# Words that you can't bear to hear used in certain contexts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486 "2005-11-10T23:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/61 "2005-11-14T12:54:57Z")
add an ‘e’ to relection, please. ---
**Author:** ![Otanabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Otanabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otanabi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/62 "2005-11-14T13:14:45Z")
_Functionality_, when \*function \* will suffice. “This upgrade has a new functionality for entering the data.” I also cringe when I hear centimeter pronounced “saun-timeter.” Do people think these words make the message more impressive? ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/63 "2005-11-14T13:45:58Z")
People using **refute** when they mean **deny**. An annoying habit of UK politicians. (I gather some dictionaries list them as synonyms. They are _wrong_.) **Leverage** being used as a verb. Generally in the place of **use**. The proper meaning of leverage should be demonstrated to offenders, perhaps with pliers or maybe a trebuchet. **Story arc**. Gives me a facial tic. Okay, so maybe it’s a variant on **storyline** , but an arc is a boring, predictable, non-branching line! If you really want a new word, **plot path** would be better. Paths meander and branch, and take unexpected turns. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/64 "2005-11-14T14:38:53Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > “Product,” as in “She’s using a lot of product in her hair these days.” I’m not sure why it irritates me, but it does. I hate listening to developers refer to houses, businesses and other buildings as product. “We plan to put our product in this portion of the planned parcel.” Although it would be sort of cool lif they used that much alliteration in meetings. One of the reasons they use that term seems to be an inherent fear of commitment. It’s like they’re afraid that if they say “we’re putting the houses over here” in an informal meeting that they will be held to it. But some of them seem to do it out of a desire to be trendy with the corporate speech. Usually those folks are the ones at the margin of the meeting while the power players make the real decisions, making it especially annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/65 "2005-11-14T14:41:06Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > That’s funny because [Webster](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/quality) seems to disagree. These dictionaries [must](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quality) [be](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=quality) [wrong](http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/q/q0013000.html) too. Dictionaries are not grammar textbooks. They simply reflect popular usage, whether it’s right or wrong. Anyway, your last three examples are the exact same definition, word for word, so I wouldn’t count them as examples if you’re going for numbers. And did you notice that the definition of “quality” in question is practically a footnote? Seems to be a recent addition indicating that this is how the masses are using the word currently. And I didn’t see anything at all in the first example to support it. Can you point it out if I’m missing it? ---
**Author:** ![ms.deanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@ms.deanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ms.deanna)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/66 "2005-11-14T19:28:41Z")
Excessive use of the word “actually” is very annoying to me. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/67 "2005-11-14T23:23:13Z")
My pet peeve is ‘workshop’. First of all, I hate hearing this used as a verb. ‘Let’s get round the table and workshop some strategies’. No. Let’s first of all learn to talk correctly. Let’s first of all learn to use words like ‘develop’, ‘discuss’ and ‘devise’. Secondly, even when ‘workshop’ is used as a noun, I only find it acceptable if you are referring to an actual workshop, where, for example, skilled craftsmen or women make useful and beautiful things with wood or metal. This is hard work, often involving both serious physical effort, fine judgement and delicacy of touch. I hate it when ‘workshop’ is instead used to refer to things such as a bunch of talentless, workshy, pretentious, molly-coddled so-called ‘actors’ reading one paragraph of ‘text’ in different ways to kill an hour or two. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/68 "2005-11-15T00:01:11Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > I hate it when ‘workshop’ is instead used to refer to things such as a bunch of talentless, workshy, pretentious, molly-coddled so-called ‘actors’ reading one paragraph of ‘text’ in different ways to kill an hour or two. I wouldn’t see value for myself, personally, in a bunch of magicians sitting around shooting the breeze and doing card tricks for an hour, but I wouldn’t **insult** magicians who did so. Why loose your venom on actors? I can understand your aversion to the **word** when there are perfectly good alternatives: _seminar, class, round table, discussion_. I’m not sure why you felt it necessary to insult the participants unless the insults are essential to your context of disliking the word. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/69 "2005-11-15T00:11:54Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > My pet peeve is ‘workshop’. > > First of all, I hate hearing this used as a verb. ‘Let’s get round the table and workshop some strategies’. No. Let’s first of all learn to talk correctly. Let’s first of all learn to use words like ‘develop’, ‘discuss’ and ‘devise’. > > Secondly, even when ‘workshop’ is used as a noun, I only find it acceptable if you are referring to an actual workshop, where, for example, skilled craftsmen or women make useful and beautiful things with wood or metal. This is hard work, often involving both serious physical effort, fine judgement and delicacy of touch. I hate it when ‘workshop’ is instead used to refer to things such as a bunch of talentless, workshy, pretentious, molly-coddled so-called ‘actors’ reading one paragraph of ‘text’ in different ways to kill an hour or two. When I was 6, I boycotted Sesame Street, because I thought that the Children’s Television Workshop was where they forced little kids to fix TV all day. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/70 "2005-11-15T02:07:47Z")
