# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/121 "2012-01-31T02:48:14Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Price point has a specific meaning in micro-economics, points of the demand curve at which demand rises or falls by an amount that distorts the curve a bit. $10.00 or $100.00 might be price points for some items, points at which a number of potential buyers says “Too much.” It’s a useful term in a narrow context, but usually it is misused. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_point) has an adequate entry for it. > > Not a word, but a phrase: “they are wanting” as opposed to “they want”. Irritates me and just sounds ignorant to my ears. Thank you **Crotalus** for explaining “price point” better than I could have. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/122 "2012-01-31T04:43:21Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Is hung vs. hanged a similiar mistake? “Hanged” is only used in the context of a noose-around-the-neck type event. Otherwise it’s always “hung” as the past participle. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/123 "2012-01-31T04:57:18Z")
Innovative. Creative. Transformative. > [@Kiber](#): > > **Socialist** - since most people use it to mean “scary thing the other party is proposing” instead of what it actually means. Also “fascist”. Orwell, [Politics and the English Language](http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm) (1946) > [@](#): > > The word _Fascism_ has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies “something not desirable”. The words _democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice_ have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. […] Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way. That is, the person who uses them has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different. […] Other words used in variable meanings, in most cases more or less dishonestly, are: _class, totalitarian, science, progressive, reactionary, bourgeois, equality_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/124 "2012-01-31T05:09:19Z")
Ill, when referring to traumatic injury: “She was badly injured in a car crash last week, and is still gravely ill.” No, she is badly injured! Illness only refers to organic sickness, such as an infection or malignancy! Argh! ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/125 "2012-01-31T05:44:36Z")
I didn’t go through the whole thread so this one has probably already been mentioned, but I get slightly annoyed whenever somebody uses the word _since_ as a substitute for _because,_ as _since_ is supposed to denote time. On the matter of irritating phrases, only one comes to mind: I absolutely HATE it whenever I hear a woman tell a guy to _“be a man.”_ I’ve never had anybody direct that phrase at me, thankfully, but every time I’ve ever heard it directed at somebody else I’ve always wanted to retort something along the lines of _“be a woman, bitch.”_ Funny, yes, but also true lol. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/126 "2012-01-31T18:05:59Z")
It is what it is. STOP SAYING THAT. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/127 "2012-01-31T18:27:19Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > 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. Similarly I hate it when people use the word impact to mean effect or affect. Particularly when I read it in the newspaper it’s like the author is saying, “I’m a professional writer but I can’t be bothered to remember which of affect or effect is the noun and which is the verb.” I ran across one amusing instance of this. I received a company memo once which was talking about an automobile recall. It said something like, “There has been a recall for problems with breaks. We checked and none of the cars in our fleet have been impacted.” Were one of the cars impacted due to a break failure, I’d hope you’d notice before the recall was issued. ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/128 "2012-01-31T19:23:16Z")
Being a synesthete makes this a sticky issue for me. Auditory input always comes bundled with another sensation, usually the sight of a color or, more irritatingly, a taste. For that reason, there are a lot of really mundane words I simply can’t bear to say, and have had to spend years cultivating my ability to tolerate in conversation. The worst example? **Smell.** Ugh, just typing that gave me a shiver. There’s something about that word that makes me go to ridiculous lengths to avoid it in conversation, even going as far as to remark on the _taste_ of the air in a given place and hoping those around me know what I mean. Freaking terrible, and seemingly without any rational basis other than chemical cross-talk in my brain. On the more vulgar side, I hate the word “pussy.” It just sounds so gross and uncouth in any context. Also, “power-” anything. I get a weird picture in my head when I see something like “power breakfast.” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/129 "2012-01-31T19:26:02Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > Similarly I hate it when people use the word impact to mean effect or affect. Particularly when I read it in the newspaper it’s like the author is saying, “I’m a professional writer but I can’t be bothered to remember which of affect or effect is the noun and which is the verb.” > > I ran across one amusing instance of this. I received a company memo once which was talking about an automobile recall. It said something like, “There has been a recall for problems with breaks. We checked and none of the cars in our fleet have been impacted.” Were one of the cars impacted due to a break failure, I’d hope you’d notice before the recall was issued. > [@](#): > > verb (used with object) > 6. to drive or press closely or firmly into something; pack in. > 7. to fill up; congest; throng: A vast crowd impacted St. Peter’s Square. > 8. to collide with; strike forcefully: a rocket designed to impact the planet Mars. > **9. to have an impact or effect on; influence; alter: The decision may impact your whole career. The auto industry will be impacted by the new labor agreements.** This is a perfectly acceptible use of the of the word. Also read [here](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impact). ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/130 "2012-01-31T20:14:27Z")
