Words that Irrationally Irritate You?

[WTMCassandra]

What words get on your nerves for no good reason?

 

Mine are:

 

1. "Hoodie" instead of hooded sweatshirt. Yes, I know it's shorter and supposedly a more cutesie term. But I can't stand it! And EVERYONE seems to use it--even for menswear! Maybe I can't stand it BECAUSE it's cutesie?!

 

2. "Strappy sandals." Not that I'm the type to wear them anyway, but I just don't like the term. Since I'm pretty tall, the same height as DH, and heels hurt my feet, there are none in my closet. But. Still.

 

So, what bugs you? (except for people who hate trendy words for no significant reason)

[Crissy]

The phrase, "flesh out", as in filling in the gaps.

 

I hate it, but not for any good reason.

[Danestress]

The phrases "panties in a knot" or "panties in a twist" and likewise, whenever a woman is upset about something.

 

I don't care who is saying it and whether I agree with them on the issue at hand, I always just think it's an especially tacky thing to say, and somehow belittling in a way that makes me suspect that belittling is the best argument they could come up with.

 

I also am always - not irritated, but maybe shocked? by conversations that include the word "v@ginal," as in, "Did you have a v@ginal birth." Like I really wanted to think about the person's anatomy that way.

 

And of course I hate the word, "socialization." Don't we all?

[VaKim]

"Mom!" When said for the thousandth time in a day. :D

[Crissy]

I also am always - not irritated, but maybe shocked? by conversations that include the word "v@ginal," as in, "Did you have a v@ginal birth." Like I really wanted to think about the person's anatomy that way.

 

 

 

:001_huh: Ooops. Sorry. I was guilty of that in a hysterectomy thread yesterday.

[E_Edgerton]

"booze". Don't get me wrong...I like alcohol:tongue_smilie:, I just wish it would never be referred to as "booze." There is something about the way it sounds. That is the only one I can think of off the top of my head....however I am sure I will think of more! Great thread!

[WTMCassandra]

I can tolerate "my bad" if not overused too much, but I agree with you on "growing the economy." The only thing that's worse is "growing the church" ; ).

[WTMCassandra]

Now there's one I hadn't thought of! But, you're right! Sometimes I answer that with, "She's gone to Siberia."

[WTMCassandra]

And of course I hate the word, "socialization." Don't we all?

 

YES!

[Trivium Academy]

can't

fault

the sentence, "I looked and I didn't see it."

[Doran]

"That sucks"

"That bites"

"Fly"

 

Aargh! :glare:

 

 

 

I also don't like "veggie" for the same reason you don't like "hoodie". Its overly cute.

 

Other randomly irritating words/phrases -- but I do have a reason which is because I feel that people use these incorrectly.

 

For all intense purposes

Inflammable

Irrregardless

Baby chick

She's not very trustworthy, so I'm really weary of any promises she makes.

 

 

I'm better off not thinking of these things. :D

[klmama]

My dc may call me "Mom," "Mama," or "Mommy," but I hate being called "Mother." They don't mean it in a sarcastic way or an angry way at all, but that's how I take it. Irrational is exactly the right word for it!

[tibbyl]

In no way will I appoint myself as grammar or usage police; feel free to shoot me on the spot to put me out of my nitpickiness if I ever do. But since you asked ..........

 

"Gay" used as a term of ridicule as in "that's so gay."

 

"Retarded" used in disparaging manner although that is at least a little more accurate than the slang use of "gay."

 

"Ho" used as a general putdown or "ho" used as slang for promiscuous or prostitute.

 

Putting an -ize at end of common or proper noun to make a verb as in "Warrenize" or "prioritize."

 

Euphemisms to soften shock. Example "collateral damage" used to refer to civilian deaths in military operations.

 

Cutesy names for genitalia and bodily functions.

 

Using the s-bomb and f-bomb to mean virtually anything dependent upon context.

 

Misuse of the word "literally" as in "I literally wet my pants laughing so hard" when user did not indeed wet themselves.

 

An occasional well-placed "hell" or "****" or even something more explicit for dramatic effect. No problem. Strange, huh?

[muffinmom]

For some reason, blouse really bothers me. Pamphlet isn't so great, either. How about caveat? And, whatever you do, please don't level the playing field! (At least, not around me!)

[Book Crazy]

If a weather man tells me one more time to "hunker down" when there is a storm approaching, I think I might scream.

