words that annoy

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fashionista
anything "-ster" (hipster, trendster)
stalker (as an exaggeration)
"serious" when used to mean "large in magnitude"
class

felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:28 (twenty years ago) link

"Think __________ (meets ______)!"

felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:32 (twenty years ago) link

"Think __________ [meets ______ (on acid)]!"

I think I will try to popularize the term "protes" for proteins.

fletrejet, Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:36 (twenty years ago) link

If you count "riddum" as a word it belongs here.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:37 (twenty years ago) link

Just watch out for my fa free diet!

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:37 (twenty years ago) link

Also "lips" for lipids. Fat? Utterly unclassy.

fletrejet, Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:38 (twenty years ago) link

I'm no longer annoyed by any words in English. Whatever nuisance terms like 'paradigm' etc. might have once held for me has been obliterated by the giant sandblaster of terrible that is foreign language study.

For example, all the words in Chinese annoy me, because why can't they fucking standardize on an alphabet and some basic usage patterns, and why do the damn Shanghainese have to pronounce everything different from everybody else and etc. Fuck Chinese words, they annoy me.

All the words in Japanese annoy me because what in the jesus do you need three writing systems for. Especially anything written in Katakana, jesus. MA KU RO DO NA RU DO!!!! Arrrrrgh, fuck them words.

And all the words in Korean ESPECIALLY annoy me because I hear them and I read them and I learned all of them and I should know them and be able to understand them very well and I don't because I haven't used a lick of it in like two years. That shit is about the most irritating thing on earth. Fuck some Korean words.

And all the other foreign languages? Those words annoy me too because what are you, talking in code? Are you saying shit about my girlfriend? I ought to kick your ass. Speak English, you twerp. This is America! Learn the rules!!

TOMBOT, Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:46 (twenty years ago) link

ooh Felicity, that reminds me of the suffix "-ati" which reminds me of terrible dot-commers.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:46 (twenty years ago) link

My boss thanked me in an email today for being "proactive". Not really the kind of thanks I want.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:50 (twenty years ago) link

giant sandblaster of terrible

I heart the Tombot.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:50 (twenty years ago) link

Ich küsse dich, der Tombot!!!!!!

Ally (mlescaut), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 19:54 (twenty years ago) link

maybe we should start another thread about words that are nice... I was already about to walk out of my #()*)*(#$ job and go freelance or wait tables so I only have to deal with my OWN irritating language habits all day... what am I SAYING, if I waited tables I'd have to listen to restaurantese and oh god, I haven't waited tables since all this Adkins hell began I'd probably strangle someone within an hour...
I hadn't heard of "lips" before. Good god, first customer who said that to me would end up with a VERY fat one.

I'm going to go get lunch now. It will be... food. With food in it.

By the way, restaurantese is REALLY annoying. They use a lot of nouns in verbs: "Plate that right this time!" meaning "put it on a plate and use all the proper garnishes in our standard hideous arrangement or you will be fucked with by your manager for the rest of the day."

"Magnificently plated!"

Every job I've ever had has turned me into a bigger language crank.

Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 20:46 (twenty years ago) link

doh, I meant "nouns as verbs." stupid copy monkey.

Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 20:49 (twenty years ago) link

'Magnificently plated'! And I used to dislike the way the chef would say, 'Here, plate up this'. Also the way he muttered 'conyo' even though he'd never been to Spain in his life.

There is such a shock of recognition from post to post, as phrases I didn't know I hated alternate with ones I use too much...

'Action' - "We need to action this now..."

'Paradigm' - you can blame Thomas Kuhn for this one I think. It arrived into common parlance (ugh! hate that phrase) via the caring professions (ow!) ex-students of which had digested it as part of their philosophy units (in spite of the fact that Kuhn thought the social sciences and philosophy were preparadigmatic - which makes you wonder whether he thought his own theory of paradigms was preparadigmatic). As his critics never tired of pointing out, Kuhn never defined the word consistently either, using it in all kinds of ways. Now all it really means is 'area' or 'field'.

'Do a 360' when it should be 'do a 180' was mentioned above; what about 'it's a steep learning curve' to describe a task that is hard to pick up? Now, if time is on the Y axis and competence is on the X-axis, as is the convention, then a steep curve indicates a job that is picked up very quickly. It's a _shallow_ curve that indicates difficulty. Perhaps people have the mental picture of a steep curve being hard to climb.

colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 20:49 (twenty years ago) link

But these are all perfectly cromulent words.

