Words imposed on us which we do not need

I’m a long-time looker-upper of “this” vs “that,” “gift vs present,” “shame vs guilt,” etc.

“Obligated” is compulsory, “Obliged” is moral. Though they are often used interchangeably.

Disfranchised still implies removing something. They are afranchised or non-franchised.

“Favorite” as a verb has been around for quite a while in the app space.

Language evolves; if “favorited” freaks you out, wait until you work with a team from India. There’s a whole sub-dialect of Indian English, with things like “I will revert tomorrow” meaning “respond tomorrow” and the like. Quite interesting. And who’s to say?

I tend to be a prescriptivist (a word my browser spellcheck doesn’t like, though it’s well established in linguistics) but do recognize that usage changes over time.

The overly jargonized versions are irritating and not particularly useful. Last year I was whingeing about something at work to my wife and she asked me what I was going to do about it. “I will proactively socialize it with leadership”, I replied. She gave me The Look and I translated: “I’m’a tell my boss”. (Yes, I was trying to be funny–I’m not that far gone! Yet.)

No lie, I had to read the OP twice before I figured out that wasn’t his complaint.

Absolutely nothin’ wrong with verbing nouns. We do it all the time in English.

And of course that means descriptivist likewise wasn’t recognized by my spellchecker until I beat it into my dictionary. Far less common words are known so the lack of the pair is odd.

There’s a commercial for some kind of “spend management software” that airs on MSNBC on my way to work, and they keep saying “spend” when “spending” will do just fine. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Also common: “ad spend”, for example. This one feels like a perfect/imperfect thing, though I can’t prove that.

I’m willing to acknowledge that there are valid reasons for using it on social media. It’s when I see it in meatspace that I get annoyed, as MoPop in Seattle recently did in their Kurt Cobain exhibit;

Omg. I cannot unsee that and my eyeballs are upset.

Yes. The framing is bad, the lighting is terrible, it’s nowhere close to level, and there’s keystoning in both dimensions.

The photographer should be shunned. :wink:

ETA: I now see you aren’t replying to the post just above yours. My point stands nevertheless.

Sportscasters have been using it for years, but “Physicality” just sounds wrong (spellcheck don’t like it either). When did this become a word?

The OED says in either 1827 (for “the fact, state, or condition of being physical”) or 1844 (for “a bodily function or experience, or the quality of being physically demanding; physical intensity; strong physical presence or appeal”).

I’m routinely annoyed when people tell me that will “notate” a file, when you can “note” the file just as easily.

Unfortunately I have encountered “unalived” in formal case notes written by younger staff where I work.

Maybe once they’re done conversating or commentating.

I’m still irritated by the old Kinko’s/FedEx merger and the slogan “A new way to office”.

Or annotate it. Notate? Totally illiterate.

Thankfully, “I can’t adult today” seems to be dying/dead.

I still get riled up when someone wants to “unpack” something at work.
Unpack meaning,“Let’s pull apart this situation/concept and see what we come up with.”

I had a training once that was titled Unpacking the No.

Not as common as it was a couple years ago but it still surfaces occasionally.

“Grok.” Nine times out of ten, you could have just said “understand.”