# World's worst enwordifications **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586 "2004-02-05T01:02:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/21 "2004-02-05T22:19:37Z")
Fun. It’s such a nice word. But nothing that is _more fun_ has ever been, or will ever be _funner_, and the most fun you ever had will never be the _funnest_. sometimes, I just want to smack people (but I never do). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/22 "2004-02-05T23:19:10Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > First year in college, I had a heated discussion with a fellow student who insisted the correct term was “freshly-squozen” orange juice. After all freeze -\> frozen, so squeeze -\> squozen, right? Maybe your fellow student was aware of Squoze, a lemon-flavored beverage that was briefly available in Ohio, and perhaps throughout the USA. I don’t recall the exact period during which I saw Squoze advertised, but I’d guess early or mid-1970’s. **overlyverbose** : The past tense of “plead” you prefer is spelled _pled_, just as a leader is someone who has _led_. Or so I’ve red – er, _read_. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/23 "2004-02-06T00:34:15Z")
It always bothered me that Pres. Bush was worried about Saddam having _nucular_ weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/24 "2004-02-06T01:14:58Z")
> [@Rue DeDay](#): > > Hey now! “Orientated” is a good word. It means you got pointed east. That’s not how people use it though. So I always carry my compass around so when people want to get “orientated”. It’s so helpful people always thank me. “East. That way. There you go.” No it isn’t. “Oriented” is a good word, and it means at the lowest level to be turned toward the east. “Disoriented” means to have lost one’s bearings- specifically, the rising sun. “Disorientated” means you’ve not only lost your bearings, you’ve gained a syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/25 "2004-02-06T01:50:35Z")
The pressing of an entire statement or imperative into service as an adjective. As in The Leave No Child Behind Act. ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/26 "2004-02-06T02:32:01Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Sure, it’s been around for years, but “normalcy” still annoys the heck out of me. :rolleyes: According to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), it’s a word? as well as the fact it gives other defintions at the bottom of the page by like 5 other dictionaries. /Shadez ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/27 "2004-02-06T02:52:16Z")
> [@dutchboy208](#): > > Me, I hate _winningest_ . Not even a semblance of a word in there. Come on, backconstruction and such are alright, but what possible evidence exists that a participle can become a superlative ANYWHERE? Well, a participle can be used as an adjective, as in a _howling storm_ or a _rising tide_. And so sportswriters find themselves talking about a team’s _winningest_ coach. Where I’m headed is that while I’ve been called a grammar-Nazi more than once, I don’t have a problem with _winningest_. YM obviously Vs, though. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/28 "2004-02-06T12:07:33Z")
“Verbing weirds langauge” Calvin & Hobbes ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/29 "2004-02-06T12:22:49Z")
I recently came across **incentivization** to my total befuddlement. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/30 "2004-02-06T12:30:13Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Maybe your fellow student was aware of Squoze, a lemon-flavored beverage that was briefly available in Ohio, and perhaps throughout the USA. I don’t recall the exact period during which I saw Squoze advertised, but I’d guess early or mid-1970’s. No - she was just a ditz. Most of us who hung out in the student lounge were well aware of her ditzitude. You’ll have to trust me on that one. 😉 It happened in Baltimore in 1973, and I don’t recall a product called Squoze. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/31 "2004-02-06T12:47:22Z")
Hi **dutchboy**. Yes it is. Sorta. The oriented/ orientated divide is as wide as the Atlantic Ocean. Pretty much [“orientated” is a British useage while “oriented” is preferred in the U.S.](http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutgrammar/oriented). Did you know they both come from the same French verb? And were introduced into [into English about 150 years apart](http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-ori1.htm)? Even [United Statesian dictionaries](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=orientated&x=13&y=14) admit it’s a synonym for “oriented” and means "to face or turn to the east ". Sometimes I do a little research to verify my claims around here. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/32 "2004-02-06T13:50:10Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Fun. It’s such a nice word. > > But nothing that is _more fun_ has ever been, or will ever be _funner_, and the most fun you ever had will never be the _funnest_. _More fun_? That just sounds wrong. Do you also say _more sad_ and _more large_? I like neologisms, especially if they’re useful like _neitherbody_ or _penpenultimate_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/33 "2004-02-06T14:19:50Z")
My Linguists professor commented the other day how Bush had shortened “terrorism” and “terrorist” to “terrism” and terrist." Something to do with the natural simplification of language. I dunno, I wasn’t paying much attention. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/34 "2004-02-06T15:57:06Z")
> [@Achernar](#): > > _More fun_? That just sounds wrong. Do you also say _more sad_ and _more large_? I already knew this, but we also learned in school that there were no such words as _funner_ and _funnest_. The terms never appeared in any dictionary I’d ever used. I just looked in the Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1981 edition, and those words are not in there. However, at [m-w.com](http://m-w.com), they are listed as “sometimes funner and funnest” under the inflected form of adjective. It seems as though modern dictionaries are making concessions for people who never learned to speak the language properly in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/35 "2004-02-06T16:06:35Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > It seems as though modern dictionaries are making concessions for people who never learned to speak the language properly in the first place. “Funner” and “funnest” are becoming ‘real’ words because the language has the tendancy to regulate itself. Most adjectives follow the x, x-er, x-est format, so doesn’t it seem natural that the abberations would eventually follow? Remember that language is a totally arbitrary system, it evolves regardless of any ‘offical’ rules. Don’t be surprised to find that ‘funner’ and ‘funnest’ are 100% acceptable 20 years from now. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/36 "2004-02-06T17:05:55Z")
Yeah, English changes. I’m sure soon it’s going to pass me right by. There are still people alive who were probably taught in school that _nice_ is not to be used to mean “agreeable”. > [@fishbicycle](#): > > Fun. It’s such a nice word. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/37 "2004-02-06T17:21:59Z")
> [@Achernar](#): > > There are still people alive who were probably taught in school that _nice_ is not to be used to mean “agreeable”. Is there a reason why you felt it necessary to make a passive-aggressive insult directed squarely at me? You don’t seem to be a very “agreeable” person. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/38 "2004-02-06T18:29:56Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Maybe your fellow student was aware of Squoze, a lemon-flavored beverage that was briefly available in Ohio, and perhaps throughout the USA. I don’t recall the exact period during which I saw Squoze advertised, but I’d guess early or mid-1970’s. > > **overlyverbose** : The past tense of “plead” you prefer is spelled _pled_, just as a leader is someone who has _led_. Or so I’ve red – er, _read_. Blargh. I knew I got something wrong. Sorry 'bout that. Still hate pleaded, though. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/39 "2004-02-06T19:03:08Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Is there a reason why you felt it necessary to make a passive-aggressive insult directed squarely at me? You don’t seem to be a very “agreeable” person. ☹ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you at all. I was just using that as an example of how something that was once colloquial is now perfectly acceptable. Sincerely, I have no quarrel with you. Again, I apologize. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586/40 "2004-02-06T19:08:14Z")
> [@Achernar](#): > > Sincerely, I have no quarrel with you. Again, I apologize. ☹ OK, friend. No harm, no foul. I apologize too, if I seemed to overreact. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-worst-enwordifications/227586.md?page=3)