Words We Dislike

[gcreptile 10,978]

The Guardian has absorbed the word "woke":

 

the search for Mr. Woke: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/11/my-search-for-mr-woke-a-dating-diary

Woke business: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/16/woke-business-nike-colin-kaepernick-levis-pepsi

writing about wokeness: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/14/wokeness-black-writers-evening-standard-woke-christmas

re-awokening: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/feb/17/pop-cultures-re-awokening-is-this-political-shift-a-movement-or-moment

[Toast 16,144]

Well said, Clorox.

 

There has been the occasional corker, though.  My personal favourite:

SWOLLEN DICKS OUT

 

(A back-page Sun headline reporting on an injury to West Ham player Julian Dicks)

[Toast 16,144]

Reviving this forgotten thread to say how tired I am of the now ubiquitous word:

 

Toxic

 

I've no objection to its literal use (poisonous, deadly etc), but it's now almost always used metaphorically to express a wide variety of negative meanings.

 

[time 8,617]

9 minutes ago, Toast said:

Reviving this forgotten thread to say how tired I am of the now ubiquitous word:

 

Toxic

 

I've no objection to its literal use (poisonous, deadly etc), but it's now almost always used metaphorically to express a wide variety of negative meanings.

 

I blame Britney.

[Sinbabad 1,124]

« Akin » and « albeit ». I rarely hear or read those words, but every time I do, I find them very weird and always look it up to know what that means. Especially « albeit », I always wonder if it’s not a German word !

But English is not my native language, so maybe that’s why…

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,287]

Medal used as a verb e.g. 'she medalled in the Olympics'. Meddled with what (or whom?).

 

Batter used in a cricketing context rather than something in which you cook fish (or mars bars) 

[time 8,617]

3 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Medal used as a verb e.g. 'she medalled in the Olympics'. Meddled with what (or whom?).

 

Batter used in a cricketing context rather than something in which you cook fish (or mars bars) 

I don't mind batter in the cricketing context, if only for reasons of consistency - bowler, fielder, wicketkeeper, batter. Makes perfect sense.

 

Also, I cook fish in a pan.

[TQR 14,399]

24 minutes ago, time said:

Also, I cook fish in a pan.

Ooh. Recipe please! Makes a change from decade-old soups.

 

[Toast 16,144]

3 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

Medal used as a verb e.g. 'she medalled in the Olympics'. Meddled with what (or whom?).

 

On similar lines - "authored". 

What's wrong with "wrote", ffs?

[ladyfiona 2,589]

I don't like the word "cancelled" in the sense of someone being cancelled for being abusive, racist, transphobic etc.

 

If this was true:

 

- Ezra Miller would not be in Aquaman or any other DC thing despite running a literal cult

- Donald Trump would not be president or even trying a second term

- JK Rowling would not have other Harry Potter related projects happening

- Scientology would not have new members and Tom Cruise would not have movies still coming out

 

etc

 

Career may go dark for a short time but then they appear again unless they went to prison (even then they may have a career after).

 

[Toast 16,144]

1 hour ago, ladyfiona said:

I don't like the word "cancelled" in the sense of someone being cancelled for being abusive, racist, transphobic etc.

 

If this was true:

 

- Ezra Miller would not be in Aquaman or any other DC thing despite running a literal cult

- Donald Trump would not be president or even trying a second term

- JK Rowling would not have other Harry Potter related projects happening

- Scientology would not have new members and Tom Cruise would not have movies still coming out

 

etc

 

Career may go dark for a short time but then they appear again unless they went to prison (even then they may have a career after).

 

 

I agree.  Cancelled means that it never happened. 

I also dislike it being applied to TV series -  "cancelled" should mean it was never made, or never shown.  What people are trying to say is that a series was  discontinued or not renewed. 

We had a word for that.  We used to say it was dropped, but now that word has been redefined to mean "made available".  The opposite! 

[Book 3,557]

20 hours ago, Sinbabad said:

 Especially « albeit », I always wonder if it’s not a German word !

 

The German word "Arbeit" is similar in pronunciation to "albeit", but means something completely different, namely "work".

noun: Arbeit = work

verb: arbeiten = to work

[Toast 16,144]

2 hours ago, Book said:

The German word "Arbeit" is similar in pronunciation to "albeit"

 

No - it isn't.    'albeit' is pronounced "all BE it".  Three syllables with the stress on the middle one.

