# Words you hate and why **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709 "2005-12-15T09:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/1 "2005-12-15T09:49:48Z")
For me, there are mainly two. One of them is “utilize”. What an utterly useless word. It isn’t just a synonym of “use”. A synonym can have a nuanced difference in connotation — like “cheap” and “inexpensive”. Utilize is a direct substitute term for use, and as such is completly crap. It has three times as many syllables, and is a hundred times more pretentious. It is an office-speak term used in boardrooms. I hate it. But even worse is […grating teeth…] “prolly”. Ugh. Fingernails on a blackboard, that one is for me. Something about it just evokes stupidity. It is as though a person is guarding against drooling onto his chin by making sure his jaw doesn’t ejaculate any sputum by actually, you know… moving. It is a word that, ordinarilly, three-year-olds have already abandoned. “Prob’ly” doesn’t bother me, but when I hear (or see written) “prolly”, the person becomes in my mind an old woman’s yappy little bastard Chihuahua — an object intended by God and nature to be slapped. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/2 "2005-12-15T12:43:36Z")
Flaccid. Jeepers, but I hate this word. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/3 "2005-12-15T12:59:08Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > For me, there are mainly two. > > One of them is “utilize”. What an utterly useless word. It isn’t just a synonym of “use”. A synonym can have a nuanced difference in connotation — like “cheap” and “inexpensive”. Utilize is a direct substitute term for use, and as such is completly crap. It has three times as many syllables, and is a hundred times more pretentious. It is an office-speak term used in boardrooms. I hate it. It’s worse. Now the people who used to say “utilize” say “leverage.” And mean it as a precise synonym for “use.” GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/4 "2005-12-15T13:00:56Z")
It’s more of an expression, but: per se. People use this ALL THE FREAKIN TIME. And then they use it in their emails and spell it per SAY. Urgh. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/5 "2005-12-15T13:24:36Z")
I have always hated the word **Slacks**. My mother used this word in the 70’s and 80’s for pants. UURRRGHH!!! I hated it with a passion then and still do today! ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/6 "2005-12-15T14:32:51Z")
Drawer. It’s hard to say and sounds ugly when you do. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/7 "2005-12-15T14:43:23Z")
> [@Oy!](#): > > It’s worse. Now the people who used to say “utilize” say “leverage.” And mean it as a precise synonym for “use.” GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Oh, holy cow. It must have morphed over from its (mis)use as “appropriate” (the verb). ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/8 "2005-12-15T14:45:07Z")
“Apologist”. This is the worst of the worst debating weasel words, IMHO. If you are an opponent of something/someone political, then fine. At least have the grace to label the opposition as “supporters” even if you disagree with them. Once you say “apologist” though, it’s a cheap shot, giving the other side a taint of evil they don’t necessarily deserve - it just smugly _assumes_ you’re right, because OF COURSE you are. I really hate that word. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/9 "2005-12-15T14:48:52Z")
And more in the spirit of the OP, I’ll have to say I hate any of those corporate buzzwords. Where I work, we don’t “see how it works out”, oh no. We “dimension the impacts”. Bollocks. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/10 "2005-12-15T14:51:36Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > “Apologist”. > > This is the worst of the worst debating weasel words, IMHO. > > If you are an opponent of something/someone political, then fine. At least have the grace to label the opposition as “supporters” even if you disagree with them. Once you say “apologist” though, it’s a cheap shot, giving the other side a taint of evil they don’t necessarily deserve - it just smugly _assumes_ you’re right, because OF COURSE you are. > > I really hate that word. But why? There are no evil connotations to the word. It’s actually a better word than supporter or defender in certain situations. Saying that St. Augustine was an apologist for the early Christian church is hardly a cheap shot. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/11 "2005-12-15T14:59:42Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > But why? There are no evil connotations to the word. It’s actually a better word than supporter or defender in certain situations. Saying that St. Augustine was an apologist for the early Christian church is hardly a cheap shot. Obviously so. But it’s all context, isn’t it? Not having done so, I’d wager searching “apologist” in the Pit would bear out what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/12 "2005-12-15T15:13:05Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > But it’s all context, isn’t it? True enough. (I can’t be bothered to do a search, either. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/13 "2005-12-15T15:21:47Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > But why? There are no evil connotations to the word. It’s actually a better word than supporter or defender in certain situations. Saying that St. Augustine was an apologist for the early Christian church is hardly a cheap shot. So are you being an apologist for “apologist?” ---
**Author:** ![homeskillet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@homeskillet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homeskillet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/14 "2005-12-15T15:57:13Z")
**Normalcy** used to really bug me! I mean, what happened to **normality**?? And these days **truism** gets my goat. I have to agree with Phlosphr I never liked **slacks** either, too reminicant of polyester pleated madness! And corporatese? EGAD! I had a review once that said something like: “_Proactively isolates critical value added tasks_” I guess my manager meant to say I don’t waste my time with pointless BS but I guess that’s not as poetic. ---
**Author:** ![quadruple\_u](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c89c15/32.png) [@quadruple\_u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quadruple_u)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/15 "2005-12-15T16:11:35Z")
nonplussed Everytime I see it, I have to go look it up again. Honestly, have any of you ever heard ‘nonplussed’ used in a face-to-face conversation? untracked Not when its used properly, as in ‘untracked wilderness’, but when a sportscaster says “So-and-so has to get himself untracked”, its like my own personal Vogon poetry. Don’t you mean “on track”, there, genius? ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/16 "2005-12-15T16:30:40Z")
> [@quadruple\_u](#): > > Everytime I see it, I have to go look it up again. Honestly, have any of you ever heard ‘nonplussed’ used in a face-to-face conversation? I think so, yes. My own ones. Perhaps more likely to be heard in Britain or Ireland. **Bubbly** as applied to character, usually of a young woman. “She’s so bubbly” usually seems mean something like “we think she’s not very bright and chatters on mindlessly but we are desperately trying to say something nice about her”. Not a “compliment” I would ever want to hear applied to myself. **Pop.** Not the music type but the verb roughly meaning “put” but in an annoyingly chirpy “women’s afternoon program” TV presenter kind of way. Example: “Just pop it in the oven.” Yuck. This one is more of a phrase, really. A “ **Tums, Bums and Thighs** ” fitness class. This one is so atrocious I can’t even bear to explain why. Vomit. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/17 "2005-12-15T16:41:09Z")
“Birthing” Birth is a noun, not a verb ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/18 "2005-12-15T16:56:39Z")
I am strongly nonplussed 😃 by the word HATE… I truely try note to have that much contempt in my life. dsw in BFE ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/19 "2005-12-15T16:59:39Z")
I hate “gift” as a verb, along with its derivatives, such as “gifting”. “Gifted” sometimes falls in this category as well. People, people: the verb is “give”, not “gift”. The act is “giving”, not “gifting”. The thing which is given is a “gift” or a “present” or a “donation”. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709/20 "2005-12-15T17:11:01Z")
“Prompt,” in the sense of an essay assignment for a course. My students use this all the time, and it drives me straight up the wall for reasons that I admit are wholly irrational. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-and-why/335709.md?page=2)