Phrases That Make Me Cringe. Bit of a Rant.

[e-merlin]

I just heard a newscaster say, "For all intensive purposes." Argggghhhhh.

What does that mean? It's "for all intents and purposes," for crying out loud, which totally changes the meaning of what was uttered! Doesn't anyone know how to use a dictionary any more?

Some of my favorites:

Most unique. There is no such thing! It's either unique or it's not.

One of the only. Once again, it's either the only one or it's not. Try "one of the few" on for size.

First annual. If it's the first, it can't be annual. What if the first one sucks enough that there isn't a second? It's inaugural.

New and improved. Is it new or is it improved? Or did the new one suck so much they had to improve it before they turned it loose on the public?

OK, I feel better now!

[buckallred]

Some of my "favorites:"

"ek cetera" ---> et cetera

"supposably" --> supposedly

"it's a doggy dog world" --> it's a dog-eat-dog world

"irregardless" --> NEVER say this.

[CatfishStudios]

When people say "I could care less" ...wrong.... what you mean is "I couldn't care less" .. the two statements mean entirely different things.

[boneyguy]

random- has become totally misued and lost its original meaning- ie) "so like I'm walking down the like street and like some random guy says 'yo dude' to me like."

optics- to describe how something appears ie) "the optics of this situation" - this one just makes my testes recoil - punishable by death in my opinion and seems to be favoured by spin doctors.

orientate - I believe this is a made up word - ie) "it may take me a few days to orientate to the new surroundings."

There's many others that irk, irritate and bother me. I also realize that alot of the language I speak and consider 'proper usage' has changed from its original meaning and usage. I guess I'm just not willing to step boldly into the future of language.

I also feel a little suspect being critical of word usage when I can't even spell half of what I write without checking it first. But that's still not enough to stop me from giving up my right to be judgemental of others damn it.

[e-merlin]

Originally Posted by boneyguy

orientate - I believe this is a made up word - ie) "it may take me a few days to orientate to the new surroundings."

Yeah, the proper word is "orient" or, in the case of your example "become oriented."

Normalcy is another one. The proper word is "normality." I think maybe Webster finally accepted it, though.

Originally Posted by boneyguy

I also feel a little suspect being critical of word usage when I can't even spell half of what I write without checking it first. But that's still not enough to stop me from giving up my right to be judgemental of others damn it.

I feel the same way. The words I have to look up are ones I don't use a lot.

Intonation is a word I'm not comfortable with. If you're going to set the intonation on your guitar shouldn't it be "I'm going to intone my guitar," rather than "I'm going to intonate my guitar?"

How about "awesome," as in, "This guitar plays awesome!" Ugh!

[Joe-Bob]

Actualy, "normalcy" has been around a long time. One of our presidents coined the phrase.

[TelecasterBlooz]

More than likely, the idiot who used the phrase "intensive purposes" meant to say "for all intents AND purposes." Probably never heard it right. My pet peeve was one I heard over and over in the prison system during my career as a Corrections Sergeant...." Hey...hey...hey...Sarge! Lemme AX you a question.." No offense meant, but I heard whites and blacks use this phrase..

[tiktok]

"Speaking to" something. What sort of wacko passive voice is that?

[Fatmanstratman]

Very commonly heard these days:

"Can you be a bit more pacific?", instead of "specific"....

[Grin'n'pick]

A family friend once said "One thing I really can't stand is ignorancy", I've always remembered that nugget. Using 'ignorant' to mean 'rude', which always annoys me anyway but happens a lot colloquially here in the UK at least.

My ex always used to say 'ness-a-celery' which I found pretty irritating. She probably still says nice things about me too, but not necessarily.

[giginthesky]

Originally Posted by e-merlin

Yeah, the proper word is "orient" or, in the case of your example "become oriented."

Normalcy is another one. The proper word is "normality." I think maybe Webster finally accepted it, though.

I feel the same way. The words I have to look up are ones I don't use a lot.

Intonation is a word I'm not comfortable with. If you're going to set the intonation on your guitar shouldn't it be "I'm going to intone my guitar," rather than "I'm going to intonate my guitar?"

How about "awesome," as in, "This guitar plays awesome!" Ugh!

ooops! sorry e merlin. growing up on the jersey shore, awesome is a hard one to get rid of. i'll do my best while posting here though!