[tibbyl]

An occasional well-placed "hell" or "****" or even something more explicit for dramatic effect. No problem. Strange, huh?

 

Just to clarify, I typed out the 4 letter word whose homophone is dam. Apparently the nebulous "system" inserted the asterisks.

[PariSarah]

This week, my list includes "robust," "ineluctable," "construe," and "problematize."

 

I also always get my knickers in a knot over grammatical irregularities. "The reason is because . . . " and "Irregardless" tend to incite large quantities of red ink when I'm grading papers.

[RhondaM.]

When people say or write "my bad". Also, it grates on my nerves when people talk about "growing" the economy.

 

Agreeing with you!!! :smash: ESPECIALLY when I hear it HERE on this board!

[Guest]

I don't like the word "screw", as in "I screwed up"

[Crafty Mathy Mom]

For some reason "pew Bible" gets on my nerves. Every Sunday the pastor would give the scripture reference and then state the page number for the pew Bible. It was even worse when he would say "page ## in the blue pew Bible."

[Mom to Aly]

When people say they are "doing good" instead of "well", as my sister, who teaches school, does, it drives me NUTS!!!! My daughter has known the correct usage of well since she was 3--why don't other people????

 

And MA'AM!!!!! When I moved to VA, when I was 24, I was called Ma'am for the first time--I hate it! I hate it when kids say it to their moms, when people say it to me, to others, hate it (it is supposed to have roots in slave times).

 

Any euphemisms for body parts--hate them! Real words only.

 

Using derogatory words for races or sexual preference.

 

I know I'll get slammed for this, but the generic, "God Bless", or more specific religious talk aimed at a stranger. I really don't think all these people are really praying to God to bless me, and I find it very offensive for them to assume I am a religion or their religion, or whatever. That is acutally probably my pet peeve. That, second only to cursing in public, especially when kids are around.

[ncmomo3]

I have to throw in a non-word that I could go the remainder of my life without hearing again.

NOTHER--as in: "...but that is a whole nother story."

That caused me pain to type. :glare:

 

I must now add that I looked it up and it is listed as informal...but come on!!

Is it really a word??:lol:

[newlifemom]

scarf. Not something pretty you put around your neck, but the way one might eat. My dh used to talk about going to an all you can scarf restaurant and really, that just about makes me throw up. Also, I too cannot stand the word irregardless. I don't think I have ever heard it used correctly. However, when it comes to grammar, I am need to remove the plank first so I try not to say anything. :D

[RoughCollie]

I don't like the word gifting. I don't gift Charlie a china platter, I give it to him.

 

Regift is another no-no on my list. Who cares where the gift came from or how it got there, as long as I owned it before I gave it to someone else?

 

I abhor the phrase "that's so gay". The teens in my house say it and it is meaningless. Or maybe it means they don't like something because it isn't cool. I know that what is designated as "so gay" has absolutely nothing to do with being either homosexual or merry, or both.

 

There is an f-word that should never be said aloud, and it has to do with the intestines. In fact, I think all words concerning the intestines should be said only by and to medical doctors. I don't want to hear one word about anyone's intestines. Is that clear? :D

 

I don't like "growing the economy/church/or anything else". Right now I can't think of any sentence in which "growing the X" sounds right, even for bacteria or carrots.

 

RC

[RoughCollie]

Even though I've lived in the frozen north for 19 years, it bugs me when kids, especially, don't say "yes, Ma'am/Sir" or "no, Ma'am/Sir". To a Southerner, it is rude not to say that.

 

Ma'am is a contraction for Madame. It has nothing to do with slavery and even if I'm wrong, who cares? Slavery has not been present in the U.S. for over one hundred years.

 

And MA'AM!!!!! When I moved to VA, when I was 24, I was called Ma'am for the first time--I hate it! I hate it when kids say it to their moms, when people say it to me, to others, hate it (it is supposed to have roots in slave times).

 

 

[Mekanamom]

"Team Building"

 

...As an explanation/excuse for #1) A company that is too cheap to have a "real" company picnic, so they exclude the spouses and children from such events or #2) As a cover for a good number of "select" people from a company to leave spouses and children at home to go off to some grand hotel somewhere to schmooze, booze, and... well you know what happens at those events.

 

Heck, even though I completely trust my DH, I just hate that whole environment. It's disgusting.

 

"Team Building" my donkey. Yuck.

