Are there any words or phrases that you hear or read and just wish they would go away? Maybe they're overused, maybe they don't really work for you, or maybe you're just tired of them. I have some that I'll share. If there are some that you want to add, please, share them in the comments.
Awesome. Wow is this word overused. I'm fine that people get excited about stuff, but the frequency with which this word is used feels like hyperbole that got out of control. Awesome can still be used, but lets pare it down a bit and mix in some "greats" and "cools."
Homophobic. This is a stupid word. I'm fine that gay people want a word to represent "negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality," like the word racist refers to people with similar attitudes and feelings towards people of another race, but "phobia" means "fear," not "hatred." Why not "homosexist?" That's much more clear in its meaning and it's just as easy to say since it has the same number of syllables.
It is what it is. Why are you talking? What have you conveyed? No information, no emotion, nothing was expressed with this. Kindly shut your noise hole.
Misuse of literally and ironic. Most people misuse the former in a hyperbolic way, but I honestly don't know if schools are teaching people how to use ironic. Rarely does a week go by that I don't hear someone say "ironic" when they really mean "appropriate," which makes my English degree feel itchy.
Binge-watch. This refers to watching several episodes from a TV show in one sitting, maybe even going through an entire season in one go. But we already have a much less offensive word for this: marathoning. With whole seasons of TV shows released on DVD or online, networks having marathons of TV shows have gone the way of the Dodo, but I remember as a kid trying to stay up late to catch episodes of The Twilight Zone or The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show because when else would I be able to watch those shows for hours on end? I appreciate that the new word has an air of self-loathing to it ("I know I shouldn't sit here for six hours watching Seinfeld, but I am already in my sweatpants"), but the word "binge" is too emotionally-charged for me.
Millennial. I've already shared my thoughts on why I don't like this term, but I also don't think it applies to me. I think I'm too old to be part of that crowd. I'm in my thirties and most of the time "millennial" is applied to people in their early to mid-twenties. Isaac is a millennial, but I'm a generation Y-er.
Those are some words and a phrase that I would happily see removed, repurposed, or at least have their usage reduced. What words would you add?
No comments:
Post a Comment