As I’ve said before, I can’t stand the word ‘trifecta’. I’ve noticed a lot of commercials have been using this recently to make their product sound cool or something… I can’t stand it! ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/131 "2012-01-31T20:54:48Z")
Scrumptious. No one should use that word around anyone over age 5 and I’m not even sure five-year-olds should be subjected to the word. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/132 "2012-01-31T20:58:14Z")
“Delish” - short for “delicious” “Vacay” - short for “vacation” “za” - short for “pizza” “Vajayjay” - we all know what that’s short for. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/133 "2012-01-31T21:12:46Z")
Socialize. Lately people I work with have started to use it to mean gathering opinions on something. “Let me socialize this concept and I’ll get back to you.” It makes me scream. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/134 "2012-01-31T21:21:24Z")
> [@punch\_line\_loser](#): > > On the more vulgar side, I hate the word “pussy.” It just sounds so gross and uncouth in any context. > > Also, “power-” anything. I get a weird picture in my head when I see something like “power breakfast.” So power pussy is right out then? ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/135 "2012-01-31T21:23:26Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > So power pussy is right out then? You mean you _don’t_ visualize something grotesque when you hear that? Or perhaps a poorly conceived Silver Age Superman feline sidekick… ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/136 "2012-01-31T21:29:47Z")
I don’t really mind people using any words they like, as long as (a) they know how to pronounce them, (b) they use them in the proper context, © they don’t mistakenly use them in place of a near homonym, and (d) they’re real words. A few examples: (a) Pronouncing ‘deteriorate’ “detiereeate.” Why insist on using words in conversation you can’t pronounce properly? Just say ‘falter’, or ‘degrade’, or ‘diminish’, or ‘weaken’, or some other synonym. Please. (b) Saying ‘literally’ when you mean ‘figuratively’. There must be millions of zombies walking around as often as folks have literally died, or literally jumped out of their skin, and been subsequently able to tell the tale. © ‘Flesh’ as ‘Flush’ - You _flush_ out a fugitive. You _flesh_ out an idea. ‘Exacerbate’ as ‘Exaggerate’ - To _exacerbate_ is to quicken. To _exaggerate_ is to broaden. Stop mixing the two. Sheesh! (d) ‘Conversate’ is not a word. It’s ‘converse’. ‘Cartoid’ is not a word, no matter how many times you repeat it. It’s ‘carotid’, and how the heck did you make it through medical school, you nitwit? ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/137 "2012-01-31T21:30:41Z")
I know it’s widely accepted, but _Febuary_ still bothers me. ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/138 "2012-01-31T21:32:49Z")
While we’re on the subject, the use of the word “orientated” always pisses me off, but should it, or does it honestly have a meaning distinct from “oriented”? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/139 "2012-01-31T21:33:18Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > It is what it is. > > STOP SAYING THAT. I used to agree with you, **Sister** , and the phrase still jars; it seems like such a throw-away apathetic response - but then I found myself saying it as well. In the right circumstances, it can convey a certain kind of resigned acceptance of an unchangeable situation, which one must then work to overcome. Of course the problem is most people use it in the way Seinfeld used to say, “That’s a shame.” (i.e. in a completely dismissive way.) > [@drewtwo99](#): > > > [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > > > Similarly I hate it when people use the word impact to mean effect or affect. Particularly when I read it in the newspaper it’s like the author is saying, “I’m a professional writer but I can’t be bothered to remember which of affect or effect is the noun and which is the verb.” > > > [@](#): > > > > verb (used with object) > > 6. to drive or press closely or firmly into something; pack in. > > 7. to fill up; congest; throng: A vast crowd impacted St. Peter’s Square. > > 8. to collide with; strike forcefully: a rocket designed to impact the planet Mars. > > **9. to have an impact or effect on; influence; alter: The decision may impact your whole career. The auto industry will be impacted by the new labor agreements.** > > This is a perfectly acceptible use of the of the word. Also read [here](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impact). Slightly related: does it bother anyone else when the dictionary definition uses the actual word they are trying to define in the definition itself? That always strikes me as cheating similar to how a teacher would ask one to use a vocabulary word in a sentence and the smart-aleck kid would say something like “‘Impact’ is a word that means ‘strike forcefully’” or “My teacher asked me to use ‘impact’ in a sentence.” Anyway - both of the example sentences (The decision may impact your whole career. The auto industry will be impacted by the new labor agreements.) sound better (to my ear) using “affect” rather than “impact” - or maybe just less like jargon. Yes, the usage does have historical precedent, but these days it sounds more like jargon than the perfectly-applicable “affect.” I’ll second infantilizing the language (“thinky thoughts”? _Really_?) and the incorrect use of “literally” (the SNL sketch used to make me cringe). I’ve always disliked “incentivize.” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990/140 "2012-01-31T21:34:28Z")
> [@punch\_line\_loser](#): > > You mean you _don’t_ visualize something grotesque when you hear that? Hell no. In fact, it kinda turns me on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-hate-people-using/610990.md?page=8)