[Clorox Bleachman 2,435]

"Alone" to mean "lonely". Most commonly used by people who can't handle being without company, so those 2 states feel the same. I blame the phrase "you're not alone".

 

I'm alone in a crowd of people ≠ I'm at a party with fake friends and empty words 

I'm alone in a crowd of people = I'm on the bus and my weird neighbour hasn't got on 

[time 8,617]

Some of these recent submissions are not actually "Words We Dislike", more "Usage-of-Words we Dislike".

 

Anyway, to remain slightly topic adjacent, I'm sure as a lad, the expression was "Fuck around and get found out", rather than the more common recent usage "Fuck around and find out". Someone confirm I'm right in my recollection and not going mad!

[Sir Creep 7,070]

On 23/06/2023 at 09:08, time said:

Some of these recent submissions are not actually "Words We Dislike", more "Usage-of-Words we Dislike".

 

Anyway, to remain slightly topic adjacent, I'm sure as a lad, the expression was "Fuck around and get found out", rather than the more common recent usage "Fuck around and find out". Someone confirm I'm right in my recollection and not going mad!

I do not recall ‘get’ (any tense) in that phrase in my lifetime.  But I can only speak from my ‘neck of the woods’.  

[YoungWillz 21,055]

The integration of the word "normalcy" to the UK.

 

Normality should be restored!

 

I heard the grating "oftentimes" again today...

[Sir Creep 7,070]

On 26/10/2023 at 07:27, YoungWillz said:

The integration of the word "normalcy" to the UK.

 

Normality should be restored!

 

I heard the grating "oftentimes" again today...

Oh it (normalcy) got legs on this side of The Pond too, I believe post-911.  It drives me mad.  

[Commtech Sio Bibble 2,052]

7 hours ago, Sir Creep said:

Oh it (normalcy) got legs on this side of The Pond too, I believe post-911.  It drives me mad.  

The word originates from your side of the pond specifically Warren G. Harding's 1920 Presidential campaign, it did exist before but only as a obscure mathematical term. It is theorised that his presidential slogan was actually meant to be 'Return to normality' but when saying it Harding misspoke and consequently the word normalcy entered the public consciousness.

[time 8,617]

I think this article was produced with this thread in mind. (Most annoying words - The most annoying is

Spoiler

amazeballs.

 

[Clorox Bleachman 2,435]

"Infotainment" is a pointless portmanteau. Car journalists love using it, and it won't age well now that every new car has one. It's like how we're stuck with "movies" because moving pictures were once a novelty. "Look, you can get mileage information, and also be entertained by the fart soundboard!"

[Clorox Bleachman 2,435]

A death-related one that rubs me the wrong way:

 

Unalive.

 

People say it on TikTok because you can get banned for saying "kill", but it's made its way into the spoken language. A few years ago there was a campaign in Scotland to openly say the word "suicide", but now cunts are calling it "self-unalivement". Gies peace.

[TQR 14,399]

4 minutes ago, Clorox Bleachman said:

A death-related one that rubs me the wrong way:

 

Unalive.

 

People say it on TikTok because you can get banned for saying "kill", but it's made its way into the spoken language. A few years ago there was a campaign in Scotland to openly say the word "suicide", but now cunts are calling it "self-unalivement". Gies peace.

 

Yep. Cunts need to unspeak - new word for 'shut the fuck up' there for them.

[Toast 16,144]

This is rife on Youtube as well.  There's a whole list of words that people are forced to avoid, eg you can't say "sexual" which is problematic if you want to refer to sexual assault or harassment.

Tarot readers using the traditional Rider Waite deck have had to deface their cards because some cards show unclothed figures. 

 

[Sir Creep 7,070]

On 23/11/2023 at 05:56, Clorox Bleachman said:

"Infotainment" is a pointless portmanteau. Car journalists love using it, and it won't age well now that every new car has one. It's like how we're stuck with "movies" because moving pictures were once a novelty. "Look, you can get mileage information, and also be entertained by the fart soundboard!"

Car journalists are only using the lexicon the OEMs are using.  My Volvo refers to the sound system as the infotainment module.