obnoxious.
Nape (yuck)
"Fab" - No. Say the whole word. Thank you.
"Zine" - Same thing.
Bribe
Gripe
Wipe
Phish(ing) - Sounds like someone made a term for this at the last minute when they wanted to define it.
Gouge (ugh)
Goober (No no no! Why would I want to eat that? It sounds like lumpy phlegm stuff.)
Phlegm
Dupe
Anything people think has an extra h after the leading s. It doesn't.
Bib
Spittle
-----------------------
Gubernatorial. Where did the b come from? It should not be there. It sounds bad when people say it (as if they are mispronouncing the right word). It makes them sound like they don't know what they are talking about. It also sounds derogatory. Governotorial. Having to do with the governor. There you go. No b. Makes more sense and sounds better.

by **The Scyphozoa** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:07 am UTC

Ooh, you just reminded me of one that I hate: "obnoxious"!

by **Lazar** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:15 am UTC

deskjethp wrote:Gubernatorial. Where did the b come from? It should not be there. It sounds bad when people say it (as if they are mispronouncing the right word). It makes them sound like they don't know what they are talking about. It also sounds derogatory. Governotorial. Having to do with the governor. There you go. No b. Makes more sense and sounds better.

"Gubernatorial" has a b because it comes from the Latin verb "gubernare" (itself from the Greek kybernan). "Governor" took a more indirect route through French, which softened the b to a v.

by **Eebster the Great** » Thu May 05, 2011 7:09 am UTC

deskjethp wrote:Goober (No no no! Why would I want to eat that? It sounds like lumpy phlegm stuff.)

You mean it sounds like "booger?" Yes, it does.

Anything people think has an extra h after the leading s. It doesn't.

wat

by **SlyReaper** » Thu May 05, 2011 10:51 am UTC

deskjethp wrote:Anything people think has an extra h after the leading s. It doesn't.

You should expand on this point.

by **deskjethp** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:02 pm UTC

Point expansion: I don't know if it's just something people do around where I live or what.. People sometimes throw an extra h in words like sweet->shweet or shlimy and other stuff. I think they think it enhances whatever accent they are trying to say the word with. My dislike for the concept probably stems from my dislike of the word "schtick". So, besides "schtick" there aren't any real words that do this for me, just the deliberate mispronunciation that makes the words less crisp sounding.

by **The Scyphozoa** » Thu May 05, 2011 5:39 pm UTC

Yeah, but that doesn't mean they think there's an extra "s", they're just adding one for emphaschisch.

by **Memorantix** » Thu May 05, 2011 8:31 pm UTC

My new hate: "beatification" , because I ALWAYS read it as beautification :@

by **Eebster the Great** » Thu May 05, 2011 10:01 pm UTC

deskjethp wrote:Point expansion: I don't know if it's just something people do around where I live or what.. People sometimes throw an extra h in words like sweet->shweet or shlimy and other stuff. I think they think it enhances whatever accent they are trying to say the word with. My dislike for the concept probably stems from my dislike of the word "schtick". So, besides "schtick" there aren't any real words that do this for me, just the deliberate mispronunciation that makes the words less crisp sounding.

Shoundsh like you don't like Yiddish Sho Musch.

by **SlyReaper** » Fri May 06, 2011 1:49 pm UTC

Better hope he never meets Sean Connery.

by **Oregonaut** » Fri May 06, 2011 1:52 pm UTC

I hate how much parlance is shoehorned into my cultural knowledge by my time in the military, and how I don't know that it is offensive, because I've never had a chance to use it around people who would find it such. Relearning words and their meanings sucks.

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