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The Vagaries of The English Language

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 596235
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zand said:
I hate the overuse of the word iconic.
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Oh yes... The overuse of "iconic" carries consequences beyond semantics.
It's eroded the authenticity of the word, rendering it less meaningful when
used in its true context. When everything is "iconic" nothing truly stands out.
This dilution makes it challenging to identify and celebrate those truly exceptional
or significant entities.

Can the McDonald's original 1967 Big Mac be considered iconic? I don't think
so, although many in the food industry [sic] have defined it as such.

—My pet hate word of the day is "literally".
 
Another pet hate of mine is the use of the word "decimated"
as used by news reporters and politicians, and other learned
people who should know better.

They think it means something is near to being totally destroyed.

But of course it simply means 10% of something—originally to
kill one in every ten of a group of people, such as a mutinous
Roman legion, as a punishment for the whole group. The word
"decimal" (based on the number ten, tenth parts, or powers of ten)
which is clearly understood should be the giveaway here.

EG: The flooding didn't decimate the vineyards, it largely destroyed
them. Like... uh... maybe 90% of them.

(And yes: I admit to being a grammar pedant LOL.)
 
I guess people think they're lowering the impact of the message / give themselves time to escape by padding it out with that nonsense.

I find it slightly offensive because i always think most people who use quite a few of those expressions want to try and confuse the rest of us, to give themselves time to run.
 
Deleted member 596235 said:
Another word(s) I see every day and used—in my humble
opinion incorrectly—is "excited" and/or "exciting".

Particularly in advertising and email spam. As per "We're
excited [proud] to offer you an even better toothpaste" or
"You'll be excited [pleased] to know we've extended your
policy at no extra charge" or "This exciting [appealing] new
Toyota has everything in the way of comfort and performance".

Can, or should anyone be excited about a better toothpaste?
Seriously? If so, maybe, just maybe, they need to get out a
bit more.
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I agree with you. Im bored of that particular type of so-called "excitement".
Corporate speak is just the very opposite of anything exiting. Its Dull and usually means more hours for salaried people (i.e. give your precious free time to the company for, well, free. How exiting for them!)
 
At the moment I'm finding it very annoying when someone says "myriad of"

A myriad was originally 10,000, although it's come to mean just a very large number. You wouldn't say "i bought a thousand of balloons" so leave it out with myriad...
 
Heads up warning, this is Friday apres vino. I almost feel I should be diagnosed with an as yet undiagnosed condition. If I hear an incorrectly spoken offering, I have to correct said offering, if only at a subvocal level. My current pet hates are the use of ‘very’ and ‘ myself’. Sentences such as ‘ it was very explosive’ enrage me…surely, it was explosive or it wasn’t. What’s with the ‘very’? There are few ( don’t start me on few/less) occasions when ‘ very’ should be used?
Ditto ‘ myself’ . Both myself and Jane agree. What happened to the principle of always mentioning others first and yourself last thereby negating the need to use the emphatic word ‘myself’? Harumph!
 
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