# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/141 "2016-06-06T01:50:24Z")
“Showrunner.” Why we need this neologism when the perfectly cromulent term “producer” is available makes me all stabby. ---
**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 6, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/142 "2016-06-06T02:26:12Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Well, two words: “How come” instead of “Why” Wherefore? ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/143 "2016-06-06T03:31:22Z")
carbs ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/144 "2016-06-06T20:04:14Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > “Showrunner.” > Why we need this neologism when the perfectly cromulent term “producer” is available makes me all stabby. I hate “stabby”. 😛 But the producer is not always the showrunner. And there can be many “producers” > **[Showrunner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner)** > > A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over the production, and the executive producer's role is limited to investing. In scripted comedy and drama TV shows, the showrunner also usually serves as the head writer (or its most prolific writer). The role of a showrunner is not present on Writer Alex Ep... ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/145 "2016-06-06T23:24:30Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Just so you know, **twitterary** is a word for an underling who does the tweeting for somebody who is too rich/famous/lazy to tweet for himself. I wrote that one for [urbandictionary.com](http://urbandictionary.com) . gee…uh, thanks a lot. Gonna put that on your resume? ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/146 "2016-06-06T23:26:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I hate “stabby”. 😛 > > But the producer is not always the showrunner. And there can be many “producers” > [Showrunner - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner) Good point. I still hate it. ---
**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 7, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/147 "2016-06-07T02:03:38Z")
I just read another one. I hate “alum” used instead of alumnus or alumna. Alum is aluminum potassium sulfate, a chemical used in pickles. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/148 "2016-06-07T13:04:24Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > 1. they don’t go ‘on A holiday’, they ‘go on holiday.’ Just as they don’t go 'to A hospital, they ‘got to hospital’. Just a little thing, but leaving that ‘A’ out bugs me. Vacations and hospitals are indeed destinations, but there are more than one of each, they aren’t monolithic. This British usage is exactly mirrored in the US use of “jail”. Typically, you aren’t in A jail, you are “in jail”. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/149 "2016-06-07T14:05:49Z")
“versing” - Kids say “We are versing the Thundercats today” instead of saying “We are playing against the Thundercats today”. Also used in the past tense: “We versed the Thundercats today”. It’s grating enough to hear kids say it but I heard an adult say it last weekend. “X out of it” - People say “X out of that window” instead of “Close that window” when they are referring to closing a window on a computer screen or tablet. This one isn’t limited to kids. I’ve heard it from several adults. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/150 "2016-06-07T15:11:15Z")
Non-starter ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/151 "2016-06-07T18:06:54Z")
I’m another “dude” hater. It always sound slackerishly contemptuous. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/152 "2016-06-07T18:32:00Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I’m another “dude” hater. It always sound slackerishly contemptuous. Dude!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/153 "2016-06-07T18:36:21Z")
Baby mommy/baby daddy. Abso-fraggin-lutely hate these terms. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/154 "2016-06-07T18:39:07Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > That’s right. We could also “vacate,” but that usually means “absquatulate”, or “be forced to leave.” Absquatulate means to take off with something, usually money or valuables. It’s often used in cases where the absquatulator was forced to leave (e.g. a dictator leaving with full suitcases), but not always. ---
**Author:** ![Taco\_the\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@Taco\_the\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taco_the_cat)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/155 "2016-06-07T18:41:30Z")
cum haz ---
**Author:** ![Oglomott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oglomott/32/3543_2.png) [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/156 "2016-06-07T21:10:15Z")
disrespected ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/157 "2016-06-08T02:59:52Z")
Adorkable Kitteh ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/158 "2016-06-08T04:00:36Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > And while most of the other examples you give make sense, the Britishism “holiday” has always bothered me. The word means “holy day.” It originated as a term for a particular calendar day, like Christmas or Easter, that society as a whole commemorates for a particular reason. Morphing it into a generic term for an unspecified period of time off from work, such that going to the beach for a week is going “on a holiday,” seems a stretch. “Vacation,” from a latin word for freedom or absence of something, makes more sense. “Vacation” is not from a Latin word for freedom or absence of something; it’s from _vacare_, a Latin word meaning to empty, or to empty out. “Vacation” entered the English language (from French) in the fourteenth century; it meant having no responsibilities, or being relieved from particular responsibilities. In that sense, any time that you aren’t required to attend to the duties of your office or employment is a “vacation”; no travel need be involved. Ironically, it also had a secondary meaning (from the fifteenth century) of discharging yourself from all cares and responsibilities _except_ some particular duty, so that you would be free to concentrate all your time and efforts on your duties. So for a time the word had two almost diametrically-opposed senses. The sense of being free from all distractions so as to concentrate on performing your duties became obsolete in the seventeenth century. “Vacation” in the sense of a set time during which normal activity is suspended dates from the fifteenth century; it referred initially to institutions like universities, inns of court and so forth. In fact it had a double sense; the members of the institution had a vacation in the sense that they didn’t have to attend to their usual duties, but the institution had a vacation in the sense that it physically emptied out; university students would go home, and lawyers would not attend their chambers. “Vacation” meaning a period of recreational travel only turns up in the late nineteenth century - which is probably when leisure travel gets going - and then only in the US. This last sense has never had much traction in other varieties of English, where “holiday” is still the dominant term. Originally “holiday” referred to a religious festival, obviously, but from the fifteenth century the term was used for non-working days (or longer periods) regardless of whether the occasion was religious in nature or not. Again, the sense of recreational travel doesn’t emerge until the late nineteenth century. (Previously, people might be said, e.g., to “spend their holidays in France”, but if they had stayed at home they would have spent their holidays at home. Either way, they would have been said to be “on holiday”.) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/159 "2016-06-08T09:40:41Z")
“Unique means one of a kind; something can’t be _very_ unique.” –President Jed Bartlet, _The West Wing_ ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311/160 "2016-06-08T14:33:05Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I don’t want to spoil the discussion and please feel free to post what you want about the topic but while we have had many “Words I hate” threads, what I was curious about for this one was words you hate but ended up using anyway because they have just become the way people talk (or maybe for some other reason). Heh. I totally agree with you, but good luck setting limits on a “pet peeve” discussion thread. There have been countless threads like this where the OP specifies some very specific limits on the topic that invariably wind up getting ignored. The most recent example was the thread [“SHOCKER! Things work differently in the movies.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=792023) where the OP wanted to discuss movies’ unrealistic depiction of how machines and devices work, but people just started listing every little silly movie trope they’ve ever noticed, regardless of whether it had anything to do with machines or devices. In fact, one might say this is a phenomenon I hate, but have resigned myself it is here to stay! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-but-have-resigned-yourself-they-are-here-to-stay/756311.md?page=9)