Annoyingly misused words?

[IntricateMadman]

Literally. Unless you "literally" threw your controller through your tv, stop using it it the same sense as "practically" or "almost".

Fail. It's not. Fucking. Funny. Anymore.

Also, any meme in which the creator THEMSELVES hate it for their overuse.

 

[Brightzide]

Most common one I hate is the use of the word 'Random' , which is actually due to my parents choice, my middle name. Another one is 'fit' to describe someones attractiveness...never got it, I was pretty sure that fitness is about Physical capabilities and endurance no?

 

[interspark]

the word "gay" as an insult. it insults gays, linguists, the speaker's intelligence but not the actual person being insulted

See I don't know about that one. I have 3 gay friends 2 are female and the other male, and all three still use it as an insult. I can't speak for them as a whole, but they really don't seem to get too bent out of shape about the use of it through my experiences.

well my sister and most of her friends are gay, and i can guarantee that if i used gay as an insult around her she would immediately divorce me. (and the other way round come to think of it)

 

[McShizzle]

I've seen way too many people use "ignorant" as meaning "Stupid", or "Unintelligent". It means uneducated in something, that's all.

Yes, oh God yes. Where I'm from you usually get this from mouth breathers of the female variety and it's usually pronounced more along the lines of "Ig-nant".

Also, doorknobs & hicks that always say "Cadillac converter". It's "catalytic converter" you dimwits! Open your mouths and pronounce the damn word. This has gone on for so long that some now believe that, "Cadillac converter" is actually what the part is called.

 

[Johnwesleyharding]

When people confuse the words scythe and sai (Sorry if sai is spelled incorrectly) I remember back in 9th grade I had a half hour argument with my teacher about the way you pronounce the word, it is pronounced scy-th people...

scythe
   /saɪð/ Show Spelled [sahyth] Show IPA noun, verb, scythed, scyth·ing.
?noun

I assume you were using a phonetic spelling of scythe. If you were, it represents an incorrect pronounciation.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Affect and Effect. Holy shit, it pisses me off when people confuse the two.

 

[interspark]

Most common one I hate is the use of the word 'Random' , which is actually due to my parents choice, my middle name. Another one is 'fit' to describe someones attractiveness...never got it, I was pretty sure that fitness is about Physical capabilities and endurance no?

well i'd have to disagree with you there. "fit" is a generally spoken word to refer to a person's attractiveness, i don't know if it's official or not (you could probably find it in modern dictionaries) but it IS a real word in that context aswell as refering to physical health.

although arguably the two meanings could have drifted apart from one original meaning, "fit" could have been used to refer to someone who is attractive due to physical health, and then the saying took a life of its own? but im not the best at language history so i can only guess

 

[slopeslider]

The word rape.

Rape is a serious sexual assault and can have people go into shock.
at the young age of 16 my friends use the word "rape" in sentences
like, "oh i raped some noob in cod last night"
It's just vile and unecessary

The word kill.

Murder is an even more serious assault and can have bystanders go into shock.
At the young age of 11 my sisters use the word kill in sentences
like, "Oh, I'm going to kill her!"
it's just vile and unnecessary.

 

[ZeLunarian]

I'm a word hippy, I can accept perfectly the use (or abuse) of things like epic for awesomeness; gay for underwhelming..ness; and whatever else is thrown at me.

cnt stnd dat txt tlk lk. Wiv der dises n dases n h8n vowels etc

But in the end, purpose of language is solely for communication. If it does that then I wont complain... to your face

 

[TheDudeMan14]

the word "gay" as an insult. it insults gays, linguists, the speaker's intelligence but not the actual person being insulted

I consider that slang, not a misuse of the word. It's the same as someone in the 70's calling something "groovy" a term used to express their opinion on something. "gay" is modern slang.

Edit: How does it insult gays?

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Slightly related- "I could care less" works. However, it requires the right tone of voice, and certaintly doesn't come across well typed, much like sarcasm.

I mostly dislike people dismissing words as "Americanisms", when in fact, it's a English word, but the English dumped it. For example, Shakespeare used the word 'trash'.

 

[slopeslider]

the word "gay" as an insult. it insults gays, linguists, the speaker's intelligence but not the actual person being insulted

See I don't know about that one. I have 3 gay friends 2 are female and the other male, and all three still use it as an insult. I can't speak for them as a whole, but they really don't seem to get too bent out of shape about the use of it through my experiences.

well my sister and most of her friends are gay, and i can guarantee that if i used gay as an insult around her she would immediately divorce me. (and the other way round come to think of it)

1. How would your sister divorce you?
2. Would you care if someone said after losing 3 matches of halo in a row that te other team is 'totally heterosexual!'?

 

[interspark]

Winningest.

now tell me you're not dying a little inside!

Nuts to that i'm using it. XD

i said "tell me you're not dying a little inside"!!! not "please say something that will make me want to kill you"!!!

 

[MikailCaboose]

Irregardless.
The word is useless, the shorter version means exactly the same thing, it's used by people who try and sound smarter.

Irregardless is an annoying double negative all in one neat package. I think you deserve a triple word score!

That's still better than "irredisregardless"...
I've seen this before, and it bothers me even worse than "irregardless".
Worse yet, it's not a true word. At least "irregardless" is a word.

 

[Actual]

The Word Inconceivable
It does not mean what you think it means

I'm opposed, I love that word, and I love you for bringing it up.

the word "gay" as an insult. it insults gays, linguists, the speaker's intelligence but not the actual person being insulted

See I don't know about that one. I have 3 gay friends 2 are female and the other male, and all three still use it as an insult. I can't speak for them as a whole, but they really don't seem to get too bent out of shape about the use of it through my experiences.

Hehe "bent", I see what you did there!

 

[ESCAPIST DELETE THIS ACCOUNT]

Wanker - its not even an insult

 

[Gardenia]

The Word Inconceivable
It does not mean what you think it means

Unable to be conceived, unbelievable?
Here's one for the Norwegians: Særskriving. The splitting up of words that should be written as one.
(Oh, it was supoopsed to be about specific words, not grammatical errors? Meh, then I guess I'll hop on the "random"-bandwagon like everyone else.

 

[Tomster595]

Gay, Gamer, Communist, Ironic, Epic... Oh, I could list these all day.

 

[VGStrife]

Saw this yesterday, seems relevant as it voices my opinions on speech.