# Words you Hate but have resigned yourself they are here to stay **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311 "2016-06-02T15:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/41 "2016-06-02T18:13:58Z")
baby bump ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/42 "2016-06-02T18:19:01Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > And “cromulent” – hugely beloved, it seems, throughout the Net community: something about the word and the whole situation, just makes me cringe. In my view, it’s not even as though it fills a gap which was self-evidently there in the language: it’s just a goofy synonym for “valid” – I’m convinced that it would not have caught on, if it hadn’t originated with the bloody Simpsons. > [@RickJay](#): > > See, “Cromulent” does not exactly mean “valid” to me; it has a rather distinct meaning, more along the lines of “both valid and appropriate in the manner used.” Whether it will stick I am not sure, though. I have never heard a human being say it aloud, and\*\* it may wither away when “The Simpsons” is gone\*\*. It would not be acceptable in professional or academic writing. I can maybe see your distinct meaning; but my hatred of the word triumphs, I fear. Re “my bolded” of your quote – God send that that may come to pass. > [@](#): > > Being in a large city, we now have many restaurants that call themselves “Gastro pubs,” or “Gastropubs” - there is no agreement on the styling. It’s a dreadful word. “Gastropub” sounds like a parasite of the digestive system, something your doctor would diagnose you as having after sending a sample of your stool to a lab, and then he’d have a burly nurse give you a medicated enema and tell you not to eat sushi from a roadside stand in Tulsa anymore unless you want to get another infestation of gastropubs. It’s not just ugly, it’s pointless. Call it a restaurant, a bar, or a pub. I know what those things are. I agree – “Gastropub” in whatever detail, is a locution which we could well do without. It always puts me in mind of biological stuff, viz, gastropods – snails, slugs, and similar life-forms that walk on their stomachs. Am not strongly anti-eating of such creatures – though have tried snails and found them “underwhelming” – just, as with you, “not an association that we in any way need or want”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/43 "2016-06-02T18:28:03Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Oh, and other thing I definitely still hate but have resigned myself to is the real-estate industry’s successful complete replacement of the word “house” with “home,” to the extent that they now even have people talking about “townhomes” and “rowhomes.” :rolleyes: I own my home (subject to a mortgage), I pay property taxes on my home, and I get the homeowner’s exemption on those property taxes. It’s not a house, though, it’s a condo. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dickerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/44 "2016-06-02T18:29:05Z")
Copacetic I think my dislike of it comes from its apparent lack of known origin. That bothers me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/45 "2016-06-02T18:29:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I would also like to see an end to “you guys” applied indiscriminately to people of all ages, genders, and stations in life. When a waiter walks up to a table of elderly women (of whom I’m one) and says, “What can I get you guys?” I want to stab him with a butter knife. Along these lines, certain people have taken to starting Facebook posts with “You guys…” and it grinds my gears. As in “You guys, I just hit my pre-baby weight!” or “You guys, do you realize we’re one general election away from having Donald Trump as our president?” I also hate the word “Blessed,” again showing up mostly in social media. Thanking God and saying you’re _#blessed_ because you own a nice vacation home or bought a $85,000 Cadillac or have five gorgeous kids and a husband who cooked an Italian meal from scratch is fucked up theology. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/46 "2016-06-02T18:32:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > See, “Cromulent” does not exactly mean “valid” to me; it has a rather distinct meaning, more along the lines of “both valid and appropriate in the manner used.” Whether it will stick I am not sure, though. I have never heard a human being say it aloud, and it may wither away when “The Simpsons” is gone. It would not be acceptable in professional or academic writing. Weird, I’ve always viewed “Cromulent” as meaning “not technically right, but close enough.” A lot of the stuff people complain about on the Dope is cromulent. Like using “chemical” to mean “chemical I’m not familiar with, and think might not be great to consume” is cromulent. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/47 "2016-06-02T18:34:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > App. Apps is fine you are talking about a phone. Programs on phones are indeed apps but when talking about a PC it grates on my ear. But the term has pretty much stuck, especially with Windows 10. All software are apps now. Apps is short for “Applications”. iPhones are made by Apple, which also produces the Macintosh and MacOS operating system. On the Mac we have _always_ referred to the relevant software as “applications”, not “programs”. So blame Apple, and MacOS, I guess. > [@](#): > > This one I am still resisting but I think the fight is lost: saying “Screen saver” when you mean “Wallpaper”. The background of your Desktop or phone is Wallpaper! But if enough people say something wrong it becomes right. Language is the ultimate democracy and this one is almost there. Yeah, that one irks me too. “Screen saver” implies that I installed a piece of software (like AfterDark™) and that the pictures were installed along with it. Of course I don’t call it “Wallpaper” either 😛 we Mac users know such elements as Desktop Pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/48 "2016-06-02T18:34:21Z")
