# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/41 "2012-01-29T01:49:44Z")
Here’s a second vote for “literally.” Why is this used so wrong, so often? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/42 "2012-01-29T01:55:19Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > Here’s a second vote for “literally.” Why is this used so wrong, so often? I literally explode when I hear the word literally used incorrectly! ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/43 "2012-01-29T02:05:24Z")
Admittedly I’ve never heard anybody use this outside of certain types of literature (including the Harry Potter books), but I despise the word “vouchsafed.” I don’t know why, but I do. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/44 "2012-01-29T02:13:51Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > Here’s a second vote for “literally.” Why is this used so wrong, so often? Because saying, “I was so scared I figuratively jumped out of my skin.” makes you sound daft. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/45 "2012-01-29T02:16:27Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Because saying, “I was so scared I figuratively jumped out of my skin.” makes you sound daft. That is like literally a false dichotomy. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/46 "2012-01-29T02:22:27Z")
Well, it’s a phrase and not a word, but “passed away” bugs me, as does “passed”, in that same context. What’s wrong with plain old’ “died”? I can’t abide the word “panties”’ it makes me twitch even to have to write it. Ick! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/47 "2012-01-29T02:23:12Z")
“Like” when used as a comma. ---
**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 29, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/48 "2012-01-29T02:24:29Z")
I do not like the p-word. I don’t mind the c-word, though. Also, buggy, when used by Southerners in place of grocery cart. I don’t know why, it just grates. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/49 "2012-01-29T02:31:43Z")
basically, ya’ know, I mean, I’m like, me and him went to… ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/50 "2012-01-29T02:33:26Z")
When people misuse words like “effect” and “affect”; not that I hate the words themselves, but I always notice when they are misused, which seems to be all the time. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/51 "2012-01-29T02:37:58Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I do not like the p-word. I don’t mind the c-word, though. [George Carlin]Certain ladies decided, "Those are the two I’m not going to say. Fuck and shit are OK, but P and C are OUT![/George Carlin] ---
**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:** [January 29, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/52 "2012-01-29T02:50:09Z")
Cent is NOT plural. An alum is an astringent aluminum compound, not an alumnus. This is more enraging to me when I read it, since someone saying it pronounces it uh-LUM, but that still sounds lazy to me. I hate the word feel used to mean think and the word share used to mean tell. Preplanning is redundant and grating. All planning is “pre-” by definition. ---
**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, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/53 "2012-01-29T03:14:55Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > [Sustained](http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+sustain&qpvt=sustained+definition&FORM=DTPDIA) definition 5. Yeah, but I don’t think that applies when someone died from the broken bones. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/54 "2012-01-29T03:32:33Z")
People using the word “discrete” or “discretely” in the wrong context. For example: “I can trust my best friend in the world to be discrete about my affair.” People, it’s “discreet.” DISCREET. I have seen this misspelled so many times that I often wonder if its spelling has officially changed and I just wasn’t aware of it. I know “discrete” is an actual word, but it doesn’t have the same meaning! ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/55 "2012-01-29T04:46:33Z")
> [@ballardfam](#): > > Think Ron Burgandy, “This is my lady”. Just smarmy. My Dad does this and it irks the hell out of me. He says “lady” with a condescending, patronizing inflection that pisses me off. It apparently irks the hell out of other women too, seeing as how he is currently on wife number five. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/56 "2012-01-29T04:58:01Z")
Ohhh. I forgot one I’ve seen a lot lately (on a certain message board). “Premiss”. It pinged my radar enough, I looked it up. That is the Old English spelling. Drives me crazy. It’s “premise”. Don’t argue with me because your premise has no standing.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/57 "2012-01-29T04:59:57Z")
The misspelling “rediculous”. People! Spell-checkers exist for a reason! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/58 "2012-01-29T05:02:41Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > Ohhh. I forgot one I’ve seen a lot lately (on a certain message board). “Premiss”. It pinged my radar enough, I looked it up. > That is the Old English spelling. Drives me crazy. It’s “premise”. Don’t argue with me because your premise has no standing.😛 “Premiss” was the spelling used throughout the Logic course I had to take for my linguistics B.A. Drove me nuts. (Like that poetry textbook that insisted on spelling it “rime” throughout, which until then I had reserved for Coleridge and frost [not the capitalized kind].) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/59 "2012-01-29T05:07:03Z")
> [@missred](#): > > _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! The rule I learned was that “due to” can only be used to mean “attributable to,” so that you can say “the loss was due to enemy action” but not “Due to circumstances beyond our control…” However, it’s a rather fine distinction (“because of,” for example, works in both contexts) and I think the battle over this one may have been lost. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/60 "2012-01-29T05:08:29Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > My Dad does this and it irks the hell out of me. He says “lady” with a condescending, patronizing inflection that pisses me off. > It apparently irks the hell out of other women too, seeing as how he is currently on wife number five. :rolleyes: Oh! This has been mentioned in a few threads, but whenever someone refers to a woman as “a female” outside of a scientific or police context. My step-grandfather does this and it weirds me out (“So I saw these two females walking down the street…”) As I have previously noted, it makes him sound like a Ferengi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990.md?page=4)