Annoying words, and Words You Hate

[D.B.]

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.

If this is about the Osama thread I shouldn't worry too much. You can't really be expected to know every possible term that might be offensive in other countries. Friend of mine, while traveling through the south of the US, asked a barman 'Do you sell fags here?' Barman was very unamused. It happens both ways.

[Oregonaut]

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.

If this is about the Osama thread I shouldn't worry too much. You can't really be expected to know every possible term that might be offensive in other countries. Friend of mine, while traveling through the south of the US, asked a barman 'Do you sell fags here?' Barman was very unamused. It happens both ways.

Oh I agree, it isn't isolated to just me, it's just how much cultural dissonance I acquired and am having to trip over in order to learn is offensive. I'm in my own country and am running into this, you know?

[Felstaff]

"stink"

The only time it doesn't sound horrid is when saying (in a John Lovitz voice) "It stinks!"

[Derek]

I can't imagine that a word like "stink" is supposed to sound good.

[Felstaff]

Yet stench is a glorious word, and in terms of wordle hierarchy, I'd say 'stench' is 'stink' kicked up a notch (bam!). Also wonderful words for intense negative smells:
reeking
pungent
funky
fetid
noisome
malodorous

...yet stink is just a crappy word and I don't like it (as is stank and stunk) Too cartoonish and immature, and I despise the idiom 'kick up a stink' as it evokes nothing tangible. I do however like its roots in the Nordic stökkva, "to burst", as that gives rich imagery of putrid carcass explosion.


SPLUT.

[The Scyphozoa]

...yet stink is just a crappy word and I don't like it (as is stank and stunk) Too cartoonish and immature

Maybe by association with the Grinch?

[jobriath]

fetid

Better yet. Fœtid. Even just reg'lar foetid sings to me.

[Pez Dispens3r]

Not a word per se but when people who aren't Tim Curry pronounce a gratuitous pause in the word anticipation I want to box their ears.

[doggitydogs]

Not a word, but I once had an...interesting conversation. My brain/tongue minced some syllables and bizarre suffixes, and I ended up using the term "inferterilitiful" as my sixth mangled substitute for "sterile," in the reproductive sense.

Also, add tongue, mince, sixth, substitute, sterile, and reproductive to my hated list. Interesting, tongue, syllable, bizarre, suffix, and mangled, on the other hand, are just awesome.

[chridd]

Also, add tongue, mince, sixth, substitute, sterile, and reproductive to my hated list. Interesting, tongue, syllable, bizarre, suffix, and mangled, on the other hand, are just awesome. :wink:

You listed "tongue" twice...

[paolo]

heh, maybe it depends on the context

[bob443@mahaska.org]

Okay, since we're polluting this thread with words which we hate to see misused (aka 'metrics') I've got one;

Optics. As in (insert morning news program of choice here) reporting on the Presidents of Car companies flying into DC on private jets to beg for money and the news commentator saying "the optics are bad".

Now I know most of the world doesn't know this; but Optics has been used for at least 25 years in the profession of combat arms to mean "the tank (ship, plane, whatever is handy) with the really cool gun sight that has strong magnification and/or infrared, ultraviolet and whatever other dandy device of observation".

As in; 'I can't quite make out what that is over on the next hill, TC, check with Optics and see if they can get a bead on it."

I know it's an arcane usage, and most people will never get why I hate optics to refer to how something might be perceived by the general public, but it annoys the heck out of me because, not only is it in contradiction to my understanding of slang, it isn't even right! It's the wrong way; optics are what you see with, not how you interpret the image. Kind of a math nerd perspective, but 2 4 2 does not = +. Ever.

[drachefly]

The word Optics has also been used for hundreds of years to mean the study of light. You'd think that people would know that.

I find the political usage no more offensive than calling optical devices 'optics'.


Anyway... my latin teacher in high school hated the word 'breast'. She made us translate 'pectora' as 'chest' or, when that didn't make sense, 'boobs'. Seriously. Boobs was the standard translation.

She also hated 'moist', and got into an argument with another woman over whether it or 'damp' was worse. One of the male teachers taunted them with 'damp trou, moist panties'. At the dinner table. That wasn't very professional, but it was hilarious.

[goofy]

It's the wrong way; optics are what you see with, not how you interpret the image.

Kind of like how I can close the door, but the door doesn't close.

[delfts]

Inflammable. I found out only a few days ago it meant the same thing as flammable. I've been living a lie all this time...

