I hate the phrases - or rather the misuse of the phrases - state of the art and cutting edge. If it’s in common usage, it’s no longer cutting edge.
Also, the word sac.
Flip-flop
Faculty
I agree with about 98% of the opinions expressed here so far. Although I do use ain’t (sorry malkavia), usually when I’m being sarcastic.
That being said, here are my picks:
I hate the words “try and” as in “I’m going to try and make it on time.”
The correct usage is “try to”. “I’m going to try to make it on time.”
Why is that so hard?
I also hate euphemisms to make something seem more acceptable than it is.
Downsized = fired
Entitlement = government handout
Differently enabled = handicapped
It may make you feel better about firing that one-armed guy and putting him on unemployment, but you can bet he doesn’t feel any better about it.
Oh, and BTW, the plural of person is people, not persons.
I give an involuntary gag when my MIL mentions Wal-Marks when she surely means Wal-Mart. Just one of the many times she’s make me gag. 
I hate the use of the word “athletic” or “instinctive” when describing a pro player, especially if that player’s Black. Duh, how did the player become pro? Even the “fundamental”, “smart” ones have to have some level athleticism and instictive honing to execute the moves quickly. Even David Wells is athletic, though not well-toned.
How about “Relator” (for Realtor)? Why can’t people pronounce the word “Realtor”? It’s not that hard a word.
My co-worker just used it the other day and I had to think about it for a full second or two. I just didn’t understand it (though I should have as it’s a very common blunder). My co-worker is an intelligent college graduate.
The same day said co-worker, who is on a Russell Crowe kick, was telling me about a song he’d written including the phrase “obsequious ingratiates”. Again I had to think about that for a few moments. From the context I divined that he really meant “obsequious ingrates”. “Ingratiates” is a VERB, dammit! “Ingrates” is the noun. Another thread
asked why people get so ticked off about grammar and usage,
and the reason is COMMUNICATION. I’m not talking about things like when to say ‘who’/‘whom’ or whether you should say ‘can’ or ‘may’. I’m talking about when the writing or speech is SO ILLITERATE that it’s hard to make head or tail of it. Sadly, this is an increasing phenomenon.
Thank you, Kirk! The word “fanny” has the same slang meaning here in Australia. The first time I saw the tv show “The Nanny”, I nearly fell out of my arm chair at the line in the theme song (“She was out on her fanny”).
I also agree with Zero Hero who hates ‘of’ instead of ‘have’. I was disgusted to find this error creeping into computer games and newspapers recently. How does ‘of’ make sense? “Could of done it myself”. So, who is Could, and where is Done It Myself?
But, back to the OP, the word I hate most is imminent. Ugh shudder. I also hate “excape”, as I think I’ve mentioned before. There are some UGLY words out there.
Believe it or not, a long time ago ‘Fanny’ was a woman’s name in America. The Marx Brothers’ mother name was Fanny (after immigration and Americanization), and more recently there was the comedian Fanny Bryce. I guess it was the female equivalent of our man’s nickname ‘Randy’. I’ve heard that’s another name that knocks you guys out of your armchairs when used on American TV.
Actually, it’s my grandmother’s name grin. Funny story. Her name is Jean Fanny. She’s always been called Jean, and Fanny has always been her middle name - and she’s always hated it! When she was 60, she had to get a copy of her birth certificate for something, and that was when she discovered that her birth name was Fanny Jean. Well! She was mortified!! And so I’ve never been short of material for teasing her with ever since
She was named for her grandmother, but I looked up the name on the statistics page once, and I have a feeling there were only three girls born in my state between 1929 and 2000 with the name Fanny, and all were born before 1950.
Okay, I’ll probably attract some flames for this, but what’s wrong with “irregardless”?
I am bothered by the word “orientated” as well. I’ve been hearing it quite a bit on NPR lately. I thought it wasn’t a word but I looked it up in Websters and there it was! It still really bothers me every time I here it.
I am also bothered by the word “striped” when it is pronounced as a two syllable word. I realize that this is an excepted alternate pronunciation but it drives me crazy.
Certificated, hands down.
Especially when applied to credentialed teachers.
Actually just about every piece of educrat jargon ever invented makes me want to yurgle.
The phrase “in excess of.” The word is “over.”
I can’t stand any ethnic slurs or even using any word to describe a person unless it’s relevant to the situation.
Someone recently referred to a person as a “black, overweight, middle-aged woman.” WHY?
Pro-abortion, unless you are talking about the Chinese government. Everyone is anti-abortion; some of us are
pro-choice.
According to Merriam-Webster, irregardless is nonstandard English. To quote briefly from their 10th Collegiate Dictionary:
Doable – as in “fixing your car is doable.” This seems to be dropping in popularity, though.
Bitch – in referring to a woman; this seems to be getting more common and more acceptable.
Bitchslap – I don’t know what that means, or why it’s so popular, but it doesn’t look good.
AOL Canada – is this a lame attempt at regionalization, or a hint at plans of future world domination? On second thought, don’t answer that.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by screech-owl *
**
Oh, yes, I forgot about the dreaded fanny pack! When holidaying in the US, I carried a big, heavy rucksack with me everywhere I went. When the young lady at the hotel reception told me that I ought to get myself a fanny pack, I honestly thought she was talking about sanitary towels. When she saw the horrified look on my face, she realised what I was thinking and screamed with laughter while my SO whispered the British translation in my ear 
**
“Call” would be inadequate if you are listing more than one medium of communication. There is nothing the matter with “contact” if it is followed by, say, a phone AND a fax number, AND a mailing address, AND a civic address, AND an email address.
I’m not fond of “impacted” as a transitive verb.
I thought it was a neologism, but it’s very old, used that way.
Still, it sounds wrong to my ear.