 

ETA: Oh. I guess that's not very irrational, is it?:tongue_smilie:

[Nicole M]

There was a thread similar to this one back in May. I read page after page after page about words that bother people. I loved all of them. Even the "c" word that Doran hates that sounds a little like "come and linger [with] us". Love that word! The "f" word? Begins with a breathy almost-aspirate and ends with a percussive "ck" sound.... perfect! Because doesn't the, uh, event, begin with breath and end with percussion?!

 

So I thought and thought about it, and it took me weeks but I finally realized that the only words I dislike are those nouns that have been co-opted as verbs. Journal. Now there's a perfectly decent, upstanding noun. Why must we say, "I'll journal around that issue"? Or partnering? Ick. Partner, good. Partnering, barf. "We're parterning with local businesses to come up with a viable solution." Couldn't we go back to collaborating, pretty please?

 

There are lots of nouns like that, the poor things.

[Nicole M]

I don't like the word gifting. I don't gift Charlie a china platter, I give it to him.

 

See! That's what I'm talking about! Nouns used as verbs. Gifting. Gift me a break, please!

[newlifemom]

Almost forgot, ma please oh please do not ever call me ma. It appears to be an east coast thing. I spent 20yrs on Long Island and everyone from friends to dh call their mother, ma. You may call me anything you like, even bad words, but do not I repeat do not call me MA!:glare:

 

End rant you may go back to your origionally scheduled posting now.:D

[RoughCollie]

I advise you not to tell your children that. I like to call my maternal source of life "Ma". It bugs her. She handles it with the grace she has developed during the decades of being teased by her kids. Otherwise, I would be speaking to you from the grave. :D

 

In my defense, if Ma had a sense of humor, she wouldn't get teased so much. No jokes would be played on her either. Her life would be boring beyond measure.

 

Almost forgot, ma please oh please do not ever call me ma.

[Heather in Neverland]

Pet peeves:

 

1. misuse of seen/saw as in "I seen him yesterday." That drives me crazy and I feel a little nauseous having typed it.

 

2. supposably. It is NOT a word!!!!!!!!

 

3. I'm the opposite with the body parts words from the rest of you it seems. Give me cutesy names any day of the week...I don't want to hear about your v@gina or your pen*s.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

It's a God thing. That one bugs me.

[WTMCassandra]

"problematize."

 

PROBLEMATIZE? Egads. Gadzooks. Just. Plain. Yuk!

[RoughCollie]

While I'm on a roll, here's a phrase I rarely hear people say (unless I birthed 'em): "You're welcome."

 

I say, "Thank you". The reply: "Thank you."

 

Sometimes the words and phrases I don't hear irk me as much as the ones I hear.

[WTMCassandra]

I call that "verbing" and I don't like it myself.

[WTMCassandra]

"Ma" wouldn't bug me, but honestly I would look around for Karen Grassle. I always associate it with Little House on the Prairie.

[Faithr]

I hate it when kids use the word 'butt'. Yesterday at the zoo I heard more kids pointing and yelling at the animals, "Hey, look at the monkey's butt!' Another kid yelling at his sister, 'you got something on your butt.' This happened 5 or 6 times and it couldn't have been the same kids; we wandered around the zoo all day. Nothing makes a kid come off brattier than yelling the word 'butt.'' Made me want to turn them over and spank them on their "bottoms". And I'm not a spanker (usually!). I love kids, but the loudmouthed, crude ones seems to be growing in number, or maybe I"m just getting crankier as I get older.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I do not teach my children Ma'am and Sir. Why? Because having come here from "the North" and seeing how superficial people can be with one another, well, I find it completely meaningless. It almost doesn't seem to matter what you are actually saying as long as you say it in a mannerly way. As long as you preface or follow-up with "bless her heart..." you can say anything you want to about "her." I missed the "real-ness" of New England for a long time after moving here.

 

That said, I have been in the South for nearly as long as I spent in the North, and I was born up there. So, my in-laws say I am actually no longer a Yankee. I have learned my manners and I have found my comfort zone between displaying them and being genuine. There is good in both. However, I will not teach my children to use manners strictly for the sake of appearance. Manners and respect are, to me, not one and the same. And, even in spite of my Yankee ignorance, my children are very respectful people and we get compliments on their manners all the time.

 

So, to wrap it up, while words can be bothersome, it is the whole picture that is more irksome than the words- for me.

[Nicole M]

"problematize."

 

 

That just doesn't even have the right number of syllables to even be able to pronounce it in a satisfying way. How do you pronounce that?

