Words to avoid in 2008

There are a bunch that need to be added, but mine is Closure.

I have no argument with any of the choices. Wouldn't mind if they'd all go away - all are overused, annoying, and getting tiresome.

I'd add a phrase -

"at the end of the day . . . " Please, someone, put that before a firing squad.

Starting sentences with "Basically..."

The word 'irregardless'.

I'm sure I'll think of others.

The one I hate, hate, hate right now is -- wait for it -- inserted mid-sentence in a lame attempt to create suspense.

Ugh! Ick! So contrived. Blech!

Proactive
Rebate
Hearts and Minds
Shock and awe
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
Bling (what the hell does bling mean, anyway?)
Yippie Kye Aye Mutha *&%$#@
Awe hell no.
Sorry, not for us
Didn't fall in love with it like I wanted to.
Don't know the market for it.
I'm sure this will get snapped up by another.


Tri

In interview articles: Caught up with as in I caught up with the rapper as he was sunbathing poolside. This is as hackneyed as it gets and should have been retired a couple of decades ago. It makes it sound like the reporter had to chase the interviewee halfway across the country.

Downtime. Are we really so busy and self-important that our relaxation time needs a special term?

quality time


shoot it NOW.


"They spent quality time with their children." Well, what quality was it exactly? Was the quality of the time crap, boring, or lovely? No one can spend time anymore. It has to be "quality time".

Ahhh, glad to see decimate on the list. That word has always bothered me. Almost every time people use it, they use it completely out of context, usually to mean "to destroy" which is NOT what it means at all.


Webinar is another one I hate. That has to be one of the dumbest terms ever..... contrived * at Devil Ledbetter*

I also want to add something. It isn't really a single word but a trend. You know that fad of combining celebrity names when they are couples, like Benifer? I hope they find whoever started that and beat them with a shoe. Apparently the fad has been gonig on for years but I only recently saw it on the internet. Ugggh.

Also on the subject, adding the suffix "gate" to things (spoofing Watergate) is retarded as well.

It's nice when the idiocies fade out, but there's always another new replacement crop ready to step up. Makes you wonder if there's a secret cubicle where people dream them up just to be tools and drive thinking society nuts.

I remember during the Nixon era the words "now" and/or "right now" went completely out the window in favor of "at this point in time". That was feckin' everywhere for a long time. Mercifully it's mostly gone - I think only Dan Rather uses it now.

If I never hear 'can't rap my mind around it' again 'it'll be too soon' (sorry folks)

cethklein said:

I also want to add something. It isn't really a single word but a trend. You know that fad of combining celebrity names when they are couples, like Benifer? I hope they find whoever started that and beat them with a shoe. Apparently the fad has been gonig on for years but I only recently saw it on the internet. Ugggh.

Click to expand...

Damn straight. But I think a shoe is too mild. How about a nice aluminum bat?

Barf-o-rama. Gag me with a spoon. And all those other cliches, including the one I hate so much I won't even type it (but it starts with "I just..." and ends with "...in my mouth.")

ETA: Finally got the page to load, so I thought I'd add: but I like sweet. It's . . . sweet. So now what will I use instead of "awesome", which no one will let me say? I really don't want to revert to "rad" or "da bomb" . . .

I shall coin my own term. Henceforth, anything that impresses me shall be "squickalicious" until my sweet privileges are returned.

It's also time to retire out of the box to mean new.

The other box phrase gone stale is outside the box to mean unconventional.

when people say "random", about 97% of the time, it makes me feel sad for them that they are not that interesting but trying pathetically hard to appear so.

Rllgthunder said:

So far there have been quite a few opinions on some words that should be left by the side of the road. Does anyone think their choices are viewed as clichés by most agents and publishers or are they just personal choices?

Click to expand...

Great question.

I'm sure mine are personal. If the gatekeepers, agents, publishers, editors and whatnot gave a crap about this stuff we wouldn't be seeing these words and phrases so often that they make us cringe.

Ooh, let's retire a line in the sand while we're at it.

"Grow a business". Oy, that one gives Mother such a headache...

The word 'like' is, like, sooooo annoying and it like, really rips my nips.

Crafting, e.g., "We spent all day crafting the legislation."

Efforting, e.g., "We were efforting that agenda until midnight."

Propensed, e.g., "He was propensed to have a drink due to his past alcoholism."

This whole nouns to verbs laissez faire thing has go to end somewhere.

And I cannot agree more with NerdsRus on "at the end of the day." Smash it with a Louisville Slugger over and over again.

I'd like to kick David Beckham in the head for each time he uses the bastardised word y'know.

Probably off topic, but hey - don't we all feel that way?