# Words that have suddenly become very popular **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962 "2020-03-05T13:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/81 "2020-03-09T23:58:57Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Good one. Also, no one gets a pet anymore, they’re all rescued. > > Phrases: “At the end of the day” & “going forward.” > [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, I know plenty of folks who don’t get “rescued” animals but, yes, referring to a dog or cat as “a rescue” does seem to be something I’ve only heard in the last 10-15 years. The phrase that substitutes sometimes for “pet” is “companion animal.” > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Yeah, but “gifted” means something specific. I can gift you a Starbucks card for your birthday, and gave it to you the moment I handed it over. I can give you a pencil in class because you forgot yours, but I in no way gifted it to you. And that distinction is pretty old, it just fell out of use for a while. > Again, it means something specific. You rescue a pet when you literally bring it in off the streets, or when you get it from a shelter, or maybe when you pre-empt someone taking it to a shelter by allowing it to be “re-homed” with you. No one rescues a puppy they have purchased from a breeder for $800. Blind people do not rescue the dogs they get from Seeing Eye, Inc. > > I’m not saying there aren’t people who use the word with a little smugness, but it does mean something more specific than just “getting” a pet. It seems to me that the smugness is the point in referring to “my dog” as “my rescue” or saying “we got a rescue” instead of “we got a dog.” ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/82 "2020-03-10T09:34:05Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > I hate the word “misspoke” > > A weaselly little word that allows people to avoid consequences when they let the wrong shit fall out of their mouths. Thankfully not everyone is obsessed with giving people “consequences”. Try to be a bit more forgiving. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/83 "2020-03-10T12:42:47Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I had a few mock turtleneck shirts in the early 90s. Remember those? I remember, some decades ago, how the turtle dropped out and the shirts were marketed as just “mock neck.” Which sounds _really_ weird. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/84 "2020-03-10T13:04:57Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > No, it hasn’t. You’re just imagining things. I was just about to post the [google trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=gaslighting) showing it has increased when it dawned on me. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/85 "2020-03-10T13:25:03Z")
> [@AlTraina](#): > > Thankfully not everyone is obsessed with giving people “consequences”. Try to be a bit more forgiving. Obsessed with giving people consequences? Wow, what an interesting take away from 2 little sentences. For the record, I have infinitely more respect for people who take ownership of their words and deeds and don’t try to use weaselly little tactics to backtrack and reframe their behavior after they have noticed that others have taken a dim view. As far as I’m concerned “misspoke” is the word most often used today when one is attempting to retcon a verbal fuck up and I hate how readily we all are to accept it’s use. I can forgive people who own up to their mistakes and attempt to make amends but I have a much harder time forgiving people who try to weasel out of their blunders. In my opinion, if a person can’t be bothered to own up to their mistakes or lacks the courage of their convictions then they should just sit down and shut the hell up and stop bothering the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/86 "2020-03-10T13:40:24Z")
Is there any appropriate use of “misspoke” in your view? My guess is that most people misspeak something or other every day and it isn’t worthy of further consequences. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/87 "2020-03-10T14:28:40Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Is there any appropriate use of “misspoke” in your view? > > My guess is that most people misspeak something or other every day and it isn’t worthy of further consequences. I think the complaint is more about “misspoke” being used, perhaps almost euphamistically, to avoid saying “I was wrong” or even “I lied.” Whether it is used more often now for that purpose or not, I don’t know for sure, but I do feel like it is, so I understand **BeagleJesus** ’s distaste for it. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/88 "2020-03-10T15:07:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Is there any appropriate use of “misspoke” in your view? > > My guess is that most people misspeak something or other every day and it isn’t worthy of further consequences. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I think the complaint is more about “misspoke” being used, perhaps almost euphamistically, to avoid saying “I was wrong” or even “I lied.” Whether it is used more often now for that purpose or not, I don’t know for sure, but I do feel like it is, so I understand **BeagleJesus** ’s distaste for it. **Pulykamell** pretty much knocks it out of the park with their answer. If misspoke was used to most frequently to describe something like an unintentional word swap (ex. succeed vs secede…a mistake I made last week) then I would have no problem. Sadly, it seems to be mostly reserved for those occasions when a person wants to avoid taking responsibility for whatever inflammatory comments fell out of their mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/89 "2020-03-10T18:12:34Z")