[SgtPepper43]

Word I hate?
Pop.
When referring to a soda.
I just look at them like they said "do you have any aoasdaeklahf?"
I refuse to acknowledge any sentence with the word pop in it as an english sentence.
I just say "what?" until they say soda.
They know the right way.

[Chronus]

I just wish people would use the word ' electrocute" correctly.

[gmalivuk]

Word I hate?
Pop.
When referring to a soda.
I just look at them like they said "do you have any aoasdaeklahf?"
I refuse to acknowledge any sentence with the word pop in it as an english sentence.
I just say "what?" until they say soda.
They know the right way.

Listen: Fuck you.

And at least we don't call it tonic, or coke.

[MisterCheif]

Word I hate?
Pop.
When referring to a soda.
I just look at them like they said "do you have any aoasdaeklahf?"
I refuse to acknowledge any sentence with the word pop in it as an english sentence.
I just say "what?" until they say soda.
They know the right way.

Listen: Fuck you.

And at least we don't call it tonic, or coke.

And if you look here, linked from that same page you linked, you will see soda wins...slightly.

And I can definitely agree with you on the fact that it shouldn't be called tonic or coke. Coke is a brand dammit! And tonic... I don't even know what to say about that.

[emceng]

But if soda is only slightly in the lead, the OP is saying he is mad at approximately half the country.

Tonic? Seriously? That's a specific thing, not a name for pop!

[gmalivuk]

And it's in the lead by only about a thousand. Which is to say, 0.3% of the total.

[jillllybean]

Steal as in "May I steal your salt?"

[Linux0s]

phlegm

Although perhaps it's fitting that an ugly word describe a ugly substance.

[Derek]

I'm pretty sure most "coke" people would go for "soda" as a second though.

BTW, any cola (including Coke and Pepsi) is a coke. Any other soda is a a soda

[Ghona]

"fro yo"

[drewster1829]

Words that make me cringe:

Irregardless
Inflammable
Unthaw
Melty (from food ads on TV)
Vay-cay (Really? Is vacation just one too many syllables?)

Words that are fine unless they're pronounced a certain way:

Italian (when people say "Eye-talian," I say "Oh, from Eye-ta-lee?")
Especially (people say "Ick-specially"...there's no 'c' or 'k' in between the 'e' and 's'!)

Hmm..that's all I can think of right now. I'm sure more will come to me...

[Ephemeron]

I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet, but douche.

Douche is a nasty word.

[lolpande]

For some reason, lozenge.

[Keiji]

guard.

Because it never looks right, especially when it has a capital (Guard), which makes me want to spell it gaurd until I realize that's even worse.

Yep... every time.

[SirBryghtside]

guard.

Because it never looks right, especially when it has a capital (Guard), which makes me want to spell it gaurd until I realize that's even worse.

Yep... every time.

On a similar note, Michael. My eponymous (now THAT'S an awesome word, even though I have no idea if I used it correctly) friend wrote it down, and he had to convince me he'd spelt it right. I really didn't believe him

Word I hate?
Pop.
When referring to a soda.
I just look at them like they said "do you have any aoasdaeklahf?"
I refuse to acknowledge any sentence with the word pop in it as an english sentence.
I just say "what?" until they say soda.
They know the right way.

Listen: Fuck you.

And at least we don't call it tonic, or coke.

Actually, we call them 'fizzy drinks' here in England.

Because they're, you know, fizzy. And drinks.

Edit: and the *number*-lys. I mean, Firstly's fine, and you've got to follow it up with secondly, then thirdly's cool too, but once you get to fourthly+, it just sounds horrific.

Sixthly? Ugh...

[Zironic]

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.

What are you on about? Regime means government, specifically it refers to the form of government. The reason it's used in these contexts is because those areas have different Regimes then we do and the volatility of the area makes them more likely to go through a regime change.

Your dislike of the word usage seems irrational o.O

[goofy]

Your dislike of the word usage seems irrational o.O

Well this whole thread it irrational, isn't it.

[mojacardave]

I'm pretty unsnobbish about most words. I can even cope with lolspeak when used by young people, or (more rarely) if used knowingly and with tongue firmly in cheek. My biggest problem with 'new words' and new word meanings, comes when educated adults try to emulate them, to sound younger and more in touch with the 'youth demographic'. Is there anything more cringeworthy? Especially when they get them wrong.

It seems that most parents think that lol on the end of an SMS message means 'lots of love'. For a while, my parents would always finish texts to me with lol, to the point that I was starting to feel like a laughing stock.

Personally, the two words I really hate are:

Nuclear. Because people can't pronounce it. READ IT SLOWLY! It's not a difficult word to say. There is only one 'u' in there...

