Words I Am Tired Of Hearing
I'm picky. I admit that.
And I have a slight problem with obsessive compulsive disorder.
I'm the guy that counts how many times the guy says "our Father" during the prayer at church.
For some reason, I find myself noticing when certain words work their way into the vernacular. And it drives me crazy. So I am using the wide scope of this blog to call for an end to the use of some of these words.
Now, I've already covered the use of the word "literally." It doesn't seem to have helped, I still hear it all the time. I've also covered the phrase "at the end of the day." I seem to be hearing it a little less now.
In Kansas City last week, I sat in a meeting, compiling a list for this article. Hey, I had to do something to stay awake. Here you go, a list of words to be banished from popular language.
Absolutely. This word is way overused. Sitting in my meeting last week, I heard one presenter use the word fifteen times in forty-five minutes. Every time someone would ask him a question, if the answer was affirmative, he would say, "absolutely." If the answer was negative, he would say, "absolutely not."
Watch interviews on shows like the Today Show, especially reporters, when they are interviewed by the host as a follow up to a story. They'll use the word several times, even in a short segment.
The word is used mostly to impress people, I think. Otherwise, people would just say "yes." After all, "absolutely" has four syllables, "yes" has just one. Poly-syllabic words are always more impressive than mono-syllabic words. And let's face it, words are an important way for us to make other people believe that we are smarter than we really are.
And that is why people say "absolutely" so much.
Please stop it.
From now on, if you feel the need to say "absolutely," there are plenty of alternatives. How about saying "positively" or "surely?" Or what about saying "unquestionably," or "right on?"
From now on, when I feel tempted to say "absolutely," I am just going to say, "yup." Feel free to join me.
Exactly. I hear this word used all the time. Listening to Dr. Laura recently, I heard a caller use the word five times in a thirty second period. People use this word when they are in agreement with something someone says. I hear it a lot when people are involved in a heated discussion over something they feel strongly about.
"Health care reform is too expensive, and it is going to bankrupt our country."
"Exactly."
But you have to put the emphasis on the right part of the word, in order to make it count. "ExACTly." On tv and radio, you'll hear it all the time. I mean, ALL the time.
How about we use the word "precisely?" Or we throw back to the 90s, with, "totally?" I say that a lot. My friend at work uses the word "seriously" instead of "exactly."
Surreal. HATE this word. Somebody went to college for three semesters, and in one of those semesters, they attended a philosophy class, and the professor used the word "surreal." They thought, "cool word!" Then they dropped out of college, and have been using it, or should I say, over-using it, ever since.
The word means "dreamlike." It is the opposite of real.
"What was it like at the fair?"
(talking like a person who is high) "Oooohhhh, it was just sooo surreal."
Yup, college dropout.
Amazing. It's like, all the young people got together and said, "we're going to have one adjective to describe every great event that ever happens in our lives, from now on."
And it is going to be aMAYzing. See, you have to say it like that, a-MAAAAYYYY-zing. The more amazing it was, the more emphasis you put on the MAAAAYYYY. It works, try it.
"How was your date last night?"
"Oh, it was a-MAAAAYYY-zing."
"Yeah? Did you enjoy the movie?"
"Oh, it was so a-MAY-zing." (slightly less amazing than the overall date).
Yes, amazing is way overused.
How about this instead? "It was pretty good." Or, "yeah, it was great." Great's a good word. At just one syllable, though, you're not going to impress anyone.
Basically. People say this a lot. It is a stalling tactic. If someone asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, in order to stall until you can come up with a good load of crap to say, you say, "basically..." This word has been creeping into the vernacular of athletes lately, I've noticed. I heard one football player start every single sentence with that word, in a single interview. Every sentence.
A good alternative to the word "basically" would be just to say nothing at all. Nothing wrong with that. Just sit there, looking contemplative. Works every time. Then you follow up your silence with a "that's a good question."
Kinda. Oh man, people are saying that word a lot. I think it is an attempt at false humility, like people who say "ummm" a lot. Of course, it is a perversion of the phrase "kind of."
"Did you have a good day at work dear?"
"Kind of."
But we have smushed it all together, and say "kinda." And we use it in sentences, when we're talking about things we're supposed to know a lot about.
Listen for it, and you'll hear it all the time. And maybe it will drive you as crazy as it does me.
So there you have it. My list of banished soon-to-be-banished words. From now on, we're going to...kinda...basically stop using these words all the time. It might feel surreal, but when we're done, it will be aMAYYYYzing. Will it be hard? Absolutely! But at the end of the day, I think we can do it. And if we don't? My head is literally going to explode.
And I have a slight problem with obsessive compulsive disorder.
I'm the guy that counts how many times the guy says "our Father" during the prayer at church.
For some reason, I find myself noticing when certain words work their way into the vernacular. And it drives me crazy. So I am using the wide scope of this blog to call for an end to the use of some of these words.
Now, I've already covered the use of the word "literally." It doesn't seem to have helped, I still hear it all the time. I've also covered the phrase "at the end of the day." I seem to be hearing it a little less now.
In Kansas City last week, I sat in a meeting, compiling a list for this article. Hey, I had to do something to stay awake. Here you go, a list of words to be banished from popular language.
Absolutely. This word is way overused. Sitting in my meeting last week, I heard one presenter use the word fifteen times in forty-five minutes. Every time someone would ask him a question, if the answer was affirmative, he would say, "absolutely." If the answer was negative, he would say, "absolutely not."