I feel like “narrative” is being used WAY more than it was 10 years ago. I haven’t tried to verify that that though. Also, “literally” seems to be used more, because apparently it no longer means “literally”. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/90 "2020-03-10T18:56:01Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Also, “literally” seems to be used more, because apparently it no longer means “literally”. Yeah. Now there seem to be a lot of people who think “literally” means “actually” and get really upset about it. (“literally” means “concerning letters or words” - as in “He literally said ‘Stop right there!’” - saying “He was literally the tallest person in the room” is just ridiculous) ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/91 "2020-03-10T19:24:54Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I feel like “narrative” is being used WAY more than it was 10 years ago. I haven’t tried to verify that that though. I’m with you on narrative, especially by the right. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/92 "2020-03-10T19:44:02Z")
“Awesome” as a synonym for cool. That’s been quite some time now though. I bet usage skyrocketed since the 80’s. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/93 "2020-03-10T21:23:22Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I feel like “narrative” is being used WAY more than it was 10 years ago. I haven’t tried to verify that that though. Also, “literally” seems to be used more, because apparently it no longer means “literally”. Among my peers, it was perfectly common as an emphatic even back in the 80s/90s. I don’t really think that it has had any more recent surge in popularity. What has become more popular is people pointing out what “literally” means. (Which grates on me, because of course I know what it literally means when I use it as an intensifier in a colloquial context. I would never use “literally” in that context in an academic setting, but when talking bullshit with my friends? Of course! That’s how we talk and it’s perfectly idiomatic in my dialect.) ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/94 "2020-03-11T23:06:10Z")
> [@KMS94](#): > > I feel like I’ve heard and read the word “toxic” more in the last year or so than i had heard in the previous 50 years. Especially on Reddit. I have to keep reminding myself that Reddit isn’t a representative cross-section of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/95 "2020-03-12T11:08:52Z")
\*\*Wicked \*\* (very). I like Penn Jillette’s podcast but I cringe every time he calls something or someone wicked good or wicked smart. **Closure**. Everybody needs closure all of a sudden. **Verse**. (play against). Kids do this all the time: “Billy versed Jimmy in checkers”. **-porn**. Food porn, house porn, woodworking porn, etc. mmm ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/96 "2020-03-12T12:35:24Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > I happen to speak Gyve. I believe the correct way to say that is “oh stewardess, I speak Gyve”. Grow the economy. I hear that everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/97 "2020-03-12T13:03:47Z")
Anyone else notice the word “coronavirus” suddenly become very popular? I am not sure what they are talking about, but I keep seeing it places. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/98 "2020-03-12T13:39:58Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > **Verse**. (play against). Kids do this all the time: “Billy versed Jimmy in checkers”. Not just kids. I listen to a comic book podcast called _My Marvelous Year_ (a year-by-year examination of Marvel comics). One of the hosts, a grown man with children of his own, regularly says “verse” where I would say “versus”. E.g., “This issue features a Thor verse Hulk fight.” Sounds really weird to me. I don’t think it’s really all that new, but I still blink a bit every time I hear “drop” used to mean “be released to the public,” as in “Taylor Swift’s new album drops this weekend.” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/99 "2020-03-12T13:45:11Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Not just kids. I listen to a comic book podcast called _My Marvelous Year_ (a year-by-year examination of Marvel comics). One of the hosts, a grown man with children of his own, regularly says “verse” where I would say “versus”. E.g., “This issue features a Thor verse Hulk fight.” Sounds really weird to me… I agree, but my example is when “verse” is used as a verb. “I’m going to verse you in backgammon.” mmm ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/100 "2020-03-12T13:50:28Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I agree, but my example is when “verse” is used as a verb. > > “I’m going to verse you in backgammon.” > mmm Okay, that is an interesting distinction. I don’t think I’ve heard that particular usage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962.md?page=6)