Leee (Leee), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:08 (twenty years ago) link

(I was going to write a post comprised of nothing but the words listed so far but the Korean/Chinese thing completely foxed me.)

(Also, I am a dick but not THAT much of a dick.)

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:14 (twenty years ago) link

The doing a 360 thing reminds me of someone (Dan Quayle? Dubya?) saying that what he did when his back was to the wall was to turn around and start fighting.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:18 (twenty years ago) link

Was he telling the story of how he single-handedly tore down the Berlin Wall?

oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:23 (twenty years ago) link

"sweating like a pig" when pigs can't sweat wtf phrase I stab you with pain!!

nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:24 (twenty years ago) link

"have a fun"

David. (Cozen), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:26 (twenty years ago) link

'Action' - "We need to action this now..."

Short for "We need an action item for this now..."?

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 21:36 (twenty years ago) link

"It's a nonsense"

colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 22:30 (twenty years ago) link

"Tragedy" or "tragic" to refer to anything other than a story that fits the classic theatrical tragedy formula.

"Schizophrenia" used to refer to multiple personality or other psychological disorders.

Certain people's way of pronouncing "ask" as "ax."

j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 24 September 2003 23:13 (twenty years ago) link

Anything to do with psychoanalysis. I hate psychoanalysis.

Gilles Deleuze (daria g), Thursday, 25 September 2003 01:25 (twenty years ago) link

Pueblo and Ott

Nicolars (Nicole), Thursday, 25 September 2003 01:30 (twenty years ago) link

Anything to do with psychoanalysis. I hate psychoanalysis.
-- Gilles Deleuze (anti_oedipu...) (webmail), September 25th, 2003. (daria g)


That's because Freud represents your father to you; no doubt the fear is related to a childhood incident where you were discovered doing something naughty. You are now projecting your fear on to authority figures of all kinds, and on to theories which may, so to speak, 'find you out' by revealing the psychodynamics of your neurosis. But, due to the psychological defence of reaction formation, you may find this hard to accept during the initial phase of treatment.

colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 25 September 2003 01:32 (twenty years ago) link

Eeew, gross. That's disgusting.

Roland Barf (daria g), Thursday, 25 September 2003 01:44 (twenty years ago) link

Prerogative. Not sure what annoys me more: the people that leave out the 'r' or the people that emphasize the 'r' to point out that the word contains an 'r' that people often leave out.

Vinnie (vprabhu), Thursday, 25 September 2003 03:31 (twenty years ago) link

"Simpologie"

lupine lupin (lupinelupin), Thursday, 25 September 2003 03:36 (twenty years ago) link

"optics, I hate the business bastardization of that one. "

As in the study of light? why is that a bastardization or annoying?

A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 25 September 2003 04:10 (twenty years ago) link

"to botch up"
"to flub up"

and any host of words used by annoying people I know.

A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 25 September 2003 04:11 (twenty years ago) link

"geschenker", "doobiewackie" and "dongle" for technical things you don't know the name of.

colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 25 September 2003 04:18 (twenty years ago) link

The abbriviation: sci-fi especially when said really fast on the Sci-Fi channel, ugh.

A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 25 September 2003 04:29 (twenty years ago) link

wholesome
smorg
assless (as in "assless chaps")
hang on...assless is a great word

Bryan (Bryan), Thursday, 25 September 2003 04:52 (twenty years ago) link

i share distaste for the word paradigm, i also hate "discourse".

The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:04 (twenty years ago) link

prog
latté
nouveau
herbivore
all corporate initials: HR, IT, VP, HQ, etc

oops (Oops), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:11 (twenty years ago) link

What's wrong with latte? I just had one!

colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:14 (twenty years ago) link

some (most?) annoyances aren't really rational

oops (Oops), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:17 (twenty years ago) link

Ok, I hate to take this into the bathroom, but I'm surprised no one has yet to cast out "penis" or "vagina." I know, I know - the cringe often produced by these words has been addressed by countless comics. But honestly, what is it about them that makes it so awful to hear them said? It has to be the phonemes (which word I'm sure annoys plenty). "Peenis" is so nasal its smells dirty. "Va-gi-na." Say it slow and its seems simply obscene, no matter what it means.

Anyone else have any anatomical or medical terms that annoy? I think saying "syphilis" is just plain fun, but "chlamydia?" I shudder to type it.

