Ten misused words to make me cringe, wince, and whinge.
(1) Literally. Most often used when its exact opposite, “figuratively”, is what is meant. “He runs at literally 100 kilometres per hour”. No he doesn’t!
(2) Irregardless. There is no such word. “People use it, irregardless”. A woeful mix of “irrespective” and “regardless”
(3) Absolutely, basically, actually, exactly, really etc. Used to be absolutes, but are just noise words now. Makes we want to ask, “really?”
(4) 110%, and the like, when used to mean “100%”. If someone tells me about a “140% effort” someone has put in, I will disregard anything else they may have told me before or since.
(5) Wrong apostrophes, its for it’s, it’s for its, misuse of apostrophes generally. Think before you write! I won’t ever spend good money on fruit advertised as “orange’s”.
(6) Unique, when qualified. I am not “quite unique”, Either I am unique or I am not.
(7) Decimate. Whenever a news report says that a population was decimated, I think “So exactly one out of ten was destroyed? I wonder how they managed that?”
(8) Rookie. I suppose it’s not strictly a misuse, but I find myself saying things like, “how does a novice American basketball player come to be playing for an Australian footy team?” It is a word so foreign to our culture. Yes there are other US words that annoy me, but none as much as this.
(9) “Athelete” for Athlete. Come to think of it, “Athlete” for player of any sport, “Marathon” for any distance, etc.
(10) New Millennium for year 2000 and on. For the information of the mathematically challenged, which seems to cover all journalists and all politicians, it was 2001. And now in 2009, it is the 9th year of the third millennium. There are other hysterically wrong mathematical ideas, but this one annoys me the most..
I am sure there are one or two others, Clichés and worn out phrases aside, what other words are genuinely misused these days?
And it goes without saying...
"Awe" is amazement verging on fear. The word has been hijacked to mean everything and nothing...
It seems I am swimming against the grain, opposing words and figures of speech which are in common usage. I feel as if language is dumbing down too much, and would like to challenge people to become more creative and constructive. But it's a tough cookie to crack.
(1) Literally. Most often used when its exact opposite, “figuratively”, is what is meant. “He runs at literally 100 kilometres per hour”. No he doesn’t!
(2) Irregardless. There is no such word. “People use it, irregardless”. A woeful mix of “irrespective” and “regardless”
(3) Absolutely, basically, actually, exactly, really etc. Used to be absolutes, but are just noise words now. Makes we want to ask, “really?”
(4) 110%, and the like, when used to mean “100%”. If someone tells me about a “140% effort” someone has put in, I will disregard anything else they may have told me before or since.
(5) Wrong apostrophes, its for it’s, it’s for its, misuse of apostrophes generally. Think before you write! I won’t ever spend good money on fruit advertised as “orange’s”.
(6) Unique, when qualified. I am not “quite unique”, Either I am unique or I am not.
(7) Decimate. Whenever a news report says that a population was decimated, I think “So exactly one out of ten was destroyed? I wonder how they managed that?”
(8) Rookie. I suppose it’s not strictly a misuse, but I find myself saying things like, “how does a novice American basketball player come to be playing for an Australian footy team?” It is a word so foreign to our culture. Yes there are other US words that annoy me, but none as much as this.
(9) “Athelete” for Athlete. Come to think of it, “Athlete” for player of any sport, “Marathon” for any distance, etc.
(10) New Millennium for year 2000 and on. For the information of the mathematically challenged, which seems to cover all journalists and all politicians, it was 2001. And now in 2009, it is the 9th year of the third millennium. There are other hysterically wrong mathematical ideas, but this one annoys me the most..
I am sure there are one or two others, Clichés and worn out phrases aside, what other words are genuinely misused these days?
And it goes without saying...
"Awe" is amazement verging on fear. The word has been hijacked to mean everything and nothing...
It seems I am swimming against the grain, opposing words and figures of speech which are in common usage. I feel as if language is dumbing down too much, and would like to challenge people to become more creative and constructive. But it's a tough cookie to crack.