Pride, in the gay sense. It's not the right word. You shouldn't be PROUD that you're gay. Pride is when you feel a sense of achievement about something you have done. You haven't 'achieved' homosexuality, it's not something to be smug about. It's as though somebody at some point said, 'what's the opposite of being ashamed?' and pride was what they came up with. Really frustrates me, as a gay grammar Nazi, that EVERY event or society organised to celebrate sexual diversity uses such an inaccurate word.

Edit: to fix a lot of awful spelling mistakes that made me cringe

[gmalivuk]

My biggest problem with 'new words' and new word meanings, comes when educated adults try to emulate them, to sound younger and more in touch with the 'youth demographic'. Is there anything more cringeworthy? Especially when they get them wrong.

I would extend this to *any* attempt at emulating an unfamiliar register or dialect in order to "fit in" with the people who normally speak that way. On what might be considered the opposite end of this spectrum, I am equally annoyed by people who try to imitate "Shakespearean" English in an attempt to sound extra formal or intelligent or old-fashioned, but who don't know the first thing about Elizabethan grammar.

[Monika]

Pride, in the gay sense. It's not the right word. You shouldn't be PROUD that you're gay. Pride is when you a sense of acheivement about something you have done. You haven't 'acheived' homosexuality, it's not something to be smug about. It's as though somebody at some point said, 'what's the opposite of being ashamed?' and pride was what they came up with. Really frustrates me, as a gay grammar nazi, that EVERY event or society organised to celebrate sexual diversity uses such an inaccurate word.

It is used in the sense of "opposite of being ashamed" or "no reason to be ashamed" in words like gay pride, trans pride, black pride and so on. Do you have a suggestion for a better word? No? Then sorry, but just shut up. I am not going to a "Not-ashamed-to-be-gay parade". It would defeat the purpose.

Distantly related: http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=573 .

Also, it's spelled achieve[ment|d].

What you say can be applied to national pride. Patriotism is just a euphemism for nationalism. Nationalism was the cause for the greatest crimes that have ever haunted this planet. There is very little use for it. Throw out the flags from the classrooms. Cease to make kids say a pledge. That's stuff for soldiers, not for children.

Also, you are using the word nazi incorrectly. I know a lot of English-speaking people say "grammar nazi". There is really absolutely no excuse for this. There are other very suitable words for the concept, e.g. grammar police, grammar cop, grammar fanatic, grammar fetishist ... .

[mojacardave]

Pride, in the gay sense. It's not the right word. You shouldn't be PROUD that you're gay. Pride is when you have a sense of achievement about something you have done. You haven't 'achieved' homosexuality, it's not something to be smug about. It's as though somebody at some point said, 'what's the opposite of being ashamed?' and pride was what they came up with. Really frustrates me, as a gay grammar nazi, that EVERY event or society organised to celebrate sexual diversity uses such an inaccurate word.

It is used in the sense of "opposite of being ashamed" or "no reason to be ashamed" in words like gay pride, trans pride, black pride and so on. Do you have a suggestion for a better word? No? Then sorry, but just shut up. I am not going to a "Not-ashamed-to-be-gay parade". It would defeat the purpose.

Distantly related: http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=573 .

Also, it's spelled achieve[ment|d].

What you say can be applied to national pride. Patriotism is just a euphemism for nationalism. Nationalism was the cause for the greatest crimes that have ever haunted this planet. There is very little use for it. Throw out the flags from the classrooms. Cease to make kids say a pledge. That's stuff for soldiers, not for children.

Also, you are using the word nazi incorrectly. I know a lot of English-speaking people say "grammar nazi". There is really absolutely no excuse for this. There are other very suitable words for the concept, e.g. grammar police, grammar cop, grammar fanatic, grammar fetishist ... .

But that was my point: in gay/race/trans/female/whatever situations, pride is used to mean something which isn't actually pride. White pride would be interpreted to mean racism, straight pride would be taken to mean homophobia. I am all for pride events, I just really dislike the word. Not that I can think of a better one, admittedly.

It smacks of double standards, that you agree with the argument when it is applied to 'national pride' though. It's exactly the same argument, just applied to something you disagree with...

Personally I think the word pride should be kept to things that we worked hard for and earned. Our abilities and achievements, not who we are inside or where we came from.

Also, *ick* at spelling achievement wrong

[Felstaff]

White pride would be interpreted to mean racism, straight pride would be taken to mean homophobia.