Watch interviews on shows like the Today Show, especially reporters, when they are interviewed by the host as a follow up to a story. They'll use the word several times, even in a short segment.
The word is used mostly to impress people, I think. Otherwise, people would just say "yes." After all, "absolutely" has four syllables, "yes" has just one. Poly-syllabic words are always more impressive than mono-syllabic words. And let's face it, words are an important way for us to make other people believe that we are smarter than we really are.
And that is why people say "absolutely" so much.
Please stop it.
From now on, if you feel the need to say "absolutely," there are plenty of alternatives. How about saying "positively" or "surely?" Or what about saying "unquestionably," or "right on?"
From now on, when I feel tempted to say "absolutely," I am just going to say, "yup." Feel free to join me.
Exactly. I hear this word used all the time. Listening to Dr. Laura recently, I heard a caller use the word five times in a thirty second period. People use this word when they are in agreement with something someone says. I hear it a lot when people are involved in a heated discussion over something they feel strongly about.
"Health care reform is too expensive, and it is going to bankrupt our country."
"Exactly."
But you have to put the emphasis on the right part of the word, in order to make it count. "ExACTly." On tv and radio, you'll hear it all the time. I mean, ALL the time.
How about we use the word "precisely?" Or we throw back to the 90s, with, "totally?" I say that a lot. My friend at work uses the word "seriously" instead of "exactly."
Surreal. HATE this word. Somebody went to college for three semesters, and in one of those semesters, they attended a philosophy class, and the professor used the word "surreal." They thought, "cool word!" Then they dropped out of college, and have been using it, or should I say, over-using it, ever since.
The word means "dreamlike." It is the opposite of real.
"What was it like at the fair?"
(talking like a person who is high) "Oooohhhh, it was just sooo surreal."
Yup, college dropout.
Amazing. It's like, all the young people got together and said, "we're going to have one adjective to describe every great event that ever happens in our lives, from now on."
And it is going to be aMAYzing. See, you have to say it like that, a-MAAAAYYYY-zing. The more amazing it was, the more emphasis you put on the MAAAAYYYY. It works, try it.
"How was your date last night?"
"Oh, it was a-MAAAAYYY-zing."
"Yeah? Did you enjoy the movie?"
"Oh, it was so a-MAY-zing." (slightly less amazing than the overall date).
Yes, amazing is way overused.
How about this instead? "It was pretty good." Or, "yeah, it was great." Great's a good word. At just one syllable, though, you're not going to impress anyone.
Basically. People say this a lot. It is a stalling tactic. If someone asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, in order to stall until you can come up with a good load of crap to say, you say, "basically..." This word has been creeping into the vernacular of athletes lately, I've noticed. I heard one football player start every single sentence with that word, in a single interview. Every sentence.
A good alternative to the word "basically" would be just to say nothing at all. Nothing wrong with that. Just sit there, looking contemplative. Works every time. Then you follow up your silence with a "that's a good question."
Kinda. Oh man, people are saying that word a lot. I think it is an attempt at false humility, like people who say "ummm" a lot. Of course, it is a perversion of the phrase "kind of."
"Did you have a good day at work dear?"
"Kind of."
But we have smushed it all together, and say "kinda." And we use it in sentences, when we're talking about things we're supposed to know a lot about.
Listen for it, and you'll hear it all the time. And maybe it will drive you as crazy as it does me.
So there you have it. My list of banished soon-to-be-banished words. From now on, we're going to...kinda...basically stop using these words all the time. It might feel surreal, but when we're done, it will be aMAYYYYzing. Will it be hard? Absolutely! But at the end of the day, I think we can do it. And if we don't? My head is literally going to explode.
Yikes. I'm a huge offender here. Thanks for speaking up about this. I'll try to cut back on my absolutlies, basicallies, and exactlies.
Dan
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Does it bug you when they misuse "they're", "their", and "there" or when they type "alot" or misuse "to" and "too"? When they write about "sitting on ones laurels" does it make you wonder if they know what laurels are? And WHY DO PEOPLE TYPE IN CAPS WHEN THEY WANT TO EMPHASIZE SOMETHING?
It's absolutely amazing how they can literally drive me kinda crazy!
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I'm bad too, Daniel. I find myself using many of these terms a lot. So I'm working on it. And yeah, it drives me crazy when people misuse they're, their, there, too, to, two, etc. I have a friend from school who always types in all caps. I couldn't figure out why, until our reunion. Then I figured it out.
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Hi Jason. You are absolutely right. It's amazing just how surreal it was reading this. Basically, it is exactly the way I feel every time I hear sombody using these same words. Kinda.
Bless you.
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Basically, I think this was a partial list. You kinda omitted some of my favorites:
"Very unique". Unique means unlike anything else. There are no degrees.
"I could care less". When what they really means is they COULDN'T care less.
"Horrific". What's wrong with horrible? Isn't it horrible enough?
"At this point in time." What they mean is "at this time". Or "now".
There are others. Absolutely.
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I know we're talking about single words here, but what about the phrase "mind you". I feel that term is completely over used
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And another: "It is what it is."
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For some reason, "It is what it is" reminds me of Gavin Newsome's irritating speech "whether you like it or not speech". If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms0hugRkgv8. This was where he was bragging about gay marriage shortly before Prop. 8.
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