# 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:** 6
**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 18, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/101 "2016-03-18T00:50:33Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > How many here admit to using some of these terms? good question I may have transgressed with “awesome”, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/102 "2016-03-18T00:51:21Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > Iconic. This a million times. Also “awesome.” (I’m lookin’at you, Ming Tsai.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/103 "2016-03-18T00:57:54Z")
> [@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. Well, then maybe I don’t use the phrase in a way that would drive you homicidal. It does carry the connotation of emotional content to me, but not necessarily quite as strong as what you’re describing. I wouldn’t use it in the way you described in your news quote, but it’s also something that wouldn’t necessarily register for me. To me, “reaching out” can include asking for help, a favor, that sort of thing. Like, “I’ll reach out to Mr. Smith and see what I can do.” But the term “to reach out” simply means “an attempt to communicate.” It doesn’t have to be a successful communication, that’s why I find it quite different than the substitute phrases you’ve listed. Like, if I say, “I’ll reach out to Mr. Smith” and he never calls me back, that’s still “reaching out.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/104 "2016-03-18T01:02:22Z")
“No problem” needs to go. Especially if I just thanked someone for something. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/105 "2016-03-18T01:42:17Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And of course, AMAZING. Lately a friend’s e-mail included a comment to the effect of: \* Casual use of “amazing”, “awesome”, “world-changing”, “epochal” for mundane things. I wonder, if some day Jesus comes down or the Aliens land or Cthulhu wakes up, it’ll sound pretty weak describing it in the same terms as you used just yesterday for a late-season sports trade or the newest iPhone.\* ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/106 "2016-03-18T03:11:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > How many here admit to using some of these terms? I’m forced to use “assessment” several times a week, sometimes more often than that. I, too, had to look up “thought leader” – and I, too, thought of Kim Jong . ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/107 "2016-03-18T03:23:01Z")
> [@Nelson\_Pike](#): > > 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. Err, none of those would qualify as “trendy buzzwords”, except maybe in the 1920s? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/108 "2016-03-18T03:25:41Z")
“Slow your roll!” (shudders with anger) And I have never heard or read the word “bae”, not even on facebook. But I expect it’d be something like, Be my Bae Bae, cray-cray. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/109 "2016-03-18T03:45:24Z")
For the corporate side - “Meet and greet”, as in, “Hey, sounds great! Let’s do a meet and greet Wednesday.” Should be swing over, or let’s meet up, or come over and check out our office. Meet and greet should only be used for community centers offering unemployed, alcoholic single buffoons who just came out of house arrest to find a friend. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/110 "2016-03-18T07:21:41Z")
“Dude.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/111 "2016-03-18T07:59:53Z")
I think “hack” is okay when it’s referring to something you do to tree branches with a hand ax. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/112 "2016-03-18T08:14:09Z")
I hate “lean in”. So cringeworthy. ---
**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 18, 2016, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/113 "2016-03-18T08:31:16Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Lately a friend’s e-mail included a comment to the effect of: > \* > Casual use of “amazing”, “awesome”, “world-changing”, “epochal” for mundane things. I wonder, if some day Jesus comes down or the Aliens land or Cthulhu wakes up, it’ll sound pretty weak describing it in the same terms as you used just yesterday for a late-season sports trade or the newest iPhone.\* Louis CK did a whole bit about that. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3li_aZWt-r0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgTihQMA8=&rs=AOn4CLA_qPxyBnblqwrPGcBIg9BkcaMJFQ "Louis C.K. - The Way We Talk (Hilarious)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3li_aZWt-r0) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/114 "2016-03-18T09:19:11Z")
“Fam” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/115 "2016-03-18T12:47:03Z")
Fun fact: everything _during_ the Cold War happened “at the height of the Cold War”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/116 "2016-03-18T13:27:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Fun fact: everything _during_ the Cold War happened “at the height of the Cold War”. So true! I’ve heard this phrase used to describe the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. My contribution: I’m having trouble getting used to “with” without. That is, “with” without an prepositional object: _If you’re not doing anything tonight, why don’t you come with?_. Maybe this is a regionalism (we’re new to the Upper Midwest), but I’m guessing it’s a new thing them whippersnappers like to say. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/117 "2016-03-18T13:34:37Z")
I’ll be darned – “come with” [IS an Upper Midwest regionalism](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/come_with), influenced by German settlers. Okay, kids, you can come back onto my lawn now. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/118 "2016-03-18T13:45:32Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > So true! I’ve heard this phrase used to describe the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. > > My contribution: I’m having trouble getting used to “with” without. That is, “with” without an prepositional object: _If you’re not doing anything tonight, why don’t you come with?_. > > Maybe this is a regionalism (we’re new to the Upper Midwest), but I’m guessing it’s a new thing them whippersnappers like to say. I thought the “come with” was because “come with me” was incorrect grammar? ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/119 "2016-03-18T13:59:55Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Even though it has a use, I hate BOGO! BOGO used to be buy one get one free Using it for anything else is a travesty! > [@Sangahyando](#): > > That one severely annoys me too – for heaven’s sake, use “emoticon” or “smiley”! that started bugging me a few months back…grrr > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Emoticons are made, or can be made with text characters. > > Emojis are small graphic images. There may be a difference but they’ve become inter-changable with Emojis being the replacement for Emoticons/smilies I simply do not like the term “emoji” since it seems to be not only the catch word but make people think it is the official term or even just some techy/nerdy snotty ass replacement term. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223/120 "2016-03-18T14:03:09Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > So true! I’ve heard this phrase used to describe the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Once you’re looking for it, you can even find events in the 1940s described that way. Heck, google _“in 1990, at the height of the Cold War”_ and danged if there isn’t a hit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trendy-buzzwords-that-you-wish-you-could-just-blow-up-into-smithereens/749223.md?page=7)