# 2017 Most Annoying New Word awards **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291 "2017-10-08T14:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/21 "2017-10-09T16:05:56Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > A few that I agree with listed already, so let me say that I still think “hella” is the laziest and stupidest sounding slang word around, eclipsing even “brah”. But it’s not going away. Northern Californians (especially Bay Area) have adopted it as a distinctive regional thing, kind of like the SoCal intrusive “the”. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/22 "2017-10-09T16:16:17Z")
Vay Cay for vacation - no reason, just annoys me ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/23 "2017-10-09T16:28:04Z")
Nothingburger was interesting the first few times, but got old fast. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/24 "2017-10-09T16:36:14Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Vay Cay for vacation - no reason, just annoys me Another example of adult babytalk that needs to stay on social media and way the hell out of everything else. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/25 "2017-10-09T16:43:51Z")
No new words to add, but I want to add in an additional vote for nothingburger, woke, and vay cay. Searching now for what woke means. I only see it used as a joke about woke people, so it’s heard to get from the context, other that maybe someone who is ostentatiously hip or liberal or something? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/26 "2017-10-09T16:47:28Z")
woke = become aware of something or understanding of something ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/27 "2017-10-09T18:05:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > woke = become aware of something or understanding of something It means enlightened (awoken) to social justice issues. It seems like it almost immediately tipped over from sincerity to ironic mockery, and I seldom see anybody using it in earnest anymore. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/28 "2017-10-09T18:22:53Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > It means enlightened (awoken) to social justice issues. It seems like it almost immediately tipped over from sincerity to ironic mockery, and I seldom see anybody using it in earnest anymore. Just to continue this hijack for one more post (yeah, sure), after doing my promised research, it looks like it originated in black slang, and has been used for many years – there was an early sighting in an Erykah Badu song (boy, did I guess wrong with her spelling). So, my theory, formulated five minutes ago, is that it was used sincerely for years in the black community, then it started getting used sincerely in the NPR-listening, quinoa-eating, hyper socially aware community for a short time, and then was used mostly for ironic mockery shortly after that. Anyway, I know I’ve already voted, but I wouldn’t be a good member of the Democratic machine unless I stuffed the ballot box, so I’m putting another vote in for nothingburger. The word is just ugly and meaningless, and it’s often used by Paul Krugman, who I otherwise respect, which makes it even more annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/29 "2017-10-09T19:10:40Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Oh, there’ll be plenty of replies. There’s a virtually unlimited supply of threadshitters who will drop in to point out that we’re not allowed to find anything annoying because language is constantly changing. How very silly. Of course you can find it annoying. No one else is compelled to consider your opinion, by you certainly have the right to hold it! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/30 "2017-10-09T19:14:09Z")
Confeve. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/31 "2017-10-09T19:25:02Z")
Hoco - short for homecoming. Who’s going to Hoco this year? Did you get your Hoco dress yet? Will you go to Hoco with me? I keep seeing it pop up on Facebook. So many teens in my life right now. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/32 "2017-10-09T19:29:43Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Hoco - short for homecoming. Who’s going to Hoco this year? Did you get your Hoco dress yet? Will you go to Hoco with me? I keep seeing it pop up on Facebook. So many teens in my life right now. 😛 OK, I do have one to add. “Promposal”, the stupid elaborate stuff teens do to ask someone to go to the prom (is it a NYC thing to say “the prom” rather than just “prom”, as in “are you going to the prom” vs. “are you going to prom”?). Anyway, promposal is definitely, without a doubt, the most annoying new word. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/33 "2017-10-09T21:17:14Z")
Apparently froyo is finally being added to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, despite the word already being used in a Simpsons episode in the early 90s. Do we really need to give it a dictionary entry at this point? Daycation is also a pretty old word being added. Never understood it either, as it’s suppose to mean a vacation you take that’s only a day long, so basically just a normal free day/day off? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/34 "2017-10-09T21:31:04Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > How very silly. Of course you can find it annoying. No one else is compelled to consider your opinion, Yet here you are, for some strange reason. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/35 "2017-10-09T22:10:46Z")
“Theory,” when hypothesis or conjecture is meant. It’s a malapropism, though it might as well be a neologism for its ubiquity. Also, “evolution,” when ontogeny or metamorphosis is meant. (Thanks Pokémon!!) Antiscience folk exploit these gratuitous misuses for all they’re worth and that’s reason enough hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/36 "2017-10-09T22:27:42Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Yet here you are, for some strange reason. Not sure what point you think you’ve made here. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/37 "2017-10-10T00:39:21Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Not sure what point you think you’ve made here. Hella woke clapback, brah. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/38 "2017-10-10T00:55:37Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Hella woke clapback, brah. Likewise, your socially aware internet response, brother, is hell of. My vote? “Virtue signalling.” It serves the same purpose as “politically correct,” as a way to shut down debate by pointing out that the people you disagree with believe they’re right. It’s the stupidest counterargument imaginable, yet somehow a lot of people still use it. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/39 "2017-10-10T02:07:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Likewise, your socially aware internet response, brother, is hell of. > > My vote? “Virtue signalling.” It serves the same purpose as “politically correct,” as a way to shut down debate by pointing out that the people you disagree with believe they’re right. It’s the stupidest counterargument imaginable, yet somehow a lot of people still use it. Well, that’s like your opinion man. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/40 "2017-10-10T04:16:39Z")
‘Visa’ as a verb. As in “I’m going to visa that” when they’re paying for something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291.md?page=3)