# 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:** 4
**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 7, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/61 "2024-09-07T21:46:11Z")
Maybe that’s regional, but it was pretty commonplace here in the mid Atlantic. “Let’s table that. This meeting is not for solutioning.” And, yeah, already a perfectly fine, and shorter, word available. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/62 "2024-09-07T21:47:34Z")
@Peter_Morris LOL! I have not heard upskill yet. Or maybe I blocked it out at some point. ---
**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, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/63 "2024-09-07T22:15:57Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > > [@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. Agree w your first example. I’d use “annotate” in your second example, rather than “notate”. Though the more I think about it the more I wonder if I’m not the confused one here. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > Are you opposed to the word notate entirely, or just outside of music? I notate songs and parts for musical instruments quite often. For sheet music, it’s fine. As above I’m now not as confident as I was this morning of whatever my position is. 😉 Thanks to both of you for pushing back a little. Or as a HS teacher of mine was fond of saying: “Hmm. I was sure until you asked me.” ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/64 "2024-09-08T12:53:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’d use “annotate” in your second example, rather than “notate”. As a matter of fact, so would I. But I don’t think that “notate” would strike me as entirely unacceptable. I would not consider either word, notate or annotate, to be interchangeable with “note.” ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/65 "2024-09-08T13:54:12Z")
I work in the museum industry. “Signage” is the accepted term for signs. Why can’t we call them signs? ---
**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 8, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/66 "2024-09-08T14:31:23Z")
One goose, two geese. One sign, two signages. 😉 ---
**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 9, 2024, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/67 "2024-09-09T12:44:35Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I had to look that up, didn’t know that Lewis Carroll coined it. But nice one. “Burbled” and “Galomphed”, too, from the same source. ---
**Author:** ![Jebbilene](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jebbilene/32/3414_2.png) [@Jebbilene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jebbilene)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/68 "2024-09-10T01:22:26Z")
I think you can probably ‘solution’ a problem (discuss possible solutions) without coming anywhere near solving it . ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/69 "2024-09-10T15:06:47Z")
“Pleaded”. I almost always only heard “pled” back when. Apparently “pleaded” sounds more posh. No it doesn’t, it sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/70 "2024-09-10T15:18:05Z")
This may be a local thing, but I’m sick and tired of people using “normative” when they mean “normal”. ---
**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 11, 2024, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/71 "2024-09-11T04:51:03Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > “Pleaded”. I almost always only heard “pled” back when. Apparently “pleaded” sounds more posh. - > > No it doesn’t, it sounds stupid. Pleaded is more commonly used, and is what hear in legal settings more often. Pled sounds very wrong to my ears. Grammarly: > But the bottom line is that pleaded is the commonly recognized past tense of plead, and pled is the form that can sometimes be used instead of it Merriam Webster: > In legal use (such as “pleaded guilty,” “pled guilty”), both forms are standard, though pleaded is used with greater frequency. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2024, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/72 "2024-09-11T12:59:44Z")
I’m more used to “pled” historically myself, but over the last decade or so my ears have gotten used to “pleaded.” “Sortation” is a weird one to me. I just learned it a month ago when I passed by a Target sortation facility. What’s the difference between that and “sorting facility”? ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/73 "2024-09-11T13:04:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What’s the difference between that and “sorting facility”? I dunno, but if there’s anything that _Schoolhouse Rock!_ taught me, it’s that it should be “sortation station” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/74 "2024-09-12T06:42:56Z")
My understanding is that sortation is specifically _automated_ sorting, so a place that has lots of machines that automatically process paper multiple choice forms etc. ---
**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 12, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/75 "2024-09-12T12:31:46Z")
I saw one yesterday that will probably set some Dopers’ teeth on edge. I’m wandering through a trendy outdoor shopping area: boutiques with pretty women’s clothes, cafés, eateries, etc. I pass a bakery / coffee place with the usual assortment of amazing elaborate dessert pastries, filled croissants, etc., in the window, a big espresso machine behind the counter, a bunch of 2-top tables inside and out, etc. You get the picture. Out front is a sign calling for you to come in and buy: > Brunch, Coffee, and Bakes Yup ladies & gents, fancy croissants & tarts & whatnot are now “bakes”. Uggh. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/76 "2024-09-12T15:55:53Z")
Not quite what the OP had in mind, but my word is _“beloved”_, which SFGate uses to describe just about any restaruant/market/theater/park/street/performer/tourist trap in teaser headlines. It’s a rare day when the word doesn’t show up on the website’s main page. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/77 "2024-09-12T16:10:52Z")
Recall the unnecessary wordplay that are now long gone. Tacked-on intensifiers: “-errific,” “o-rama,” “-wise” Pretentious neologisms have replaced the old method of enhancing common nouns with elaborate adjectives: _piping-hot_ coffee, _mouth-watering_ pies. In the era of globalization and homogenized monoculture, “world class” isn’t such a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/78 "2024-09-12T16:13:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I ran across “gratefulness” recently, finding it less euphonious than “gratitude”. That’s the traditional bias in Modern English against Anglo-Saxon suffixes. We prefer Latin suffixes like [“-itude”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-itude#English) over indigenous suffixes like [“-ful”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ful#English) and [“-ness”](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ness#English). ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/79 "2024-09-13T22:30:24Z")
I’ve always hated “wellness”, “gift” (as a verb), and “price point”. And today on a radio call-in show about different personality types in relationships, I heard the word “situationship”. WTF??? ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-imposed-on-us-which-we-do-not-need/1006707/80 "2024-09-14T23:28:31Z")
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