# Trendy buzzwords that you wish you could just blow up into smithereens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223 "2016-03-17T00:39:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [March 17, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/81 "2016-03-17T18:40:12Z")
Emoticons are made, or can be made with text characters. Emojis are small graphic images. It can be confusing because some phones and other devices will automatically convert text character emoticons into the device’s default emojis. But I am amused that we’re at a point where people are arguing for the use of smiley or emoticon as the preferred traditional term. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/82 "2016-03-17T18:43:09Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > So why not just say: I talked to him, I sent him an email, I sent a letter, I asked my son to talk to her? “Reaching out” implies some sort of emotional content to me, as when you communicate with someone who is grieving, or providing some sort of assistance to someone who is suffering. But when a news reporter says something like “We reached out to Mr. Edwards and asked him about the pedophile charges”, it makes me homicidal. Well, perhaps not. I think the blame goes to AT&T, and/or their then ad company, for the slogan, “Reach out–reach out and touch someone. Reach out and just say hi.” That was in the late 70s-early 80s, so it’s been around awhile. My vote for the trendy buzzword that should be blown to smithereens: all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/83 "2016-03-17T18:45:17Z")
Thanks **IS** , for fighting my ignorance; and in the circumstances, I withdraw the comment in my post, about preference. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/84 "2016-03-17T19:06:31Z")
[ul] [li]The Cloud[/li][li]The Internet of Things[/li][li]“Sour grapes” as a synonym for “sore loser”. That’s not what it means![/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/85 "2016-03-17T19:20:08Z")
[“Excuse me, but ‘proactive’ and ‘paradigm’? Aren’t these just buzzwords that dumb people use to sound important? Not that I’m accusing you of anything like that … I’m fired, aren’t I?”](https://youtu.be/GKqhHhLNA7o) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/86 "2016-03-17T19:30:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Fucking hell, I hate this stupid faux touchy-feely bullshit. What the fuck is the matter with “I called her”? Makes me want to reach out and slap the shit out of whoever says this. > > Also, “thought leader” is presently annoying me. oh yes, “thought leaders” really irks me. Especially once LinkedIn started using it in their e-mail news letters. when I hear the term “thought leader,” my mind creates a picture of a huge, open city square with large portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on display. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/87 "2016-03-17T19:41:14Z")
I fucking hate, “The Next Level”. ---
**Author:** ![TexCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texcat/32/9041_2.png) [@TexCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexCat)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/88 "2016-03-17T20:24:48Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > All fine choices. \ _But at the end of the day…_ Especially when combined with _boots on the ground_. When did \*incentivize \* become a word? Is there some way to incentivize people to quit using it? ---
**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:** [March 17, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/89 "2016-03-17T20:34:28Z")
I hate “ask” instead of request. I have an ask…NO! NO! NO! You have a request. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/90 "2016-03-17T20:39:53Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > “manspread”/any other neo-feminazi garbage. As a man who commutes daily by train, manspreading is real and it’s not spectacular. :mad: I think hangry is a useful word that succinctly describes a real thing. Unfortunately, I get hangry now and then\* and even consciously realizing that’s why I’m getting peevish doesn’t help, only actually eating does. 🙂 \*Taken literally, “now and then” (or “from time to time”) is fairly meaningless, but we all know what it means because it’s been around for ages and it sounds normal to us. While some of these words are goofy – what does “cray-cray” do that crazy doesn’t, and how is “chillaxing” any different than chilling or relaxing? – some actually do say something more succinctly than a cumbersome phrase made of words that happened to exist when one was in school and therefore are kosher. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/91 "2016-03-17T20:43:34Z")
Moving to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/92 "2016-03-17T20:50:19Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > I think hangry is a useful word that succinctly describes a real thing. Unfortunately, I get hangry now and then\* and even consciously realizing that’s why I’m getting peevish doesn’t help, only actually eating does. 🙂 I agree “hangry” is, or can be, useful that way – but it makes me want to throw up ! I’d have difficulty explaining why – but this is stuff about which we aren’t always rational: we just feel the way we do. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/93 "2016-03-17T21:04:46Z")
‘Revert’ used in place of ‘respond’ or ‘reply’. I get this a lot in emails from buzzwordy people; “I’ll check my calendar and revert back to you” . No you won’t. You’ve never been me. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/94 "2016-03-17T21:50:53Z")
selfie makes me want to barf. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/95 "2016-03-17T22:05:04Z")
Damn, I thought I had a fair knowledge of current buzzwords, being the web monkey that I am. (No clue if that’s something other people say or not, it’s just what sounded right to me at the moment to describe my always-onlineness) But you have taught me much, Dope… as ever… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/96 "2016-03-17T23:50:56Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > “awesome sauce”. > [@Graymalkin](#): > > pushback > [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Game-changer) > [@Sitnam](#): > > Whatever Guy Fieri says. Thank-you…or actually maybe not thank-you.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/97 "2016-03-17T23:58:15Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > “Reach out” I was going to put “reach out” first on my list. Here are some others: “Awesome”. Now as overused as “cool”. “No problem”. This one really pisses me off when used as an alternative for “You’re welcome” “Unbelievable”. Especially when used by sportscasters when describing the kind of outstanding play seen several times a season. I have probably watched about 200-300 college and pro football games lifetime and I would say there has only been one individual play which approached the status of “unbelievable”: David Tyree’s _ne plus ultra_ Helmet Catch in Super Bowl XLII. During the same play from scrimmage QB Eli Manning made a great scramble out of the literal grasp of the defense, but that is an example of what I mean by “the kind of outstanding play seen several times a season”. And I consider Manning’s subsequent pass to be routine for an NFL QB of the first rank (which Manning has certainly proven himself to be). ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/98 "2016-03-18T00:07:05Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > I too detest “hangry”. Also, “stabby”. Ugh ! So, **hangry** makes you **stabby** , and **stabby** makes you **fangry**? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/99 "2016-03-18T00:28:13Z")
How many here admit to using some of these terms? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/100 "2016-03-18T00:49:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > How many here admit to using some of these terms? \ Absolutely! Not the corporate junk, never, that gives me the willies. But a good percentage of the rest have passed my lips at some point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223.md?page=6)