There are many words that I love, but a few that irritate me.
interesting: It doesn’t really tell me much. I want to hear something more descriptive; what exactly do you find interesting.
You betcha: Palin played a role there.
No offense 1. This doesn’t diminish the offensive remark which has been perpetrated . 2. Implies that I should be offended, even if the statement that followed wasn’t offensive.
Rural, vocabulary, thatched, thwart , thrice: I can’t seem to pronounce them correctly.
addicting (I don’t mind addictive though), Bush (the ou sounds makes the sh sound rather harsh and it carries unpleasant associations) , cockroach (I dislike them), dank (brings to mind a tank and mold, for some reason), Cheney (I imagine chains) , serendipity(why should we have the word pity when speaking about something pleasant) , terror/terrorize (seems to have lost all meaning)
Babe as a term of endearment.
Are there any words, expressions, cliches that irritate you? Or words you love?
I dislike "no offense" for the same reason you do. And what is with the pseudo-word "addicting"? It drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnother word I hate is "hermeneutic." I swear it doesn't actually mean anything. In the six years I spent hearing it used in academic dialogue I was never able to make any sense of it. I'm pretty sure academics just throw it around as a filler word to add more syllables to their sentences. Academics always need more syllables.
Thanks Kathleen for commenting; I rarely get any comments, so I'm always excited to see you've commented! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on "hermeneutic." I only have a very narrow definition of it in mind, as a theory of interpretation, but you can refer to something as a "hermeneutic interpretation," which puzzles me.
Academics definitely throw around too many unnecessary multisyllabic words.
I just wanted to add that I use interesting often and find myself irritated, more so than if others use it, because I should be able to state why I find something interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am not that sensitive on words as much as I am by actions. Certain behaviors and comments irritate me.
ReplyDeleteLike racist and other ignorant comments.
There are definitely some actions that irritate me. I agree, it's so difficult to hear racist and ignorant comments. Do you encounter any, Aso?
ReplyDeleteYou could say you're sensitive to the way words are used to as to invoke insult or offense.
True! Although sometimes words can sugar pill the spoiled ideas.
ReplyDeleteI do encounter plenty of implied and stated biases daily. Don't you?
Yes, I definitely do, Aso, so I can definitely sympathize, and they always dampen an otherwise good day.
ReplyDelete