# Misused/Overused Words - Post your favorites **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058 "2002-06-14T16:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/81 "2002-06-23T17:09:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xenophon41 \* > \*\* > Well, I’ll try to tell you (without rancor). It’s because of your insistence that if a claim is made that is not meant to persuade the listener (or **lissener** ) of its factual truth, but merely to convey an image, then the claim itself is ironic. That insistence is, I beleive, faulty. > > “I just flew in from Vegas, and boy are my arms tired!” > > Now, are we meant to believe that the speaker actually flapped his way to us from Las Vegas? If not, are we meant to believe he means “and my arms aren’t tired at all, because I merely sat in a plane all the way”? Answers: No and No. The humor comes from the _literal intention_ of the speaker’s claim that his arms are tired, which amusingly jars our immediate assumption from the first clause of the sentence.**[sup][_Underlining mine: this is nearly the definition of one usage of ironic; merely inserting the word literal into it doesn’t alter that fact._] [/sup]** We are not expected to find the statement plausible, but we are expected to create the mental image of the speaker “flying” like a bird. We create that image _because we understand the lack of ironic intent_. > > Clear yet? \*\* No matter twists you twist, it’s the fact that “boy are my arms tired” is said _ironically_– [ul] **irony** [list=2][li]An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit. [/ul][/list][/li]–rather than literally, that makes the joke funny . . . insofar as it is. Your inability (or refusal) to understand the definition of the word is really not relevant to what the word actually means. Here’s the thing: I’ve proved my position over and over again with dictionary cites; you’ve simply stuck your fingers in your ears and chanted “la la la I can’t hear you black means white if you look at it this way . . .” Where are _your_ cites? ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/82 "2002-06-24T00:20:14Z")
Actually, **lissener** , your cites will do just fine. (And please stop insulting me. I’ve read every word you’ve posted, and I thoroughly understand your argument. _I disagree with it_. If you expect me to remain polite, please _knock off the accusations of willful ignorance or disingenuity_.) Let’s explore the definitions you’ve used just above. The _deliberate contrast_ between apparent and intended meaning is in the first clauses of both the old joke (“I just flew in…”) and the podium story you used to start this wrangling off ("…put my foot in my mouth…"). In both cases, the **apparent** meaning is not a literal one (“just flew in” is idiomatic, “foot in mouth” is figurative), but the **intended** meaning, brought to light by the [non-ironic] second clause of each statement, is the literal one. So, both the joke and the anecdote are examples of an ironic literary style (which is why **Nighttime** is wrong), but the modifying locutions are not used ironically (which is why you are also wrong). The word “literally” in your story is used no more ironically than is the word “podium”. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/83 "2002-06-24T10:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > No matter twists you twist, it’s the fact that “boy are my arms tired” is said ironically– > [@](#): > > –rather than literally, that makes the joke funny . . . insofar as it is. Boy are my arms tired. Apparent meaning: my arms are tired. Intended meaning: my arms are tired. So the irony is that you are using a phrase that usually means that your arms are tired, in order to say that your arms are tired? The only possible irony is if you were using the phrase “I just flew in from Vegas” to mean that you flew like superman, instead of the standard meaning that you flew on a plane. If Clark Kent offhandedly told someone he “just flew in from vegas” it could be ironic that he used that phrase to mean something other than what it usually means. If he then said “boy are my arms tired” it would NOT be ironic, because he would be using those words in exactly the way you would expect. In your example “I put my foot in my mouth… literally”, the phrase “I put my foot in my mouth” could be ironic. For example, if you gave a speech to your class, and during the speech some bully came up and stuffed your socks into your mouth, and then you went home and your mom asked how your speech went, and you said “I really put my foot in my mouth” it would be ironic because the apparent meaning is that you said something awkward, but you really are talking about the sock incident. But if you then said “literally” it would not be ironic, because you would be using the word literally in the normal way. This is basically what xenophon is saying, but I do not think that even the first part of the phrase is ironic, because I think that in this case lissener is in fact using the phrase “I put my foot in my mouth” in the usual way, to mean “I said something awkward.” Then as a punchline the word “literally” is used to mean… exactly what you would expect! It means literally. I put my foot in my mouth: I said something awkward: NOT ironic. …literally: I literally put my foot in my mouth: NOT ironic. The first part of the phrase means exactly what you expect. The usage of literally means exactly what you would expect. If the word “literally” was not being used to mean what it always means, there would be no humor. There is simply no irony in any part of the phrase, as it is being used in this instance. ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/84 "2002-06-24T17:18:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by keithnmick \* > \*\*Apple : Think Different. > > …erm, shouldn’t that be thing differently? or do you mean Think “different” - that might make sense.\*\* You’ve been whooshed by Apple’s ad campaign. “Think Different” was a clever, and not-so-subtle, jab at IBM’s famous slogan from the 1980s: “Think”. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/85 "2002-06-27T23:27:00Z")
ANYway. [re: _irony_] After a couple days away, not thinking about this stuff, it occurs to me that the problem here is that you guys are getting WAY too complicated here. If you go back and read the definitions, the one I’m using is the one that is basically synomous with ‘wit.’ In other words, when I say I’m using the word ironically, I basically mean I’m using it JOKINGLY; with a humorous intention; with wit or, nearly, sarcasm. And again, if you read the definitions, this is a perfectly acceptable usage. The definition that you guys keep returning to, while also perfectly valid, is a _different usage_. My usage include such valid examples as “His voice dripped with irony.” ---
**Author:** ![Vertiginous\_Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@Vertiginous\_Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vertiginous_Annie)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/86 "2002-06-28T00:06:21Z")
A coworker of mine uses “asinine” every chance she gets - she thinks it makes her sound smart. Today, she used it five times, and each time incorrectly. It doesn’t mean irritating, you asinine bitch! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/87 "2002-06-28T21:34:18Z")
From an English professor I emailed about this question: > [@](#): > > I follow your argument that the writer uses a word that excludes metaphorical usage [_‘literally’_] in a metaphorical way, and is thus being ironic in the same way that one might say ‘a cliche is a red rag to a bull for me’, being fully aware that one is using a cliche. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/88 "2002-06-29T01:54:53Z")
**lissener** , I still don’t agree that irony = wit, in any definition, but I do agree (and said so above) that the _anecdote itself_ may be considered ironic. I will even concede that, if one _reeeaaally_ stretches the definition of ‘metaphor’, then the word “literally” **is used ironically** in your anecdote. (Dammit.) Happy? –Now, if the anecdote went: “I got up to the podium and stuck my foot right in my mouth. (Pause) . . . figuratively,” then we’d have a beautiful example of ironic humor, since a word [figuratively] that is used to indicate irony where it is not readily apparent is now being used to point out the irony of an obviously ironic statement. Had enough? ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/89 "2002-06-29T06:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > I follow your argument that the writer uses a word that excludes metaphorical usage [‘literally’] in a metaphorical way, and is thus being ironic in the same way that one might say ‘a cliche is a red rag to a bull for me’, being fully aware that one is using a cliche. There is absolutely no comparison between your use of literally, and the phrase ‘a cliche is a red rag to a bull for me’. The latter is ironic because you are using a cliche to say that you hate cliches. The phrase “I put my foot in my mouth… literally” contains no such irony. > [@](#): > > lissener, I still don’t agree that irony = wit, in any definition, but I do agree (and said so above) that the anecdote itself may be considered ironic. The anecdote can definitely NOT be considered ironic. It is being used to mean “I said something awkward” which is exactly what you would expect it to mean. The anecdote could potentially be used ironically, but in this instance it is not. What lissener is saying is not that the anecdote is ironic, but that the word literally is ironic, because it is being used to mean metaphorically. But the fact remains that literally is actually being used in the same way it always is: to mean literally. That is why the image of the foot in the mouth appears. Even if literally was being used to mean metaphorically, which it isn’t, it still wouldn’t be ironic, any more than it is ironic to say “I’m sleeping” (while awake) or “Look at that bird down in the sky!” (pointing up). Jokingly is NOT a synonym for ironically. