# 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:** 4
**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, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/61 "2016-06-02T19:29:32Z")
> [@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? Spunk donor? “The Fertilizer”? Rent-a-cock? ---
**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, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/62 "2016-06-02T19:33:20Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > 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. I can’t speak for Quimby, but what I don’t like about “app” (and what I took Quimby to mean) is not that it has replaced “program,” but that it has replaced “application.” “App” originated as a term for an application that runs on a smartphone or tablet, because it’s sort of a “miniature” version of the word “application,” just as those devices are miniature computers. The complaint is that people are now using it to refer to desktop applications too. Calling the heavy-duty video-editing package you use on your desktop computer an “app” just seems wrong. ---
**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, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/63 "2016-06-02T19:35:12Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Spunk donor? “The Fertilizer”? Rent-a-cock? One of my friends actually uses the term “Sperm Donor” to refer to her “Baby daddy”- which she is not fond of at all. ---
**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, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/64 "2016-06-02T19:35:49Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > On the Mac we have _always_ referred to the relevant software as “applications”, not “programs”. Wait. Apps. Apple. Applications. Apple-ications? Could there be a pun there that I’ve been missing this whole time? ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/65 "2016-06-02T19:44:48Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > **Orientate**. It’s just a longer word for “Orient”. Oh god this. Orientate, disorientate, and preventative. I wince whenever I hear or read them. Others on my list: The Cloud Trending Twitterverse …and pretty much anything out of the mouths of business-types. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/66 "2016-06-02T19:51:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I wish AWESOME would just get sucked into a black hole and disappear. Completely worn out. I know, and I say it all the time. I hate myself. “Selfie”. “Speak out” when “speak” would do just as well. “Speak out” sounds like you’re standing up against an injustice, but I hear it on news and entertainment shows used thusly, “Next, Barbie Bimbo speaks out about her role in _Dipshits III_!” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/67 "2016-06-02T19:52:49Z")
“App” is an acceptable shortening of appetizer, as it came from kitchen slang. It gets a little strange when your waitron (also kitchen slang, early genderless word) asks if you have a coupon from the phone app you could have used to order ahead. “Baby Daddy” suggests a guy in a diaper. May I suggest “sperm donor?” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/68 "2016-06-02T20:24:41Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I can’t speak for Quimby, but what I don’t like about “app” (and what I took Quimby to mean) is not that it has replaced “program,” but that it has replaced “application.” “App” originated as a term for an application that runs on a smartphone or tablet, because it’s sort of a “miniature” version of the word “application,” just as those devices are miniature computers. The complaint is that people are now using it to refer to desktop applications too. Calling the heavy-duty video-editing package you use on your desktop computer an “app” just seems wrong. You may speak for me because I agree with this 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/69 "2016-06-02T21:03:33Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > This isn’t exactly what the OP is looking for but I’ve bitched about here before and will continue to every time we have a thread that’s even remotely related: the round, chocolate covered peanut butter candy is pronounced REEsez, as in “a creation belonging to Mr. Reese”, not goddamn fecking REEseez, as if it rhymes with feces. Hence the name “Reese’s Pieces”. 'Cause they rhyme; get it? :smack: Drives me up a wall, I tell ya. You know, that reminds me… [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=773758&highlight=reeses+pieces](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=773758&highlight=reeses+pieces) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/70 "2016-06-02T22:28:04Z")
> [@Dickerman](#): > > Copacetic > > I think my dislike of it comes from its apparent lack of known origin. That bothers me for some reason. I love that word. > [@Arcite](#): > > I can’t speak for Quimby, but what I don’t like about “app” (and what I took Quimby to mean) is not that it has replaced “program,” but that it has replaced “application.” “App” originated as a term for an application that runs on a smartphone or tablet, because it’s sort of a “miniature” version of the word “application,” just as those devices are miniature computers. The complaint is that people are now using it to refer to desktop applications too. Calling the heavy-duty video-editing package you use on your desktop computer an “app” just seems wrong. I would never refer to Photoshop or Illustrator as “apps.” > [@Lowdown](#): > > Twitterverse I don’t even like “tweet.” ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/71 "2016-06-02T22:42:54Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > People pronouncing the N in kiln. Yep, the dictionary I had in grade school said it was silent, so there! Were you in school during the middle-ages? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/72 "2016-06-02T22:52:39Z")
Disinterested. Practically every time I hear it these days it’s used to mean uninterested or bored. It’s unfortunate because it does have its own valuable meaning. On the other hand fewer and fewer people today seem impartial and disinterested ☹ I also hate “medal” when used as a verb and with the Olympics coming up will have to just grit my teeth. And count me in with another vote against “begging the question” not used in the sense of logical fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/73 "2016-06-02T23:06:47Z")
“Epic”. It’s not supposed to be a synonym for big. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/74 "2016-06-02T23:51:36Z")
How about “invite” as a noun: “Did you get my invite?” Also, I dislike the word “utilize” in place of “use” to make one’s self sound, educated, I guess. “We will utilize the corrective action program.” \ ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/75 "2016-06-03T00:04:59Z")
“Sucks” “Dude” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/76 "2016-06-03T00:31:41Z")
“Walk back”. It makes newscasters and commentators and those sorts sound like they’re talking to toddlers. “Retract” will do. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/77 "2016-06-03T00:32:21Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Wait. Apps. Apple. Applications. Apple-ications? Could there be a pun there that I’ve been missing this whole time? In the days of the classic Mac OS, every file had two four-character identifier fields (which were otherwise not visible to the user). One field was a file type code and the other was an “owner” code, which was used to identify which application would open the file when double-clicked. And, of course, the type code for applications was “APPL”. My pet peeve for quite some time has been “innovate”, because for a long time it effectively meant something close to the opposite of what it was supposed to mean. It was just a bullshit vaporware buzzword. Also, “interactive” annoys the hell out of me, just because it gets used way too much. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/78 "2016-06-03T00:36:52Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I don’t even like “tweet.” I don’t mind “Twitterverse” as - verse is a cromulent (:D) way of saying “the milieu of”. However, I dislike “tweet”. If the site is Twitter, you should Twitter something, and yesterday you Twittered something. “Tweet” and even worse “Tweeted” simply _sounds_ uneuphonious. ETA: like you were blowing a whistle right in my ear as you composed your twittering. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/79 "2016-06-03T00:45:42Z")
“I was going to a party, so I did a bold red lip and paired a gray satin pant with a strappy gold shoe.” These people must save so much money! Also, “veggies.” ---
**Author:** ![Pinmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Pinmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pinmin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/80 "2016-06-03T00:46:18Z")
Pivot used to mean change, usually by people or corporations. For example: Tribune Publishing made a strategic pivot Obama’s pivot to Asia Google pivots away from conventional search Company’s pivot from retail to office space These were all from news headlines. For me a pivot means to turn while staying in place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311.md?page=5)