> [@](#): > > posted by \*\*E = mc² \*\* > _I have no problems with engineer and architect used in the contexts you mentioned,ArchitectureChore_ No problem. You posted the definitions including the contexts that annoy me. However, I did not deny that these terms in the contexts in question violated rules of proper English. > [@](#): > > _I would suggest, however, that you look before you lip, because according to Webster_… Here, ‘lip’ is used as a verb. Might annoy me a little, but, once again, I do not deny that it can be used in that context. I will correct myself to the extent that I should not have said: “[Irregarless] does not even deserve to be mentioned in this thread.” My _Webster’s New World Dictionary_ identifies ‘irregardless’ as a colloquial used in non-standard English. [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) lists ‘irregardless’ also as a “word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing.” Suffice it to say that ‘irregardless’ is a colloquial **word** , and that it should irritate the piss out of a normal person to hear or see it in a **formal** context. Perhaps, we are in agreement, **E = mc²**? ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/71 "2005-11-15T02:12:20Z")
> [@](#): > > posted by me > _However, I did not deny that these terms in the contexts in question violated rules of proper English._ :smack: This should say: However, I did not deny that these terms in the contexts in question **followed** rules of proper English. AC ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/72 "2005-11-15T02:38:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Posted by **E = mc²** > _Surely a molecule has architecture_ True. Please, allow me clarify my point… > [@](#): > > posted by **matt\_mcl** > \*“Utilize” or “utilization.” > > Fucking use!\* \*Utilize \* is a word, but it suffices (and is preferable for me and many others) to say _use_. **matt\_mcl** seems to agree. Likewise, a molecule has architecture. **In my humble opinion** , it is more appropriate to say: a molecule has [a certain type of] structure. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/73 "2005-11-15T17:56:42Z")
Oh, here’s another one: “close proximity.” PROXIMITY MEANS CLOSENESS. You cannot have “far proximity.” That would be “distance.” Just say “proximity” – or, better yet, replace the phrase “in close proximity” with just “close” or “closely.” Please. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/74 "2005-11-15T18:56:32Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Oh, here’s another one: “close proximity.” > > PROXIMITY MEANS CLOSENESS. You cannot have “far proximity.” That would be “distance.” > > Just say “proximity” – or, better yet, replace the phrase “in close proximity” with just “close” or “closely.” Please. Oh, yes. Kinda like “approximately about.” :rolleyes: I hate hearing that one, too. Makes me want to say, “You’re being redundantly repetitious” but I don’t think they’d get it. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/75 "2005-11-15T19:35:18Z")
Someone I know very well has the annoying habit of always (no hyperbole here) using the word “individual” instead of “person.” It irks me. Another person I know always (again, no hyperbole) uses the word “whenever” when the appropriate word for the situation would be simply “when.” Example: “Whenever I went to visit my mom Tuesday…” I know quite a few people who mispronounce a lot of words. I wonder if it’s a regional matter, or if I’m just pickier about pronunciation. Probably both. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/76 "2005-11-15T20:29:16Z")
Office-speak gets to me in general. Myleast favorite (currently) is “capacity”, used to describe how much more a person can do per day. “You need to see if Gary has more capacity.” -Ugh. I also don’t like “transition” as a office-verb. Sounds stupid. Also, the word “calendar” used as a verb. “Let’s calendar some time for our call.”. -Cem ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/77 "2005-11-15T21:00:22Z")
I also hate it when teachers refer to class notes as a “pack”. I had a teacher in college who always refered to any notes that she gave out as a pack, no matter if they were composed of a single sheet or twenty. “Don’t forget to pick up a pack on the way out!” Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/78 "2005-11-15T21:39:35Z")
Couple of things, which I’ve mentioned elsewhere, but I think bear repeating here. “Temblor”. Yes, I know that California was settled by the Spanish, and was owned by them and then by the Mexicans, but when you say “temblor” for “earthquake” or “aftershock” I know that you are a talking-head news announcer using words that nobody actually uses in everyday life. “Moveable feast”; I see this used to mean that a book or film is just wonderful. But “moveable feast” is just a holiday with a variable date. The end of Ramadan is a moveable feast. Hannakuh and Easter are moveable feasts. There’s nothing there to imply that a thing is unbelievably wonderful, which is how the phrase is used by critics. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/79 "2005-11-15T22:30:44Z")
Temperature. “Doctor, my son is running a temperature.” Well, duh! He’d better be! What you mean is _fever_. ---
**Author:** ![sniperfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@sniperfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sniperfang)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486/80 "2005-11-16T05:00:15Z")
1. Value-added / value-add (verb) / add value Rating: :mad: :mad: 2. Paradigm shift Rating: :mad: :mad: :mad: 3. Arbid (where I’m from, its used as a truncated and ‘cool’ way to say ‘Arbitrary’. WTF?? Cool? This isnt even a word, you mindless morons! Rating: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: In general, ‘verbing’ words pisses the shit out me (Yes, I’m aware of the multiple ironies within that statement), and nowhere does this dastardly process occur more than in the workplace. In fact, it seems to me like the average Office functions like some deserted atoll in the Pacific or a Desert in the middle of nowhere - perfectly good nouns are taken there by people who should know better and detonated into oblivion, leaving people to deal with the devastating idiomatic and syntactic fallout. The resultant fallout causes perfectly good nouns to undergo an unholy mutation, and become things that have no place in nature. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-cant-bear-to-hear-used-in-certain-contexts/330486.md?page=5)