# Words imposed on us which we do not need **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707 "2024-09-03T23:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/1 "2024-09-03T23:25:56Z")
There has been an upgrade of Office365 at work and whilst blundering around trying to refamiliarise myself I notice: > [@](#): > > **Favourites** > After you’ve favourited some files, we’ll show them here favourited??? Really!!! Somebody way above my pay grade thought that was a technical term the English language was lacking? What’s next? Newly created files to be grouped under “Recented” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/2 "2024-09-03T23:29:12Z")
They verbed a noun/adjective! There’s a long, proud tradition of verbing nouns and nouning verbs in the business world. “What’s the ask?” “Let’s solution the problem.” A crime against grammar! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/3 "2024-09-03T23:32:19Z")
How would you have phrased it? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/4 "2024-09-03T23:38:02Z")
After you’ve marked some files as favorites… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/5 "2024-09-03T23:44:42Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > favourited??? Really!!! I know, right? There’s an extra “u” in there! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/6 "2024-09-04T00:04:11Z")
I had a boss that repeatedly used the non-word “orientationated” when he meant “oriented” (or in British English, “orientated”). I guess he got a volume discount on vowels. It bugs the shit out of me when people use the term “utilized” when they really mean “used”. I’ve tried to explain a few times that “utilized” has a specific technical meaning, but it has unfortunately fallen in popular parlance to be a synonym for “use”. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/7 "2024-09-04T00:23:38Z")
I haven’t come across “favourited” before, but there is an abominable and growing artificial dialect of English that I call “computerese” which is almost as objectionable as biz-speak. Biz-speak is worse because almost all of it is completely unnecessary and is basically just self-aggrandizing pomposity. Computerese is annoying but at least some of the words serve some nominal purpose (though certainly not “favourited”). But we do live in a world where a laptop is no longer just the top of your lap, where tweeting is no longer something that only birds do, and where “like” is now both an active verb (“please like my tweet”) as well as both a noun and a meaningless adverb (“I got, like, two dozen likes on Xitter”). . ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/8 "2024-09-04T00:50:30Z")
I ran across “gratefulness” recently, finding it less euphonious than “gratitude”. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/9 "2024-09-04T00:57:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How would you have phrased it? **Favourites:** Files you have marked as favourite will appear here. Or what @Railer13 said. To stretch the indignation, in OneDrive there is > [@](#): > > **Favorite** > Items you favorite will show up here ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/10 "2024-09-04T00:59:51Z")
I’m still coming to terms with “gift” as a verb. “Favorite” is going to have to wait in line. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/11 "2024-09-04T01:16:18Z")
So allegedly the term “unalived” has entered the vernacular amongst the youth. The term originating among content creators on YouTube, tiktok, etc. where the algorithm will penalize your content if you use words like “die” or “kill”. Though it has to be said I’ve only encountered it in the context of posts saying stuff like “look at this dumb term the idiot kids are using” not actually being used unironically ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/12 "2024-09-04T01:23:15Z")
“Disenfranchise” has been bothering me ever since the 2000 election. The word is disfranchise. You wouldn’t call a handicapped person “disenabled”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/13 "2024-09-04T01:35:36Z")
The dictionary [disagrees with you](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Disenfranchise), and that formation has been in use for about 400 years. [Disfranchise](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Disfranchise) is also correct, but the dictionary says it is a less common variant, although it is older. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/14 "2024-09-04T02:02:40Z")
Would have thought: Disenfranchise removes the right to vote from somebody who was enfranchised People who have never been allowed to vote are disfranchised. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/15 "2024-09-04T02:16:17Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I know, right? There’s an extra “u” in there! My exact thought. How much longer must we suffer through this attack on coinages by the everyday speakers of the English language - the only ones who in toto decide what the language is? Yes, in the olden days - which were scummy at best and rancid in most forms - elite writers of the language were the only ones noted and the only ones whose opinions counted. They invented idiocies like the prohibition on ending a sentence with a preposition or splitting an infinitive. Those are the people we’re supposed to emulate? The opinions of the elites no longer count. Get used to it. The trend only started before you were born so you’re a bit slow if you don’t recognize its power, not to mention ubiquity. You don’t have to use any of the nouned verbs or verbed nouns if you prefer not to, although you probably do so many times a day without realizing it since English is rife with examples that are hundreds of years old and totally accepted by even the most pure purists. Does that make you hypocritical? Only if you condemn others for their usage. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/16 "2024-09-04T14:56:47Z")
I’d just about guarantee it’s a neologism meant to signify that you’ve indicated that the files in their system are “favorites”. Usually what gets me isn’t stuff like that, it’s when words that have specific meanings are co-opted by some sort of business-speak or something like that, and replace other words with perfectly good meanings. For example, one of the “in” things right now is to talk about the “ask” from the business(or whoever). _Request_ is the proper word- ask is a verb, not a noun. Or the hoary old use of “leverage” as a verb, as opposed to the more common noun usage. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/17 "2024-09-04T18:11:43Z")
I’m not happy with _surveilled_. If you want to say you put the subjects under surveillance, then just say it that way. Otherwise, say “watched”. An, for obvious reasons, talking about “the optics” of a situation makes me want to punch your eyes out. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/18 "2024-09-04T18:17:10Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > What’s next? Newly created files to be grouped under “Recented” I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one before. Or should I say that I’ve ocularized it? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/19 "2024-09-04T19:24:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one before. Or should I say that I’ve ocularized it? I think you mean that you’ve become _acclamented_ to it. Just ask Trump. > **[Stephen Colbert Taunts 'Demented' Trump With Scathing Definition For His...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stephen-colbert-trump-speech_n_66d7f20ce4b0688475d8e199/amp)** > > The "Late Show" host mocked the former president for yet another botched line during a speech. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/20 "2024-09-04T19:35:34Z")
‘Obligated’ seems an unnecessary, longer version of ‘obliged’, unless I’ve missed some difference in their meaning. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707.md?page=2)