# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/41 "2024-09-07T12:54:53Z")
I don’t know, made-up words from fiction that make it into regular use have some charm for me. Just like “cromulent”, which I use all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/42 "2024-09-07T13:29:25Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > …made-up words from fiction that make it into regular use have some charm for me… They make you chortle? My contribution? I get unreasonably annoyed at the modern trend to add pointless adjectives thus: Deep Fake (or as we used to call it, Fake) Wild Swimming (or as we used to call it, Swimming) …and so on. j ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/43 "2024-09-07T13:43:58Z")
A “deepfake” has a very specific meaning that is not the same as “fake.” ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/44 "2024-09-07T13:47:54Z")
It may do, but in my experience that is not how it is commonly used. j ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/45 "2024-09-07T13:52:43Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > They make you chortle? I had to look that up, didn’t know that Lewis Carroll coined it. But nice one. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/46 "2024-09-07T14:01:43Z")
I have only heard it used in the context of AI being used to digitally put someone’s face onto a different person’s body in a video. How else do you claim it is commonly used? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/47 "2024-09-07T14:04:23Z")
I hear it just as a synonym of fake. j ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/48 "2024-09-07T14:05:16Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > “Let’s solution the problem.” Never heard that one and it’s especially dumb, seeing as how “Solve the problem” is shorter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/49 "2024-09-07T14:55:17Z")
When the goal is pomposity and fake erudition, brevity is a fault not a virtue. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/50 "2024-09-07T14:58:10Z")
Well played, sir! ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/51 "2024-09-07T15:11:08Z")
When I hear the “word” webinar I want to punch somebody. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/52 "2024-09-07T15:32:46Z")
When the twenty-thousand foot ask of our actionable Key Performance Indicator is otiose grandiloquence, the relentless innovative pursuit as a center of excellence necessarily comprises xtreme (sic) syllabic surfeit while eschewing all efforts to communicative clarity and concision. So there, neener! 😁 😜 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/53 "2024-09-07T15:38:29Z")
Have you thought to post your complaint to your blog? I predict lots of upvotes, likes, and +1s. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/54 "2024-09-07T15:53:37Z")
In Italian, _utilizzare_ has completely taken over from _usare_. I still translate it into English as simply “use.” ETA: By analogy with French _outil_ ‘tool’, that might imply that the one accurate sense of “utilize” is ‘adapt into a tool (something that was not originally a tool)’. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/55 "2024-09-07T15:56:57Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > A crime against grammar! No! They crimed against grammar. You need to grammar better. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/56 "2024-09-07T16:08:04Z")
I need words like “gifted,” “loaned,” “usage,” and “favorited,” all the words noted above, because they help me to mark various speakers as pretentious, or poorly educated (trying to pretend otherwise), or phonies, or other words beginning with “p” that would be impolite for me to say. All this stuff–“you may be seated between he and I,” “might I imply that your true meaning is…”–are my shortcuts to evaluating (silently) others’ eloquence and lack thereof. As noted in another thread I started on the subject of eloquent speakers, the ability to get this stuff right (almost) every time out of the box is a great shorthand guide to speakers’ ability to articulate their thoughts. I love it. Gift away! Loan me things freely! Favorite anything you want to! (I wonder if “favor” is the verb we’re seeking here? Maybe not.) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/57 "2024-09-07T16:15:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Notate? Totally illiterate. Are you opposed to the word notate entirely, or just outside of music? I notate songs and parts for musical instruments quite often. ---
**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 7, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/58 "2024-09-07T20:48:33Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > I had a training once Be grateful. At least you didn’t have an upskilling. ---
**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 7, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/59 "2024-09-07T20:57:53Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > When I hear the “word” webinar I want to punch somebody I prefer it to “web seminar” or “online seminar”, but it’s a silly-sounding word when you say it aloud. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/60 "2024-09-07T21:00:09Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I’m routinely annoyed when people tell me that will “notate” a file, when you can “note” the file just as easily. To me those mean two completely different things. To “note” a file is to take notice of it. To “notate” a file would be to add notations to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707.md?page=4)