What overused words do you really hate?

Rick Johnson   Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:55 pm GMT
The word that's really bugging me at the moment is homophobic
i) because its used for situations that patently don't warrant such an accusation.
ii) It sounds like a word composed by someone with little understanding of English. To me a "phobia" is primarily an unnatural fear of something. Often the word "homophobia" is used by people to denote hate. I hear people say "I hate homophobic people" which in itself seems like a rather odd reaction. If we wish to denote hatred of something, rather than fear it is usually more correct to use the greek prefix "miso" e.g. misogynist (gyn= woman, miso = hate) and likewise a gynophobe is someone who is afraid of woman, but may not hate them. The first part "homo" just means man so why a person afraid of men should be so disliked is beyond me.

Another word used by unintelligent people, that bugs me, is pro-active, which is just dumb.

The other word that irritates me is "Sainsbury's" which is the name of a British supermarket. To be honest it's not actually the name itself, but the way that prick Jamie Oliver pronounces it with his lisping Essex accent- sort of like sthainsthbury'sth. I can't bear the TV commercials any longer!!! Anyway, enough of my pet hates, What really gets your goat?
Sander   Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:01 pm GMT
'like' , 'you know (what I mean)' , 'totally'.


I'm like totally irritated when people use these words in every sentence, you know what I mean?

:-)
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:27 pm GMT
I hate, "that being said." All of a sudden I'm reading that everywhere. "Blah, blah, blah. That being said."

"How good is that?" I hear this one all the time. It's begining to grate.
Tiffany   Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:28 pm GMT
So...

I'm SO going to go!
I'm SO telling him off!
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:38 pm GMT
I think homophobes do have an unnatural fear of gay men, or more to the point, they fear that they themselves might be gay and project that fear onto gay men. How's that for psycho-babble?

I think you're right though, sometimes it's used to mean hate and then they ought to use something else.

<<The first part "homo" just means man so why a person afraid of men should be so disliked is beyond me.>>

Oh no, so true. Now we have to think up a whole new word, although I know a few women who are afraid of men. Maybe homophobic should be reserved for them. :)

<<I'm like totally irritated when people use these words in every sentence, you know what I mean? >>

Totally. :)
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:20 pm GMT
<<I'm SO going to go!
I'm SO telling him off! >>

Oh yes, that one too.

And how about, "not a problem" ?

People usually say this when there *is* a problem and it's theirs. I hear this constantly lately, especially when dealing with those dumbos in customer service positions. They're worse on the phone. After slogging through all that voice mail garbage you get some imbecile, who keeps saying, "not a problem, not a problem" when there clearly is a problem and the problem is all the mistakes they're making, screwing you up totally, and then saying in a chippy chip voice, "Not a problem, not a problem." Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Rick Johnson   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:37 pm GMT
<<you know what I mean?>>

Two expressions that I've just remembered that really grate with me are:
"at the end of the day", this is extremely well used in England and I've noticed it being used increasingly on American news networks. The other is "what it is right", because it sounds so stupid!
Guest   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:54 pm GMT
<<"at the end of the day", this is extremely well used in England >>

I've noticed it too. It's what are called "Britishisms" here. In the past or recent past anyway, Americans haven't really picked up many English expressions but lately I notice it's becoming a trend.

<<"what it is right", because it sounds so stupid!>>

I haven't heard this one. It sounds off to me too.

Oh I forgot to ask you, you mentioned <<that prick Jamie Oliver pronounces it with his lisping Essex accent>> I've heard him on TV, he even came to our local bookstore. Do all people from Essex sound like him?
Guest   Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:00 am GMT
"paradigm", "new paradigm"
Rick Johnson   Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:00 am GMT
<<Oh I forgot to ask you, you mentioned <<that prick Jamie Oliver pronounces it with his lisping Essex accent>> I've heard him on TV, he even came to our local bookstore. Do all people from Essex sound like him?>>

Yeah, that slight lisp seems to particularly characteristic of certain parts of Essex, so yes quite a number of people from that area do sound like him!
Terry   Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:14 am GMT
<<Yeah, that slight lisp seems to particularly characteristic of certain parts of Essex, so yes quite a number of people from that area do sound like him! >>

Oh that's funny, I thought he had a speech impediment. It's an accent, LOL.

That particular "Guest" message was mine BTW. Sigh. I keep doing that and annoying myself.
Guest   Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:14 am GMT
>I think homophobes do have an unnatural fear of gay men, or more to the point, they fear that they themselves might be gay and project that fear onto gay men. How's that for psycho-babble? <

VERY BAD ! Dude, please don’t mess with the science…Psychology is obviously not for amateur dreamers!

Dude! You can’t be afraid of yourself being “something”. That’s not Homophobia ! That’s SCHIZOFRENIA – (severe psychotic disorder- FEAR, PARANOIA - characterized by a loss of contact with reality and disintegration of the personality)

Homophobia – is a strong dislike of homosexuals lesbians or homosexuality! (Not literally FEAR)

"the word "homophobia" is used by people to denote hate"

Thank you !
Terry   Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:50 am GMT
<<VERY BAD ! Dude, please don’t mess with the science…Psychology is obviously not for amateur dreamers!>>

Well I'm not a "dude," actually, but I know the name, Terry, is confusing and I was joking, sort of. :)

<<Dude! You can’t be afraid of yourself being “something”. That’s not Homophobia ! That’s SCHIZOFRENIA – (severe psychotic disorder- FEAR, PARANOIA - characterized by a loss of contact with reality and disintegration of the personality)>>

I think schizophrenia is spelled with a "ph" rather than an "f'" - minor typo but I get your drift.

<<the word "homophobia" is used by people to denote hate"

Thank you ! >>

You're very welcome.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:03 am GMT
re: Jamie Oliver

***Do all people from Essex sound like him? **

No
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:25 am GMT
Homophobia

A bit of a misnomer. A case of a phobia being confused with a dislike (or hatred, as has been mentioned in here). Whether it's irrational or not depends on your personal point of view on the matter, of course. People are well within their rights to be homophobic in much the same way as they have the right to be sproutsphobic......a strong aversion to sprouts. At this time of year with huge Christmas dinners on the horizon sproutsphobia is having its annual break out. The difference is that you can bash a sprout if you feel so inclined and still be free from legal repurcussions. Not so with homosexuals, however much a few people have such an urge to do some bashing.....literally.

One woman on a radio phone recently (BBC Radio Five Live) made a comment that could have been construed as homophobic (pointedly against gay men, as per usual). The next day she received a call by a small posse of uniformed coppers after a listener (male) complained to the BBC. That's carrying PCness a wee bit too far, and even though that particular female journalist is renowned for being off the wall and loopy (the most polite way of describing her) she was within her rights to express her viewpoint. It's just that homophobic attacks (definitely physical, but apparently verbal as well) in Britain are taken very seriously by the Police.

Most phobias are irrational if you think hard about them (assuming you have the ability to think hard about anything really).