# English Words that Nobody Should Use **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606 "2005-03-09T01:23:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/81 "2005-03-11T02:28:28Z")
Negress Strife W ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/82 "2005-03-11T02:29:25Z")
Since when is W a word? ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/83 "2005-03-11T02:35:33Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > Since when is W a word? 1. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/84 "2005-03-11T02:35:33Z")
Since it came to be pronounced “Dubya” in most parts of the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/85 "2005-03-11T02:44:00Z")
These are not words, but slogans, that get my goat. The \_\_\_\_\_ of tomorrow… today! Tomorrow’s \_\_\_\_\_… today! The \_\_\_\_\_ of the future… today! A kazillion products have used this slogan already. It’s time to kill it. It’s the slogan of yesterday… today! ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/86 "2005-03-11T02:44:26Z")
However you pronounce it, it’s still a letter. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/87 "2005-03-11T02:46:45Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > However you pronounce it, it’s still a letter. What, like “a”, “I”, and “O”? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/88 "2005-03-11T02:52:27Z")
I can’t believe I have to explain this, but… a: an article, and a letter. I: a pronoun, and a letter. O: a preposition, and a letter. W: a letter. > [@](#): > > Since it came to be pronounced “Dubya” in most parts of the U.S.? Now _that_ is a word. You can hate the word “Dubya” all you like. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/89 "2005-03-11T02:54:44Z")
For a long time, I thought “leveraging our synergies” was just a funny joke, nobody would every actually SAY that, right? Alas, after the company I work part time for was bought by a different company a few months ago, some big shot sent out an email stating that, among other things, we were “leveraging our synergies.” I nearly fell off my chair laughing. My boss at my other job is very fond of “wordsmithing” things. Drives me up the friggin’ wall. And all this talk of “verbiage.” One time, she said, “let’s wordsmith this verbiage” and I nearly thrust my pen into her trachea. And for a regular, non-businessspeak words that make me want to vomit, “chagrin.” Also, the name Enid. It’s totally illogical and completely bizarre, but anytime someone says “chagrin” or I hear the name Enid, I twitch. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/90 "2005-03-11T03:01:52Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > I can’t believe I have to explain this, but… > > a: an article, and a letter. > I: a pronoun, and a letter. > O: a preposition, and a letter. > > W: a letter. I can’t believe I have to explain this, but… Language evolves. W, when used as a character in a word or part of an acronym or a stand-alone initial (punctuated by a period), is a letter. These days, in the US, W has come to refer in certain contexts to a specific referent (our idiot President). It bears no punctuation. It’s not used as a character. It’s a word. For now. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/91 "2005-03-11T03:05:14Z")
U R wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/92 "2005-03-11T03:17:11Z")
> [@Mishell](#): > > For a long time, I thought “leveraging our synergies” was just a funny joke, nobody would every actually SAY that, right? That’s brilliant. Actually, Ma Belle (have I picked up on the wordplay?), I’m a bit peeved as ‘leverage’ is one of my hated words and I’m disappointed not to get in with it first. Hong Kong loves this word. I now slip it in to award write-ups (what a load of bollocks these burgeoning awards are, by the by), just to give myself a laugh. Here’s the most recent effort: > [@](#): > > With five months of the campaign left to run, independent research studies show that the campaign has been successful in leveraging [company name]'s traditional strengths of providing value-for-money and comfortable services to boost [company name]'s brand image and enhance its position as a socially responsible corporate citizen. I was quite proud of this. I see your ‘leverage’ (v.t.) and raise you a ‘socially responsible corporate citizen’. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/93 "2005-03-11T03:19:12Z")
> [@Millit the Frail](#): > > “Decimate.” > > Nobody uses it correctly, and everyone defends its use as a substitution for “annihilate.” Unless you are talking about something that can be quantified (in this case, 10 percent of this thing _can be_ eliminated) and you really mean the “deci-” part, let’s just put the word to rest. I had a friend who was former US Military intelligence (I know, oxymoron), and he taught me the true meaning of this word by pointing out that if a company or platoon was decimated at the front, it was usually considered to be “acceptable losses.” Interestingly (well, to me, but…) I found this note at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > Usage Note: Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a group. Sixty-six percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentence The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population. However, when the meaning is further extended to include large-scale destruction other than killing, as in The supply of fresh produce was decimated by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, only 26 percent of the Panel accepts the usage. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/94 "2005-03-11T03:23:07Z")
Sod the “Panel”! Decimate=annihilate is fine by me. And, hopefully, to the more enlightened among you lot, too. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/95 "2005-03-11T05:27:53Z")
“Dubya” has been used by the monarchs of England for generations, as in, “I dubya Sir Elton John.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/96 "2005-03-11T07:04:51Z")
“I need to **massage** the document before it goes to print.” What the hell does that mean? “I need to **make sure there’s no way this document can get me fired** before it goes to print.” Why not just say “edit”? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/97 "2005-03-11T09:07:42Z")
“Sexy” when applied to things other than people you find sexually appealing. “Killer app” too. “MegaMicroTronics unveiled a sexy new killer app today at the ElectroGizmoExpo.” Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![totalfrogbuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@totalfrogbuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/totalfrogbuster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/98 "2005-03-11T11:19:00Z")
i hate it when people say 'scuse me instead of excuse me!! it is one extra goddamn syllable people!!! man that felt good, my therapist says i should vent more and break less 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/99 "2005-03-11T12:22:03Z")
At great expense I employ full-time search and destroy squads, tirelessly hunting every usuage of “the reality is …” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606/100 "2005-03-11T15:39:35Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I hate the phrase “next level.” > > ARRRGH! :mad: I hate that term! Not only is it a meaningless buzzword (buzzphrase?) but it’s an overused, cliche meaningless buzzword. The choir in my church thanked God that an aspiring music pastor didn’t get hired & he was obsessing about taking us to “the next level”. Of course, I added that it was only so we could meet the MotherShip! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-nobody-should-use/293606.md?page=6)