Major Grubert (Grandin), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:29 (twenty years ago) link

Re: discourse

It's terrible to use, but sometimes, what else would you use?

Could you imagine if grad students ran around saying "zeitgeist" and "weltanschauung?" "Postmodern" and "paradigm" are bad enough. I think "discourse" is the least of our worries.

Ooooh, but you know what I bet is the worst? Applying "discourse" to ILE.

Major Grubert (Grandin), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:32 (twenty years ago) link

i've never been a fan of "haemorrhage"

if fact, anything with a 'rrh' in it..

the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 25 September 2003 05:35 (twenty years ago) link

Colin- magnificently pedantic dissection of "steep learning curve"! Fantastic!

Officer Pupp, Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:33 (twenty years ago) link

"ORIENTATE." People, the word you want is "orient." I'm not a dictionary crank by any means, but it seems ridiculous that a made up word has slipped into common usage that is LONGER and CLUNKIER than its predecessor.

rob geary (rgeary), Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:49 (twenty years ago) link

"monetize"

rob geary (rgeary), Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:50 (twenty years ago) link

(i really like the british "cheers" as "thank you" thing)

mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Thursday, 25 September 2003 06:59 (twenty years ago) link

I often use 'cheers' as my sign off comment in emails, particularly in work emails because I think the phrase 'best regards' is much, much worse. Unless you type it quick and it comes out 'breast dregs'.

Alfie (Alfie), Thursday, 25 September 2003 07:08 (twenty years ago) link

"Golf"

Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:03 (twenty years ago) link

I'm with Tom on the foreign words thing. My annoying coworker (TM) is fairly religious, so if she accidently says shit or fuck, she says "Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry." But then she sits at her desk and swears in Spanish all day long, and that seems to be ok. Apparently her god is monolingual and pretty dim.

NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:11 (twenty years ago) link

....and i detest the word "irregardless". no one uses it correctly...

So what WOULD be a correct use of 'irregardless'?

Furthermore, I DETEST:

'the bottom line'

'flexibility' when used by Human Resources people (not real keen on 'human resources' either)

'mutual obligation'

24/7

'sooner than later' without the rather in the middle,

'at the end of the day'

all SMS shorthand but especially 'prolly'

'would/could/should of'

'traitor' and 'tragedy' used in sporting contexts

'bias' as an adjective (as in 'the ABC is bias', what does that mean: the ABC goes to Mass 12 times a week?)

Most Freudian or postmod jargon

'Go Pies'

Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:24 (twenty years ago) link

"Verdammt doch mal" is my new annoying foreign swearing thing for work. I used to do nothing but swear in Spanish all day at work! But then I decided to do nothing but swear, really loudly and nonstop, in English all day at work. Now I'm trying to work in some other languages to confuse them further.

Ally (mlescaut), Thursday, 25 September 2003 12:31 (twenty years ago) link

'perfectly', as used in clickbaity articles that 'perfectly sum-up the world today'

Shat Parp (dog latin), Tuesday, 5 September 2017 08:33 (six years ago) link

Guys at the office who still think it's okay to call female colleagues "adorable"

Just the word "adorable"

Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 6 September 2017 14:21 (six years ago) link

it feels completely disgusting to be called adorable so thanks for the support!
i mean that.

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 6 September 2017 15:34 (six years ago) link

two years pass...

people using "begs the question" incorrectly. When someone uses it correctly it really makes me want to weep for joy.

I've been thinking about this. I'm genuinely curious how many instances there are of someone using this expression 'correctly' outside the context of philosophy academia - unless it is just for the sake of 'correcting' the 'incorrect' usage. When I Google "beg the question", the first five pages of results consist entirely of either definitions or people discussing what the correct usage should be. It is only on the sixth page that I come across someone using the expression to describe a fallacious argument - and this is in a scholarly article in Informal Logic. Are there many actual instances of e.g. an opposition MP saying "the Honourable Minister begs the question when he argues for increased military intervention on the grounds that the Middle East has been growing more unstable since our involvement began"? For comparison, I can find several examples of "strawman". In any situation I can think of where one might use "beg the question" 'properly', it seems like it might be clearer and simpler to just say "you are assuming x without proving it".

All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Friday, 6 September 2019 17:45 (four years ago) link

it seems like it might be clearer and simpler

I'd say it not just "might be", but it would be.

A is for (Aimless), Friday, 6 September 2019 18:21 (four years ago) link


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