Look dude… I realize that William Donald Schaefer is a bit irritating, but he is legally elected… 
No one uses the word “rollicking” outside of advertising. That and “hilarious.”
Another vote for orientate.
“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.
Anyone else bugged by ‘grow’ used transitively, eg ‘to grow a business’? ‘Reify’ is a word that foreign language social “scientists” love to chuck in all over their outpourings.
Empowered.
Empowering.
Empowers.
and any other possible ending involving the word “empower”
Unique, especially when it’s modified to “very unique,” “the most unique,” “kind of unique,” etc.
Now might be an apt time to bring up TellMeI’mNotCrazy’s “completely superfluous”!
And its corollary, “all”. "So I’m all…and then he’s all…
Well, I know what my problem with it is. It’s that it’s almost always misused. Hint to dipsticks: it’s not just a synonym for “weird”.
I’ve been trying (in most cases , unsuccessfully) to bring back disused words that I like. Most of them are from the 19th century, and I am cheered when an old word makes a comeback…so here…please try to use these words…maybe they will become part of modern American English:
-blatherskite
-plug-ugly
-whilst
-smite
-forsooth
-dandy
-lachrymose
-indubitable
There, give em’ a try, you will like them!
It also reminds me of my now ex-boyfriend… not to mention a school survey that my parents and I had to fill out when I was in Grade 9.
The word should be shot.
Come to think of it, maybe that is my problem with it. Thanks 
supposably (it’s not a word!)
Some 1,500 people (what’s wrong with “about”?)
utilitze (why not “use”?)
and …
When people say “anxious” when they mean “eager.”
That makes me insane.
crispy!
The word is “crisp”. Take note advertisers, it only takes one syllable to describe biting celery.
Located should be defenestrated, especially when used in the following abominable construction:
“The vending machines are located in the next room.”
WTF is wrong with:
“The vending machines are in the next room?”
For that matter, even in its proper use, found often works better:
“The lost children were located.” vs. “The lost children were found.”
“We found the mittens.” vs. “We located the mittens.”…
-DF
Hong Kong people have an obsession with ‘found’ - in the passive of course (another obsession). A typical memo might begin: “It was found that three sets of televisions had been lost from the warrehouse.”
Keeps me in work, anyway.
You see, I have always felt that “crisp” and “crispy” were semantically distinct. For me, cold, refreshing, natural things are crisp. Celery is crisp. Winter mornings are crisp. Crispy things, on the other hand, are usually processed and fake and far less pleasant. Potato chips and deep-fried things and food that comes in bags marked “low-carb!” are crispy. I find the distinction useful.
Diachronic, conflate, and discourse are words that have very little excuse for being. Clarity is the first victim of academic writing, and it pains me.
“Executive produced” by so-and-so drives me around the frickin’ bend! You may be the executive producer, but you don’t “executive produce” anything!
Sheesh! Next we’ll be hearing about what kind of job Dick Cheney is doing “Vice-Presidenting” the country!
:smack:
Oi! Starvers. No winding-up of liberals on MY thread!