What's your least favorite word?

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

Mine is "disentangle." Shouldn't we just say "untangle?" I used to see this word all the time in my college text books and in essays by jackass professors whose dense writing style obscured their message. Bugs the H-E-double hockey sticks outta me!

So, what's your least favorite word? Please also provide a brief rant "proving" your argument.

[xultar]

1. MYSELF---because so many people use it incorrectly. n/t

[hippiechick]

2. The C- word

(C*nt) It's just a vile and ugly sounding word.

[Aiptasia]

6. The British have elevated the "C" word to comedy art

but your only allowed to pronounce it in a British accent as a punchline. Otherwise, it sounds vile and ugly, as you say.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

18. I agree

the brits have it down. When I hear them say it, it conjures an image of Barry Manilow or Robbie Williams not of the other...uh...thing.

[Aiptasia]

28. It reminds me of Sean of the Dead.. or Ab Fab

Like I said, it has to be used in a brit-comedy context.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

45. I like the -y adjective form

And strictly to describe behavior. Or the ever popular euphemism: "See You Next Tuesday." Of a fighting couple: "Well, I guess it's always Tuesday at their house."

Women got me started on all this so you can't pin it to my misogyny.

[Aiptasia]

3. the mispronunciation of the word "nuclear"

Every time GW says it, it makes me cringe.

new-clear georgie, not nuculur.

[terrya]

4. Mine:

"faggot". It's an ugly, ugly word. I don't care if it's just "a word". There has been and always will be a nasty meaning to it.

Same thing with "nigger". An evil, vile word.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

9. I agree on "faggot"

the origins of the word are horrible too, as far as I know.

[Gildor Inglorion]

12. You're right, terrya...

absolutely.
:hug:

[JimmyJazz]

40. I would agree and add any word whose purpose is to dehumanize

another to that list -

[Mutley]

5. persons and people

to this day i don't know which one is correct and it actually drives me a little nuts when someone says 'persons'

[Gildor Inglorion]

7. "unravel" - means EXACTLY the same as "ravel" -

you might as well say "unthaw"! A silly, sloppy, totally unnecessary word that increases my blood pressure every time I hear it. Close runner-up: "hopefully." Nobody uses it correctly.
:banghead:

[SmokingJacket]

8. Cremaster.

Even apart from its meaning (muscles around the testicles), there's something about the word that makes my teeth ache.

Maybe because it has the words "creme" and "master" in it: :puke:

[RandomKoolzip]

10. "Radiohead."

No...I'm kidding. My least favorite word is "Skynyrd."

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

26. How can you muster such hatred

for an innocent ol' gym teacher, KoolZip. Whadid he make you play too many sets of floor tennis? :cry:

[RandomKoolzip]

27. That and the sodomy.

[KitchenWitch]

11. utilize

it is way over-used. Simple language folks. No need to use big words, when smaller ones will do. (it does not make one sound more educated.)

[youthere]

13. "irregardless"

I'm shocked at how many "educated" people use this one. It's regardless.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

15. Against my better judgment

I listened to Dave Ramsey one day. His call-in guest said something like, "Gee, Dave, should I really have an Roth IRA when my 401 K blah, blah, blah.....irregardless?"

Dave Ramsey: "Yes, irregardless."

I nearly vomited right there in the car.

[kick-ass-bob]

21. every time I see this word, I get hungry:

http://www.irregardless.com/

[MemphisTiger]

25. I agree, hate that word

it's like misunderestimate

[Beware the Beast Man]

14. "gravitas"

:evilgrin:

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

17. Oh god, yes... absolutely! nt

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

16. Multitasking

It doesn't exist. It is only a justification for giving one person the job of three.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

19. How about this? Musca lo0leupj jllposhf ewqqp knnhzxcnhlk.

I always get tongue tied when say it.

[RandomKoolzip]

20. Oh, here's another one I hate: "pathos."

I don't know why. It just grates on me.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

24. I'm not a big fan of "wrongheaded."

Okay, so since I made a bad decision or exercised bad judgment, I had the wrong head on? What does this mean, I can think of a million better ways to say this.

[tjwmason]

22. Nice

We've got this great big language with around 600,000 words in it, and the only adjective which people use is 'nice'. It has no damn meaning, and to make everything worse it's monosyllabic - I know that Fowler tells us to prefer the simple to the complex, but we lived in such dumbed-down times that a plague of monosyllaby is swapping us. This collection of letters (which I will not grace with the term 'word') is only acceptable when used in an ironic or bitchy sense. In conclusion then only manner in which one can adequately describe it, is to say that "nice is nice".

On the other hand I love disentangle, it fills the mouth in a pleasant fashion when one says it, and when written it has a glorious 3-peaked near symmetry which is most charming rejecting both anarchy and an obsessive appearance bordering on the palladian.

As a second entry, all naff modern faux words; most especially when a noun has been turned into a verb (e.g., the grotesque "to dialogue" and "to action").

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

33. how 'bout....

"to fellowship."

Friend of mine heard that one from some looney church-goers down here in Nashville.

[tjwmason]

37. That could only come from Nashville

:scared:

Linguistically, the American south represents one of my favourite sounds - but that it just nasty and creepy.

[MemphisTiger]

23. Anyword ending in "ize" to turn it into a verb like

strategize

I have alot of phrases that I hate, like "that being said"

[billyskank]

32. OMG and you forgot the worst one of them all

"monetize!"

[Magrittes Pipe]

29. "Paul"

You fucking rat bastard. :grr:

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

35. Sack Puppet

:P

[Hugin]

30. "Pinus"

I had a friend who had to give a lecture to a stuffy
room full of scholars... Assigned topic: The Pine Tree.

http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/pi/pin/

Try saying that around a 112 times with a straight face.

:)

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

36. Honestly, I cracked up the first time I said it!

Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus. Pinus.



:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Hugin]

41. When she got to...

Pinus Pinus wangii

The crowd went amok... She got an "A" and the whole
thing was discontinued.

She doesn't talk about it much, even now.

[billyskank]

31. Functionality

It seems such an awkward, contrived word to me, and I'm sure it was coined by some management type. An object has a function or it has functions; that is sufficient. I see no need for this word "functionality."

I see people starting to use the non-existent word "irregardless" now too, which just shows that some people don't pay attention to what is actually coming out of their mouths.

Ooh, while I'm on the subject, there's another thing that bugs me, although it's not an actual word. I see many Americans, including some here, say "I could care less about x..." They of course mean to say "couldn't care less," assuming that they mean they don't care about it at all. They way they say it, it makes no sense! I haven't noticed whether this error is often made by Brits or not.

[bertha katzenengel]

34. see you next tuesday

:puke:

Do I need to rant?

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

39. Unless you're referring the superfluous "next,"

you might just have to explain.

[bertha katzenengel]

43. "C" -- "U" -- "N"ext -- "T"uesday

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

44. Okay, I got ya' now....nt

[Shell Beau]

38. I hate the P word and the C word; they just sound gross.

[Arugula Latte]

42. You know what's hard to say?

"Rural."

You know what's fun to say?

"Scrotum."

You know what's also kinda fun to say?

"Succulent."

[BlueIris]

46. "Malignant."

For all the reasons a person might not like that word.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

47. Bush

Every time I hear that word I glower and growl.

[BlueIris]

48. Oh, yeah.

Which is annoying for me, since I'm friends with a few people with that surname, (yes, they know about the website) and they're not Republicans or Bush-supporters but I do have to hear them use their names a lot (like you do) and it sucks. One time, one of them asked me if it bothered me ('cause I guess I was making that face) and I admitted it did and he was like, "well, imagine what it's like to have this last name!" That individual had the misfortune of having had to live through the first Bush admin, too, and hated his name at that point as well.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

49. "Well"

As in "Well, but..." "Well, I don't know..." etc. Always connect it with something negative.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

50. Almost anything with a "un" in front of it.

[Flying Dream Blues]

51. "Amazing"

These days it is the most overused word in the English language.

Everything is amazing. As you say, people pay no attention to what is actually coming out of their mouths.

[MediumBrownDog]

52. there/their/they're

the incorrect use of these words is like fingernails on a blackboard to me. My elementary school teacher taught us this simple rule:

THERE they go again!

THEIR speed is amazing!

THEY'RE going to win the race!

I also hate any 'consultant-speak' word with a hyphen. "Re-purpose" "multi-tasking" etc.

[kodi]

53. virgin

.

[BigMcLargehuge]

54. Spork

it's not a spoon, it's not a fork, and it's saddled with a miniature napkin.

Fuck that shit man.

[Dukkha]

55. synergize & proactive

or any other empty corporate buzz words used in a futile manner to boost the dead moral of workers who had their spirits crushed long ago.

[graywarrior]

57. Pimple

and irregardless..whatever that means.

I love and hate "whatever." Love it when I say it, hate it when he says it.

[Evergreen Emerald]

56. puss and scab

make me want to hurl

[2bfree]

58. Work

:)