This is because these are counter movements. The fact that they use the word pride in them is because they are countering the pride movements of the persecuted in some bigoted fashion to salvage their perceived loss of privilege. It has nothing to do with the meaning or connotations loaded onto the term 'pride' at all. If the movement was called Gay Sprünt, then the subsequent counter-movement would be called Straight Sprünt, with no real care as to what Sprünt actually means, as using any other term would rob the counter-movement of its clear position; being Sprünty about your way of life is not tolerable for us; why can't we all maintain the status quo? Life is so much easier (for me, not you) that way, so suck it up bitches

Also, pride? Turns out the word has several meanings, not just one. Don't tell us you need to achieve something to feel pride, as if that's the only definition of pride that exists. Pride can mean humility, self-respect, excellence, bravery, vanity, worth, hubris, and deadly sin, among--what? Probably about 40 more synonyms that are loosely related but can mean so many different things. Oh, and celebration, which seems to be the most pertinent metonym.

See? Many meanings. Not as rigid a word as you seem to make out. So leave the word alone, and take pride in the fact you speak a language where words always mean more than what you deign them.

[mojacardave]

White pride would be interpreted to mean racism, straight pride would be taken to mean homophobia.

This is because these are counter movements. The fact that they use the word pride in them is because they are countering the pride movements of the persecuted in some bigoted fashion to salvage their perceived loss of privilege. It has nothing to do with the meaning or connotations loaded onto the term 'pride' at all. If the movement was called Gay Sprünt, then the subsequent counter-movement would be called Straight Sprünt, with no real care as to what Sprünt actually means, as using any other term would rob the counter-movement of its clear position; being Sprünty about your way of life is not tolerable for us; why can't we all maintain the status quo? Life is so much easier (for me, not you) that way, so suck it up bitches

Also, pride? Turns out the word has several meanings, not just one. Don't tell us you need to achieve something to feel pride, as if that's the only definition of pride that exists. Pride can mean humility, self-respect, excellence, bravery, vanity, worth, hubris, and deadly sin.

See? Many meanings. Not as rigid a word as you seem to make out. So leave the word alone, and take pride in the fact you speak a language where words always mean more than what you deign them.

I'm curious about how many of the humility and self-respect meanings of pride have come about since the advent of 'Pride' marches though. Every reference I've heard to pride which isn't linked to the demonstrations of minorities, has been about feeling a sense of satisfaction in ones accomplishments.

It makes little difference now I guess, as the second meaning is clearly ingrained, but to me it always grates, which is, after all, what this thread is about. I'm very NOT ashamed to be gay, but I'm not proud, and it makes me wince to say I am. Somehow it feels like I'm saying I looked at the options, and I decided being gay was a bigger accomplishment, so I chose that.

[Felstaff]

And there's also the collective term for a group of lions, but that's pretty moot right now.

Also, even with your definition of accomplishment/achievement; that's still relevant. Fifty years ago, in most western nations homosexuality was illegal, 100 years ago still punishable by death. Now I daresay there isn't a higher proportion of homosexuals today than there were 50-100 years ago, so the fact that in many places it is not punishable by death, and that proponents of this once 'wicked, sinful, unnatural practice' can celebrate publicly and revel in their hard-fought-for freedoms, is... a pretty fucking big achievement, really.

You've taken it to mean a personal victory/achievement over an orientation, when really the roots of the word is in generation-spanning collective erosion of civil oppression. So yes, it most certainly does mean achievement, as well.

[mojacardave]

And there's also the collective term for a group of lions, but that's pretty moot right now.

Also, even with your definition of accomplishment/achievement; that's still relevant. Fifty years ago, in most western nations homosexuality was illegal, 100 years ago still punishable by death. Now I daresay there isn't a higher proportion of homosexuals today than there were 50-100 years ago, so the fact that in many places it is not punishable by death, and that proponents of this once 'wicked, sinful, unnatural practice' can celebrate publicly and revel in their hard-fought-for freedoms, is... a pretty fucking big achievement, really.

You've taken it to mean a personal victory/achievement over an orientation, when really the roots of the word is in generation-spanning collective erosion of civil oppression. So yes, it most certainly does mean achievement, as well.

Ah, now you see, you've given me an (actually fairly obvious) way to look at it, that makes the word make sense to me. In terms of collective progression, I guess there has been fairly huge and ongoing achievement, and that is more the point of the marches anyway. I'd always considered 'Gay Pride' with a more personal scope. I don't agree with 'pride in being gay' as a concept, but maybe I could get behind the idea of 'pride in the accomplishments of the sexual liberty movement'.