 

Oh, and I prefer to have knickers in a twist, rather than my panties. I am far from a prude but I don't feel it's polite to mention my own panities in public. Knickers, fine. Panties, not so much.

[HollyinNNV]

I hate the phrase

"the fact of the matter is......"

[WTMCassandra]

And how about those conferences in exotic locales? My DH just submitted a paper to a conference that will be held in Hawaii. Naturally there is NO WAY we can afford to go with. DH doesn't "get" why I think he should send someone else (most papers are a collaboration of several people).

[RoughCollie]

Dear Heather,

 

I promise I will never tell you about my penis. That's because I don't have one. But if I did, I would call it Fred so you wouldn't be offended. That's a promise! :001_smile:

 

"I seen him yesterday." My family says stuff like that and it drives my kids wild. They are Southern, blue collar, and it is just the way they talk. Even my late father said that, and he had a master's degree. It's habitual to talk like that, I suppose. If he had suddenly started talking like an educated person around his family, they would think he'd gotten la-di-da on them.

 

I always correct them in my mind.

 

Pet peeves:

 

1. misuse of seen/saw as in "I seen him yesterday."

[WTMCassandra]

What I'm finding hilarious is that I share most of your pet peeves!

[RoughCollie]

It is real hard to explain Southern culture to someone who is not Southern, bless your heart. We all understand each other just fine, but the nuances are often missed by Yankees. On the other hand, I don't understand Yankees any better than I did the day I moved here.

 

I've lived in New England for 19 years and it will be a cold day in h-e-double toothpicks before I consider myself to be a Yankee.

 

I miss the "real-ness" of the South.

 

RC

American by birth, Southern by the grace of God

(I saw that on a t-shirt.)

 

 

I missed the "real-ness" of New England for a long time after moving here.

 

 

[teamturner]

I agree with the poster who listed "butt" as a terrible word. I tell my kids not to say it but they hear all the other kids saying it and it is rubbing off on them. UUUUGGGGHHHH!

 

Also, I do not like "shut up". I heard it a lot growing up and I don't allow it in my house. There's so many other ways to tell or ask someone to be quiet.

[JFSinIL]

"supper" instead of dinner. Supper makes me think of Snoopy doing his suppertime dance - supper is dog food. And I hate the double "pp" sound. AND it is too close to the word slurp, a sound I hate.

 

Me, finicky>? Naw....

[muffinmom]

3. I'm the opposite with the body parts words from the rest of you it seems. Give me cutesy names any day of the week...I don't want to hear about your v@gina or your pen*s.

 

 

I agree with you, Heather in NC. Giving "cutesy" or "nicknames" to such body parts makes sense to me. Why? Because it lends them a sense of humor, and if any body parts need to be approached with a sense of humor, those do! :D

 

And after all, it doesn't seem any different to me than calling a stomach a "tummy."

[VaKim]

Pet peeves:

 

1. misuse of seen/saw as in "I seen him yesterday." That drives me crazy and I feel a little nauseous having typed it.

 

2. supposably. It is NOT a word!!!!!!!!

 

3. I'm the opposite with the body parts words from the rest of you it seems. Give me cutesy names any day of the week...I don't want to hear about your v@gina or your pen*s.

 

I agree on all counts!

Another one I've thought of is "dethaw." People around here are always talking about taking something out of the freezer to "dethaw" it. Argh!! Wouldn't "dethaw" technically mean freeze??

[Paz]

Saying INsurance instead of inSURance. Here in the south even the newscasters say it with emphasis on the 1st syllable.

[CLHCO]

#2 first: "Hubby". I can't give a good reason. When I see that written on a blog, I admit I don't mind too much if the person is just giving a recipe for chocolate chip cookies or showing their new pink shoes, but I have to admit my mind immediately discounts any words of wisdom as coming from someone immature.

 

I think it's because it reminds me of those couples that are so sappy sweet in public you feel like you need to throw salt on them. I knew some in college and it was soooo annoying. You couldn't have a conversation because they didn't quit being cutsie. :tongue_smilie: I don't see older people act like that usually, just youth, then when I relate that word to such images - irrationally or not, it makes me think they're immature.

 

But that's secondary. #1: Prego, preggers, and similar words make me absolutely cringe! It's, it's, it's... I can't even begin to give something that rationalizes my irrationality on that one but I have never been able to read a post, article, book or otherwise where those terms were regularly present. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard.