# Your Least Favorite Words?



## Quetzal (Jul 25, 2014)

I'm wondering what the least favorite words of fellow members are (I'm sure that there are threads about FAVORITE words, but what about LEAST favorites)?

I'll start:

-Facetious
-Classy
-Christian
-Buddy
-Bro

This is what I have at the moment; what are yours?

-Quetzal


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

Walgreens


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## 3rd&17 (Jun 18, 2014)

-The shortened form, Frat
-expatriate
-polonaise
-lieberkühn (glands/crypts)
-pal


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

'Random' - used in inappropriate context. These imbeciles make my blood boil. 

'Yeah/no' - the irritating pronouncement at the start of speech which signifies cretinism.

'Manchester United' - unless ameliorated with phrases similar to 'worst start of the season since 1938'.

'Synergy' - the identifying call of the bullsh*tter.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

Shaver said:


> 'Yeah/no' - the irritating pronouncement at the start of speech which signifies cretinism.


As used with monotonous regularity by my younger son.



Shaver said:


> 'Manchester United' - unless ameliorated with phrases similar to 'worst start of the season since 1938'.


:tongue2:



Shaver said:


> 'Synergy' - the identifying call of the bullsh*tter


Quite. The other word they use is "segway".
.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Shaver said:


> 'Manchester United' - unless ameliorated with phrases similar to 'worst start of the season since 1938'.


Also: Chelsea


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

As a Roman Catholic, and thus a Christian, the word Chrisitan used to always give me the heebie-geebies when I was younger, not so much anymore, but still a bit.

For me (as a kid in London in the 60s and 70s), it stemmed from the heavy street preacher, leaflet-waving, recruitment-officer vibe that was prevalent amongst many Born Again Christians, Charismatics, Pentecostals, Methodists and Baptists. As an Irish Roman Catholic kid in London, attending solemn Latin Mass on a Sunday, I was in the minority and I always felt threatened by all these loved up, permo-grin, arms-in-the-air, singing and dancing Christians.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> ...and I always felt threatened by all these loved up, permo-grin, arms-in-the-air, singing and dancing Christians.


I like to say, "no Sir, I am not born again, I was born Catholic!!"

Back to the worst word in the second decade of the 21st century;

Absolutely!!


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## tocqueville (Nov 15, 2009)

Impact (to impact or impacts as a noun)…the word shouldn't be used unless we're describing something striking another. Otherwise, affect or effect are, I believe, better choices.

Utilize. 99% of the time "use" is the superior choice.

Kinetic (in defense circles it's a euphemism for violence or the use of force…I think the word smacks of Nazi Sprachregeln)

Solution…like when companies sell computing solutions.

As for "Christian," I am not one, but I, too, have been under the impression that Evangelicals seemed to appropriate the word for themselves, implying that non-Evangelicals (Catholics, Orthodox, etc.) were not Christian. If I were among the latter groups, I would be offended. Now, I suspect that if asked, most Evangelicals would deny any such intention--and I'm sure they're sincere being decent folk, but sometimes word choices can convey unintended meanings.

As for sartorial matters, I've come to dread the words "heritage" and "archival." Maybe if Brooks or another old company really did pull a pattern out of their literal archives (which I'm sure exist somewhere), words like this would be appropriate.


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

So many useful words get caught up, from time to time, in sociological diatribes and busy-ness school pomposity that the ones that gall sort of rotate in and out: paradigms, marginalize, dynamic, esteem. They aren't bad words, occasionally useful and apt, just beat to death by speakers that, after awhile, seem to be some form of bloody idiot, aka a "Bro".


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## quiller (Dec 25, 2010)

"awesome"


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## Quetzal (Jul 25, 2014)

Earl of Ormonde said:


> As a Roman Catholic, and thus a Christian, the word Chrisitan used to always give me the heebie-geebies when I was younger, not so much anymore, but still a bit.
> 
> For me (as a kid in London in the 60s and 70s), it stemmed from the heavy street preacher, leaflet-waving, recruitment-officer vibe that was prevalent amongst many Born Again Christians, Charismatics, Pentecostals, Methodists and Baptists. As an Irish Roman Catholic kid in London, attending solemn Latin Mass on a Sunday, I was in the minority and I always felt threatened by all these loved up, permo-grin, arms-in-the-air, singing and dancing Christians.


Mr. Earl, I am one-hundred percent with you; I too am a proud Catholic (not a "Fundamentalist", as my peers call me; rather, knowledgeable about what it means to be a Catholic), and I dislike the word "Christian" for this very reason (here in the States, or in my area, those who are not Catholic insist that we are not Christians; why can't they understand that we are a symbolic religion?), along with your last sentence; don't get me wrong, I love God, but in my own ways. My closest friend, who is also an Irish Catholic, occasionally comment on ignorant "Christian" attitudes, such as the "Catholic not being Christian".

I deeply apologize to everyone who is a non-Catholic Christian and whom I've offended, if I have; it's just that most people in my area are very obnoxious, ignorant, and pretentious.

-Quetzal


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## Quetzal (Jul 25, 2014)

Here's another word that really annoys me:

"Chick".

I've never liked that word, as it sounds like a very derogatory word to me (even if guys my age address gals with that word or a "cute" version of the B-word, I will always find it offensive, even if women don't really care).

Another word is "was", but only because too many people say "was" instead of the correct word "were" for hypothetical situations, along with "good"; most of the time that the word "good" is used, "well" or "fine" are better (come on, people, we can be creative with the English language, if, of course, we don't corrupt it).

If you guys like, we can also include other grammatical things, such as "pro-NOUNCE-iation", as too many people say, or worse; most fellow Statesmen are probably aware of the notorious "Wis-CAN-sin" accent; trust me, it exists.

-Quetzal


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Quetzal said:


> Mr. Earl, I am one-hundred percent with you; I too am a proud Catholic (not a "Fundamentalist", as my peers call me; rather, knowledgeable about what it means to be a Catholic), and I dislike the word "Christian" for this very reason (here in the States, or in my area, those who are not Catholic insist that we are not Christians; why can't they understand that we are a symbolic religion?), along with your last sentence; don't get me wrong, I love God, but in my own ways. My closest friend, who is also an Irish Catholic, occasionally comment on ignorant "Christian" attitudes, such as the "Catholic not being Christian". I deeply apologize to everyone who is a non-Catholic Christian and whom I've offended, if I have; it's just that most people in my area are very obnoxious, ignorant, and pretentious.
> -Quetzal


In total agreement with you Sir. I have heard & read that ignorant "Catholics are not Christians" phrase so many times over the years from so-called Christians. And like your Irish Catholic friend I too started to experience, when I was much younger, "Christian" as a term that had been hijacked by the more extreme reformed & happy clappy churches.

To the extent that for me there were: Catholics, Orthodox, Coptic, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians and then a looong loong way away from that group the Manic Street Preacher people that only ever referred to themselves as Christians and Soldiers of Christ and Christ's Children and other such terms.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

tocqueville said:


> As for "Christian," I am not one, but I, too, have been under the impression that *Evangelicals seemed to appropriate the word for themselves, implying that non-Evangelicals (Catholics, Orthodox, etc.) were not Christian.* If I were among the latter groups, I would be offended. Now, I suspect that if asked, most Evangelicals would deny any such intention--and I'm sure they're sincere being decent folk, but sometimes word choices can convey unintended meanings.


Such was exactly the case for many decades in England, at least from the 60s (in my memory) possibly earlier and well into the 90s, and it probably unfortunately still prevails amongst some groups.


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## justonemore (Jul 2, 2009)

Any word in a title that makes a person high & mighty by title alone (given titles versus earned titles )... Sir/madame is as far as I'm willing to go as to being polite to any one... None of the following shall ever pass my lips...

Your...
Honor 
Holiness
Highness
Majesty
Excellency
Etc.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

justonemore said:


> Any word in a title that makes a person high & mighty by title alone (given titles versus earned titles )... Sir/madame is as far as I'm willing to go as to being polite to any one... None of the following shall ever pass my lips...
> 
> Your...
> Honor
> ...


Earl


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

The Duke of Earl!!


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

justonemore said:


> Any word in a title that makes a person high & mighty by title alone (given titles versus earned titles )... Sir/madame is as far as I'm willing to go as to being polite to any one... None of the following shall ever pass my lips...
> 
> Your...
> Honor
> ...


Strangely enough, to me they're all perfectly acceptable. I would have no issue with using any of them as they are all merely honourifics. There is no suggestion, to me, that calling a judge, in court, "your honour", or a bishop, in a formal setting, "your grace", as examples, means that they are in any way acting "high and mighty".


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## justonemore (Jul 2, 2009)

Not so strange as you were born under the crown (so to speak), & most of my examples play well into U.K. society.

I wasn't particularly speaking about attitude (which is probably more the case with judges) than the implied greatness. I just don't agree with calling people things that often aren't true. Is the pope really the embodiment of holiness? Sure. To catholics. I find very few judges as really being honorable. etc. 

Here's an example of my problem with this....

Take a knighting ceremony... Everyone is standing in this grand room of a stunning ancient building surrounded by objects of the highest workmanship... but.... The only object addressed as "majestic" is basically a fairly average frail 88 y.o. female human that was born to the "right" family. I don't mean anything negative about it. If I got myself in a "Patriot Games" situation, I would probably follow protocol.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

Quisling
Stakeholder
Diversity
Grapple


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

Upscale.

Transportation - unless used in the context of the history of Australia.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Seriously??


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## vpkozel (May 2, 2014)

I am quite fond of the word Christian. Of course it is my name, so I do have a bit of bias in that respect.


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## thewire (Jul 21, 2011)

My least phrase du jour is "pop of color." SO overused.


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## Anon 18th Cent. (Oct 27, 2008)

.....


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

:devil: LOL.

...."not tonight dear!"


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I'm not a big fan of football coaches who overemphasize the importance of games (especially when they compare them to war - - - -)

So I don't like when they use the word "football" as an adjective when the word is not needed to clarify anything.

"We have to win this football game" (I fully understand that the Chicago Bears are not playing Jai Alai - - -)


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I guess another one is the word "Unamerican" used as an adjective to define any person, idea or action with which the speaker disagrees.

It's way overused.

People who discriminate are "un-American" to lefties. People who don't completely hew to the right wing way everyone should win are "un-American" to righties. It really demeans a word that should only be used in the most extreme of cases, at least in my perspective.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

'It has been drawn to my attention that ...'

'We regret to inform you that...'

'Due to circumstances beyond our control ...'


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## Odradek (Sep 1, 2011)

Airstrike.

Newspeak for bombing.
So overused unquestioningly by the media.


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

"unique" is a fine word when used correctly.

From Webster: being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.

Hence, something is or is not unique. However, I constantly hear things described as "very unique," or "somewhat unique." 

I can't help hearing that as jarringly wrong. Drives me crazy. And newscasters and sports coaches love to say "very unique." 

Now that I have made you aware, you'll hear it almost every day. Sorry, now you can suffer with me.  Or, if, as opposed to me, you are normal in the head, it won't bother you at all.


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## Quetzal (Jul 25, 2014)

Fading Fast said:


> "unique" is a fine word when used correctly.
> 
> From Webster: being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
> 
> ...


I guess that depends on what "Normal" is. Now that there is no such thing as "The Man" or any solid form of being normal, there isn't really a definition for "Normal". Which is sad, in my opinion, as there aren't as many "sub-cultures" as there used to be (well, "Hipsters" count, I guess, but they seem to be becoming "Normal" these days).

Considering how I still use "Thee" and "Thou", believe that every man should wear a suit five days of the week and own a Tux, that a TRUE American car has two couches (thick, soft, and comfortable bench seats in the front and back; Nash was the genius to allow them to "Airline-Recline"), RWD, and plenty of trunk space with a powerful engine (gotta love a Straight-Six), that suburbs are the scorn of the Earth (maybe I'll start a thread on my feeling for them), that women should wear a dress (anything above the knee is "provocative" for me) or suit (skirts only) with a hat (a REAL hat), proper shoes and gloves, that REAL American "Trad" consists of wide-lapel and shoulder suits and coats, wide and tastefully garish ties, wide-brim hats, wide jewelry (cufflinks, clasps, and collar clips), wide-collared shirts, and wide and high-rise pleated slacks, how I believe in doing things yourself (I've NEVER taken my car to the dealer, and the only time that I've had service come to my house was for cutting trees because I was busy that week; I do my own housework), how I still pronounce words correctly such as "ad-VER-tis-ment" and accentuate the "H" in "Wh-" words, how I solely base politics on economics (if I believed in the "Traditional Fill-In-The-Blank" thing, then I'd be WAY past being a Reactionary), and many, many, other things.

Now you've reminded of how much I despise the word "normal".

-Quetzal


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

Quetzal, glad I could help remind you (said from my bullet-riddled body).


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