[tomi]

I've seen this a lot lately: "In this day in age..." No! "Day and age!"

[Capperdan]

At the end of the day...
At this point in time...
Now, more than ever before...
AAAAbsolutely!

And if you're ever writing an article that has to do with guitar players or song lists, don't forget to use the word "Quintessential " in there somewhere... whatever- the heck does that mean?

[e-merlin]

Originally Posted by giginthesky

ooops! sorry e merlin. growing up on the jersey shore, awesome is a hard one to get rid of. i'll do my best while posting here though!

The word "awesome" doesn't bother me. What does it when it's used as an adverb; it should be "awesomely."

The same with "outstanding", as in, "The guitar plays outstanding." It should be outstandingly.

"The finish on this guitar is outstanding," would be proper.

[geoff_in_nc]

I can't stand it when someone writes "of" instead of "have"... I think its generally because their diction sucks so bad they don't realize they're different words....
"I could of kept playing all night"

[Telakaster]

"Hanging chad." Chad? I believe the word someone was looking for is "chaff" which would have been completely appropriate. I find it hilarious that no journalist or politician has ever figured this out.

[casterway]

Originally Posted by boneyguy

random- has become totally misued and lost its original meaning- ie) "so like I'm walking down the like street and like some random guy says 'yo dude' to me like."

optics- to describe how something appears ie) "the optics of this situation" - this one just makes my testes recoil - punishable by death in my opinion and seems to be favoured by spin doctors.

orientate - I believe this is a made up word - ie) "it may take me a few days to orientate to the new surroundings."

There's many others that irk, irritate and bother me. I also realize that alot of the language I speak and consider 'proper usage' has changed from its original meaning and usage. I guess I'm just not willing to step boldly into the future of language.

I also feel a little suspect being critical of word usage when I can't even spell half of what I write without checking it first. But that's still not enough to stop me from giving up my right to be judgemental of others damn it.

Orientate is in the dictionary. I looked it up. It said 'the same as orient.'


From Mirriam Webster.

The Word of the Day for April 26, 2008 is:
orientate • \OR-ee-un-tayt\ • verb

1 : to set in a definite position especially in relation the points of the compass

*2 : to acquaint with an existing situation or environment

3 : to direct toward the interests of a particular group

Example Sentence:
"She learned to orientate new service members in the principles, practices and tools necessary to function in the Air Force." (Ryan Davis, St. Petersburg Times, October 5, 2000)
Did you know?
"Orientate" is a synonym of "orient," and it has attracted criticism as a consequence. "Orient," which dates from the mid-18th century, is in fact the older of the two verbs -- "orientate" joined the language in the mid-19th century. Both can mean "to cause to face toward the east" (and, not surprisingly, they are related to the noun "Orient," meaning "the East"). Both also have broader meanings that relate to setting or determining direction or position, either literally or figuratively. Some critics dislike "orientate" because it is one syllable longer than "orient," but you can decide for yourself how important that consideration is to you. Personal choice is the primary deciding factor, although "orientate" tends to be used more often in British English than it is in American English.

[CatfishStudios]

Another one that bothers me is Library. Some people say,"Libary". I cringe everytime.

[Twanginator]

Originally Posted by TelecasterBlooz

" Hey...hey...hey...Sarge! Lemme AX you a question.." No offense meant, but I heard whites and blacks use this phrase..

I have an Uncle that mispronounces the word "ask" by saying "axe". He didn't go to college but did manage to get through high school. I think this mistake is probably a reflection of one's level of education.

Here's one for you...notice how many people interject the phrase, "and stuff" into a sentence.

"Yeah, like I borrowed my Mom's Beemer and we went to the mall and stuff."

So you are saying you went to the mall and to another place called "stuff"?

[e-merlin]

Originally Posted by Twanginator

Here's one for you...notice how many people interject the phrase, "and stuff" into a sentence.

"Yeah, like I borrowed my Mom's Beemer and we went to the mall and stuff."

So you are saying you went to the mall and to another place called "stuff"?

My doctor has been using that lately. He's probably 10 years older than I am, too!

I've been going to him since I got here 10 years ago and he never said that. I think the boss has him booked so tight these days he doesn't have time to properly form a thought and is just going through the motions. What a shame.