# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/41 "2017-10-10T04:55:12Z")
> [@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. It started being used in that sense because it’s often used to mean “awake” in black English. I have a patient with chronic insomnia who uses it every time I see her: “I was still woke at 3AM.” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/42 "2017-10-10T06:31:05Z")
Is there a word for nominating “best of the year” in October? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/43 "2017-10-10T09:26:45Z")
The twisted misformation that is “ouster” is my personal bane this year. Nothingburger is a close second though. Thanks, Trump! ---
**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, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/44 "2017-10-10T11:35:22Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 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. Which I find unfortunate, I think both terms had some utility before getting corrupted by wider usage. In social demonstrations, especially and overwhelmingly online, some people are more invested in social issues as a vehicle for their own vanity than in advancing the underlying issues. I see this behavior every day in my Facebook feed among people whose position I actually share, but whose words and actions seem totally self-serving. Likewise there’s an opposite contingent of deplorables who have no real principle but delight in “vice-signaling”. I think the term could facilitate a real conversation, but it’s been corrupted to “fuck your insincere argument” and is hence useless. I signal a virtuous dismay over this fact. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/45 "2017-10-10T13:54:24Z")
“Fake News” when you really mean “I don’t like the truth”. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/46 "2017-10-10T14:32:22Z")
“Adult” as a verb. Pretty sure it predates 2017 but my social media is full of 30-45+ year old people saying “I did so much adulting today when I bought groceries and washed my clothes!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/47 "2017-10-10T14:59:03Z")
Clapback was the one I thought of when I saw the thread title. I have yet to hear anyone use the word IRL, but I see it all the time in online articles. I also agree with the last post, with using adult as a verb. Though it’s not a new word, I have noticed that the ellipsis is trending lately. When people use the ellipsis in place of periods, and string several sentences together that way – well, that’s pretty damn annoying. Oh!! FOMO, that’s another annoying new word. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/48 "2017-10-10T15:10:40Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Antifa I always assume “Antifa” is an appetizer at a Middle Eastern restaurant. I still really don’t know what it means. I could look it up but it sounds so dumb that I don’t want to. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/49 "2017-10-10T17:36:04Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I always assume “Antifa” is an appetizer at a Middle Eastern restaurant. I still really don’t know what it means. I could look it up but it sounds so dumb that I don’t want to. So do you just ignore all the news about political violence, or do you read it without understanding it? I mean, I agree that Antifa is an awkward word, but to remain deliberately ignorant of major current events because you object to a word is… well… exceptional is all I can say. ---
**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 10, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/50 "2017-10-10T17:41:06Z")
Strange response for a pretty mellow thread. Anyway, if I didn’t obsessively read the GD and BBQ Pit fora from this message board, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t know what antifa means. Mainstream news sources don’t use it much, from what I can tell, other than Fox News maybe. ---
**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, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/51 "2017-10-10T17:57:26Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Strange response for a pretty mellow thread. Anyway, if I didn’t obsessively read the GD and BBQ Pit fora from this message board, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t know what antifa means. Mainstream news sources don’t use it much, from what I can tell, other than Fox News maybe. Maybe, maybe not, but would you react to an unfamiliar major news item by saying “that sounds so dumb that I refuse to know it.”? I just found that kind of amazing. ---
**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 10, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/52 "2017-10-10T18:07:37Z")
OK, but we can all agree that “antifa” should be on the list of annoying words for 2017. It must be imported from someplace else, right? It doesn’t seem like English or how an American would shorten “anti-fascist”. I don’t actually care about the etymology, just dislike the word. ---
**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, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/53 "2017-10-10T18:16:18Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > OK, but we can all agree that “antifa” should be on the list of annoying words for 2017. It must be imported from someplace else, right? It doesn’t seem like English or how an American would shorten “anti-fascist”. I don’t actually care about the etymology, just dislike the word. Sure, it can be annoying. There have been lots of European groups with some form of ‘Antifascist’ in their title. Not sure if the abbreviation ‘Antifa’ was born in Europe, but I think it sounds less awkward in Spanish or Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/54 "2017-10-11T04:44:33Z")
[Mukbang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukbang) ---
**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 11, 2017, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/55 "2017-10-11T10:16:29Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > [Mukbang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukbang) Nomination declined. This is the funniest word I ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/56 "2017-10-11T10:19:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My vote? “Virtue signalling.” It serves the same purpose as “politically correct,” as a way to shut down debate… “Racist” and “Nazi” as well. Like the above, words so overused they’ve lost all meaning. After a (increasingly rare) trip to a fancy restaurant, I discovered “plate” became a verb at some point. This is as stupid as saying “I just cupped my coffee”. Speaking of coffee, I’ll be back in a sec. I need to toilet my urine. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291/57 "2017-10-12T05:34:00Z")
The one that is really bugging me right now is “Optics”. As in, “The optics on this situation are really bad.” Oh shut the #@%& up. Just say, “This looks bad”, or, “We don’t want that to look bad”, or, “We have to consider our image”. As we have been saying for 10,000 years. For example: “There is cave bear eating your brother and we are low on sharp sticks. This looks bad.” Not: “There is cave bear eating your brother and we are low on sharp sticks. I’m not 100% in love with the current optics.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2017-most-annoying-new-word-awards/798291.md?page=2)