# Words you hate people using **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990 "2012-01-28T14:29:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/21 "2012-01-28T19:40:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > **Foot** - How long is that 2X4? It’s about 3 foot. No, it’s 3 _feet_. I know, it’s a common convention. It still sounds wrong to me. I’d say it’s about 90cm. > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > _Bubbly_ as a description of a young woman. Usually “she’s bubbly” means we couldn’t think of anything good about her and she’s kind of loud. I find it’s generally a description of a dead young woman. It seems almost a legal requirement for someone to describe victims of car crashes and the like as “bubbly” in newspapers. > [@figure9](#): > > **Moot-** I often see this word used to mean the opposite of what it means. Better than “mute”. > [@Obeseus](#): > > Greta Van Susteren grates on me every time she says ‘normalicy’ instead of the correct normalcy or normality. I actually find “normalcy” annoying, but apparently that’s just how it is in the US. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/22 "2012-01-28T19:57:25Z")
“Pleaded”. Um, the word you are looking for is “pled”. (I know it’s in the dictionary and all, but it’s baffling how “pled” was the word regular people used for as long as I can remember and about 10-20 years ago “pleaded” started showing up.) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/23 "2012-01-28T20:11:37Z")
“Lay”, or more typically “laying”. It’s a transitive verb, for christ’s sake. “I was just laying on the couch, watching TV.” No. You were lying on the couch. You lie on things, while you lay things on other things. In other words, “lay” must have a direct object. A chicken can lay eggs. A carpet layer can lay carpet on the floor. You cannot just “lay” on a couch. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/24 "2012-01-28T20:25:46Z")
I also hate: all-important - Up next, the results of the all important Iowa Caucus. Umm…no, it isn’t all important. I’ll keep breathing without it. Life goes on. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/25 "2012-01-28T20:38:43Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I find it’s generally a description of a dead young woman. It seems almost a legal requirement for someone to describe victims of car crashes and the like as “bubbly” in newspapers. Due to the putrefaction of the body? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/26 "2012-01-28T20:58:36Z")
“Monetize”. What a vapid word. If I hear it one more time in a meeting, I’ll go postal. Well, no I won’t, but I’ll want to. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/27 "2012-01-28T21:16:23Z")
I have long hated nice. Especially when describing someone you’ve just met. “Oh, he’s so nice!” Why, because he didn’t punch you in the face when you said hi? ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/28 "2012-01-28T21:31:29Z")
_Due to._ Use _because of_ or reword the phrase entirely. I’ve kicked back reports for editing that have contained _due to_ three times in the same sentence. It drives me nuts! ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/29 "2012-01-28T21:45:06Z")
Lady. Like “this is mah lay-dee” I broke up with a guy when he kept to me as his ‘lady’. Just the most revolting combination of patronization and …smarm. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/30 "2012-01-28T21:47:22Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > “Pleaded”. Um, the word you are looking for is “pled”. > > (I know it’s in the dictionary and all, but it’s baffling how “pled” was the word regular people used for as long as I can remember and about 10-20 years ago “pleaded” started showing up.) **Pleaded** gets to me from time to time, and so does **proved** , as in, “He has proved the guy was guilty six times.” I really want it to be **proven**. This comes up a lot in math. But the one I thought of all by myself for this thread would be **populace** , which is not a synonym, at least traditionally, for _population_ or _people_, but rather the common people. ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/31 "2012-01-28T21:48:54Z")
Aso, anxietous. I don’t think it’s really a word. I had a supervisor once who would use it in practically every conversation &, since she didn’t take criticism well, I could never correct her. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/32 "2012-01-28T22:06:09Z")
Eaches. This is restricted to my workplace, though. Every time I hear “You can buy this by the eaches,” I cringe. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/33 "2012-01-28T22:07:35Z")
On livejournal, I see people describe having serious thoughts on a subject as having “thinky thoughts.” I fucking hate this phrase. It makes you sound like a four-year-old already, and that’s even worse when you’re using this self-deprecating and self-infantilizing phrase to describe your honest opinion on something important. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/34 "2012-01-28T22:10:24Z")
> [@ballardfam](#): > > Lady. Like “this is mah lay-dee” > > I broke up with a guy when he kept to me as his ‘lady’. > > Just the most revolting combination of patronization and …smarm. My nickname for my sister is “the lady” or just “lady.” She and I love it! Lady is a proper title for noble women, and is a high designation of respect. What’s wrong with lady? That being said, in a joking/ironic/sarcastic manner, I call her “woman” too, just to be funny but it’s also become a second nickname in a way. It’s all in good fun. But seriously, being offended over being called lady? I don’t get it! ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/35 "2012-01-28T22:33:01Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > My nickname for my sister is “the lady” or just “lady.” She and I love it! Lady is a proper title for noble women, and is a high designation of respect. What’s wrong with lady? > > That being said, in a joking/ironic/sarcastic manner, I call her “woman” too, just to be funny but it’s also become a second nickname in a way. It’s all in good fun. > > But seriously, being offended over being called lady? I don’t get it! I can understand it, I wouldn’t call my girlfriend “my lady”. But it’s not really just “lady”, I wouldn’t call her “my woman” or “my girl” either. I’m not really a feminist (in fact they’re often very annoying) but would seem a bit disrespectful to me, like her most significant characteristic is being attached to the speaker. On the other hand I don’t mind her saying “my man”… I think maybe I just don’t like the kind of people who say that kind of thing (especially “my girl” said as “mah gel”). ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/36 "2012-01-29T00:03:53Z")
**Vibrant** is one I could do without. It’s a euphemism for the kind of neighborhood that is supposed to have great ethnic restaurants, but you can’t go there because your car will probably get broken into. Also, use of the word **delicious** to describe anything but food. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/37 "2012-01-29T00:16:53Z")
One I rarely hear spoken but I see in obituaries all the time – sustained. “Joe Smith died Tuesday from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.” If Joe had sustained the injuries, he wouldn’t have died from them. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/38 "2012-01-29T00:24:34Z")
> [@Obeseus](#): > > One I rarely hear spoken but I see in obituaries all the time – sustained. > > “Joe Smith died Tuesday from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.” > If Joe had sustained the injuries, he wouldn’t have died from them. [Sustained](http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+sustain&qpvt=sustained+definition&FORM=DTPDIA) definition 5. > [@](#): > > be affected by something: to experience a setback, injury, damage, loss, or defeat “sustained several broken bones” ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/39 "2012-01-29T00:27:56Z")
Veggies for vegetables, unless uttered by a two-year-old. ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/40 "2012-01-29T01:34:38Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > My nickname for my sister is “the lady” or just “lady.” She and I love it! Lady is a proper title for noble women, and is a high designation of respect. What’s wrong with lady? > > That being said, in a joking/ironic/sarcastic manner, I call her “woman” too, just to be funny but it’s also become a second nickname in a way. It’s all in good fun. > > But seriously, being offended over being called lady? I don’t get it! Think Ron Burgandy, “This is my lady”. Just smarmy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990.md?page=3)