That reminds me. Facebook is another word that grinds my gears all crusty like. It’s interface is not even trying to be book like and calling pictures “faces” is dumb.\* \*I may be a bit biased against facebook because I don’t use it and I think what most people post is boring shit that just wastes my time. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/49 "2016-06-02T18:37:46Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Don’t forget “forever home”. > > Gack. What is that? > [@John\_Bredin](#): > > :rolleyes: I own my home (subject to a mortgage), I pay property taxes on my home, and I get the homeowner’s exemption on those property taxes. It’s not a house, though, it’s a condo. 😛 I don’t know why you’re rolling your eyes, since your example kind of proves my point. One’s home is wherever one lives, be it a condo, apartment, townhouse, single-family house, or whatever. A house is one particular type of structure that people use as a home. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/50 "2016-06-02T18:44:22Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > What is that? Forever home - mostly used in the context of a permanent home for an adopted pet, but I’m seeing it used more frequently to describe “the last house I intend buying”. It’s just bleedin’ mawkish. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/51 "2016-06-02T18:46:26Z")
Gift used as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/52 "2016-06-02T18:46:54Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > The next person who says “like” 20 times in a 30-word run-on sentence is going to get pistol-whipped. Oh, man. I’m about to get pistol-whipped so hard. Not because I do it myself. But because I have a confession. There’s a particular way of over-using “like” that I really… um, like. It’s what the young lady does at the beginning of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZCCpqDZfwk). That’s an obnoxious number of likes in a small space there. But there’s something about the way she says it: “This like web”. It’s not the same as “This, like, uh, web.” It’s a very clean, precise and direct delivery. It just does something for me. It’s very charming. I know, I know. You can kill me now. No jury will convict you. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/53 "2016-06-02T18:49:53Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I don’t know why you’re rolling your eyes, since your example kind of proves my point. One’s home is wherever one lives, be it a condo, apartment, townhouse, single-family house, or whatever. A house is one particular type of structure that people use as a home. Sorry, I misunderstood. I’ve run into a few people (mostly on the 'net, not in real life) who believe only a detached house can truly be a home. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/54 "2016-06-02T18:50:29Z")
Meme. I’ve hated the he sound of the word since the beginning. Terribly tinny word. At least at its start it had an interesting concept behind it. Now it’s just funny pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/55 "2016-06-02T18:58:07Z")
Verbiage - Not that I hate the word, but the misuse of it. And worse yet, the powers that be have changed the definition to fit the constant misuse. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/56 "2016-06-02T19:12:17Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > See, “Cromulent” does not exactly mean “valid” to me; it has a rather distinct meaning, more along the lines of “both valid and appropriate in the manner used.” Whether it will stick I am not sure, though. I have never heard a human being say it aloud, and it may wither away when “The Simpsons” is gone. It would not be acceptable in professional or academic writing. > [@Taber](#): > > Weird, I’ve always viewed “Cromulent” as meaning “not technically right, but close enough.” A lot of the stuff people complain about on the Dope is cromulent. Like using “chemical” to mean “chemical I’m not familiar with, and think might not be great to consume” is cromulent. **Taber** – have tried to get my head around “the above”, but failed – likely my fault, owing to Simpsons-related well-poisoning for me concerning the “c-word”. **RickJay** – further re the at-top quoted from you: maybe a spin-off thread is called for: “Words you hate but are _not_ resigned to, and hope and pray may in time die a well-deserved death” 🙂 . Such a word for me, was called to mind by another recent Dope thread happened-on in passing: “stabby”. I immoderately hate this – as I see it, quite recently Internet-generated – word; and heartily hope that its life may be short. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/57 "2016-06-02T19:18:51Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > " “Baby Daddy” Ok, so there’s a guy, and he is the biological father of your child. he’s not your husband, not your boyfriend (never was), so what do you call the dude? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/58 "2016-06-02T19:19:24Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Alot. > > Hate is a bit too strong though. It’s just that whenever I encounter it, my eyes sort of stumble over it like a protruding paving stone. [Obligatory _Hyperbole and a Half_ link](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html), just in case you haven’t seen it before. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/59 "2016-06-02T19:21:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Ok, so there’s a guy, and he is the biological father of your child. he’s not your husband, not your boyfriend (never was), so what do you call the dude? My child’s father, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/60 "2016-06-02T19:26:26Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > My child’s father, perhaps. But that could imply he’s your husband, ex, or something. No, “baby daddy” means a dude who fathered your child but is not a Ex (or current). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311.md?page=4)