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/90 "2002-06-29T15:37:56Z")
> [@](#): > > The anecdote can definitely NOT be considered ironic. It is being used to mean “I said something awkward” which is exactly what you would expect it to mean. Ah, but it _isn’t_ being used to mean what you would expect it to mean; when the speaker tells us “…_literally_” he’s telling us “I don’t mean that I said something awkward; I mean my foot really went in my mouth.” If you really believe the speaker means the cliche in its expected sense (which I don’t), then you also have to believe that the word “literally” **is not** being used to mean literally. (Although it sure aint being used to mean metaphorically, either.) Yes, the speaker is using the word _jokingly_, which ironically denies the expected metaphorical meaning in favor of the funnier literal meaning. Going deeper, we see that the _literal_ meaning can be seen metaphorically to be every bit as socially awkward as the figurative meaning (hence the origin of the damned cliche in the first place). Thus, the [very vaguely] ironic usage of the word “literally”. (Believe me, **Nightime** , I hate conceding that point, but I think we must.) ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/91 "2002-06-29T15:56:19Z")
I’m new here, but I feel as though I’ve found a home in this thread. Has anyone mentioned the abuse of the word “decimate” yet? I hear it in sports broadcasts all the time: “The team has been decimated by injuries…” (So approximately two and a half Yankees are on the DL. Big deal.) ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/92 "2002-06-29T16:19:05Z")
**awesome** How many things truly inspire awe? Volcanos. The Grand Canyon. The power of a hurricane. When people say something like, “this gum is awesome”, I really have to wonder how such a trivial little item can cause slackjaw wonderment. Do they marvell at the flavor of a stick of gum? Stop using awesome to describe insignificant things. Save the word for those things which truly inspire and leave lasting impressions. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/93 "2002-06-29T20:33:20Z")
> [@](#): > > If you really believe the speaker means the cliche in its expected sense (which I don’t), then you also have to believe that the word “literally” is not being used to mean literally. (Although it sure aint being used to mean metaphorically, either.) Yes, the speaker is using the word jokingly, which ironically denies the expected metaphorical meaning in favor of the funnier literal meaning. I put my foot in my mouth means: I said something awkward. Exactly what you expect. NOT ironic. …literally means: I literally put my foot in my mouth. Exactly what you expect. NOT ironic. Maybe if the word literally was part of the cliche (rather than just an added joke word), and the cliche was being used to mean its opposite… maybe if the speaker was using the cliche in any way other than its expected sense, then I would agree that it could potentially be ironic. But from the context, I still think it is being used as expected. Then the word literally is added as a joke. In order for there to be irony, you would have to agree that using a cliche as a joke is ironic. Personally, I see cliches as pretty close to being jokes already, and there is certainly nothing about them that would make using them as a joke ironic. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/94 "2002-06-29T20:47:30Z")
One of my pet peeves- improper use of the phrase “for all intents and purposes.” It is not “for all intensive purposes”, you weenies! I love it when people think using unfamiliar (to them) words and phrases makes them sound smarter. Honey, you’d sound smarter if you just kept your mouth shut… ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/95 "2002-06-30T01:23:39Z")
**Nightime** : Perhaps. I’ve been wrong before. I’m not real attached to **lissener** ’s interpretation, but I think there’s irony in turning a cliche on its head so that it means what it says instead of what it’s commonly taken to mean. Know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/96 "2002-07-01T17:25:37Z")
Nightime, xenophon: You remain married to a different definition of irony: > [@](#): > > Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: ‘Hyde noted the irony of Ireland’s copying the nation she most hated’ (Richard Kain). Again, a perfectly viable definition, but, _again,_ not the one I employed: [quote] 1.a. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. 1.b. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning. 1.c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit[sup]1[li][/sup]. [/li][/quote] Another example I happened upon this morning, from Cornell Woolrich’s _Waltz Into Darkness_ (1947): > [@](#): > > “I’ll wait out here in this little entryway,” he said tautly, and strode for it. > > “Do so,” she agreed ironically. “It _is_ some time now that we have been apart.” > > He sat down on a little backless wall-bench that lined the place, just within the outer apartment door. > > She came slowly over after him and slowly swung the second door around, the one between them, leaving it just short of closure. > > “My windows are on the second floor,” she reassured him, still with that overtone of irony. “And there is no ladder outside them. I am not likely to escape.” \*Your refusal, xenophon, to “agree that irony = wit, in any definition,” hardly alters the fact. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/97 "2002-07-01T21:25:27Z")
**lissener** , you haven’t given any cite to a reference source which allows “irony” to be used interchangeably with “wit”. This is because they are not interchangeable. A ‘synonym’ listing in most references is nothing more than a list of words with related meanings, provided for contrast as much as for similarity. Remember, ‘unseasoned’, ‘envious’ and ‘verdant’ are all synonyms for ‘green’; this does not mean the words describe the same thing. Irony is a _form_ of wit. Not all wit is irony. I do find it ironic that, after so much interchange on the subject, you still purport to believe that either **Nightime** or I have ignored a particular usage of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/98 "2002-07-01T21:43:45Z")
Second Guest - good one! Not enough people study ancient Roman military protocol these days. “Awesome” is as misused as “adorable” - as my mother used to say “only God is adorable.” But my favorite pet peeve is people who say “floundered” when they mean “foundered” as in flopping around out of control, like a ship taking on water, a sports team that can’t catch a win, or a fish in the bottom of a boat. I suppose the “flounder” mispronunciation came from the fish analogy. And although I have seen some dictionaries which claim this is a correct use of “flounder”, I still think it is a derivative, usage-based dumbing-down, and don’t buy it. So there!..Timmy ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/99 "2002-07-01T22:36:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xenophon41 \* > **lissener, you haven’t given any cite to a reference source which allows “irony” to be used interchangeably with “wit”. This is because they are not interchangeable. . . .** Um, maybe that’s because I never said they _were_ interchangeable. I only pointed out that the dictionary lists ‘ **wit** ’ as a _synonym_ for the usage I employed. > [@](#): > > _continued_ > **. . . A ‘synonym’ listing in most references is nothing more than a list of words with related meanings, provided for contrast as much as for similarity. Remember, ‘unseasoned’, ‘envious’ and ‘verdant’ are all synonyms for ‘green’; this does not mean the words describe the same thing. Irony is a _form_ of wit. Not all wit is irony. . . .** This is a total nonsequitur, xenophon. First of all, thanks for the definition of ‘synonym’; it was unnecessary. Second, thanks for pointing out that a word mayhave synonyms that are unrelated to each other. Your pointing out that ‘verdant’ does not equal ‘envious’ would have made sense if I had invoked, for example, this dictionary entry: _Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles._ Since I have not done so, and have emphasized only one usage, I’m entirely flummoxed by your post above. > [@](#): > > _continued_ > \*\*. . . I do find it ironic that, after so much interchange on the subject, you still purport to believe that either **Nightime** or I have ignored a particular usage of the word. \*\* Not that you’ve ignored it; only that you seem to remain focused on another definition, a definition that’s not in question–nor yet even under discussion–here. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058/100 "2002-07-02T02:24:14Z")
> [@](#): > > This is a total nonsequitur, xenophon. Non sequitur. Yet another term you don’t seem to understand. Let’s refresh your memory, not that it’ll do any good… > [@](#): > > _You said:_ If you go back and read the definitions, the one I’m using is the one that is basically synomous with ‘wit.’ **In other words, when I say I’m using the word ironically, I basically mean I’m using it JOKINGLY; with a humorous intention; with wit or, nearly, sarcasm.** And again, if you read the definitions, this is a perfectly acceptable usage. I replied that I didn’t think wit = irony _because that’s the assertion you made_ (see bolded portion above). There is no definition which allows humor, even “near-sarcasm” to be considered ironic unless it actually _contains irony_. Period. This is blindingly obvious. Review your definition 1.c. from above: “A literary style **employing such contrasts** for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit[sup]1[/sup]” (Again, I’ve bolded the relevant portion for the hard-of-reading.) > [@](#): > > Not that you’ve ignored it; only that you seem to remain focused on another definition, a definition that’s not in question–nor yet even under discussion–here. Then clear it up for me. Which specific definition do you think I’m focused on, and which specific definition do you claim I’m ignoring? If I haven’t addressed your pet definition, I’ll eat a cyberbug. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misused-overused-words-post-your-favorites/114058.md?page=6)