Commonly misunderstood words that get your blood boiling

[tkioz]

We've all got our pet peeves when it comes to people use the totally wrong words to describe a situation, they might mean one when they say it, a lot of people might understand what they mean, hell you might even grasp it yourself, but you still get really ticked off when read/hear it.

For me it's the sapience / sentience problem, which I blame Star Trek (ffs get it right people) and other Sci-Fi shows that have polluted the public mind on the issue for decades, generally when someone says sentience or sentient they really mean sapience or sapient and it's just obnoxious, normally I leave it alone but recently I've been fixing a mistake I made almost 15 years ago when I dropped out of high-school, doing an online course to get my damn high-school diploma, and I ran into this problem, I wrote a rather long essay for a philosophy assignment and used the correct terms, only to have it come back with one of those annoy red-notes in MS word from the teacher about using the wrong word...

Yes a teacher doesn't know the correct definition of sapience and sentience and marked me down for it.

An email later with links to dictionaries and other definitions I get a reply stating that I should have made that clear in the essay and the grade stands... I wanted to punch a kitten... I should have made the definition of a bloody word clear when it's right there in the damn dictionary? If you don't know what a word means the problem is with you not the word.

So what words that people commonly use wrong really tick you off?

 

[reddfawks]

Whenever people throw the word "ignorant" around. I'd expand on that, but it'd send me into a rage.

 

[Wedlock49]

Whenever people throw the word "ignorant" around. I'd expand on that, but it'd send me into a rage.

this.

as well as arrogant. People seem to mistake conviction for arrogance a lot nowadays.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

When people say "I could care less".

There's a video for it, but it basically says this:

I could care less: You care, from a lot to a little, but you still care.
I couldn't care less: You don't care.

 

[Jedamethis]

"Ah, you're legend mate!"

Grrrrr...

 

[SilverStrike]

EMP Pulse.
RPG Game.
What does the acronym stand for ladies and gentlemen? Yes. Good. Now, do you realise you are effectively saying Electro-Magnetic Pulse Pulse?
And Role Playing Game Game?

 

[WanderingFool]

I dont really have a pet peeve about people using words in the wrong sense; mostly because Im guilty of it myslef, no doubt. Though I do get irked when people use the word "gay". No, not because im a homosexual and I get affended by it, but having almost been an english major, I have a fondness for old english literatury (I think I killed that word, cause I also cant spell worth a damn in some cases... would that be ironic?) I would love to know how "gay" became a derogatory term when it originally meant "happy".

 

[Dango]

Obvious one is "ironic"
Me looking like someone you met before is not ironic!

Not so obvious one is "obnoxious"
Me saying calling you fat for eating ac entire package of Oreos is not obnoxious!

 

[Eren Murtaugh]

My pet peeve is of a taboo word.
******.
Dictionary definition: A rude, immoral, or otherwise ignorant person.
Why it pisses me off; 1: The moment you call someone that out of spite, you yourself become a ******. 2: African-Americans calling each other it. They'd get pissed if someone called them ignorant or rude as a greeting, but adding an illogically placed "A" at the end makes it OK?

 

[AugustFall]

In typing when people don't use 'an', usually in front of an acronym like FPS. It's 'an FPS', the 'F' is pronounced eff. If you meant to say 'a First Person Shooter' then write that.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Decimate, meaning, to reduce by 1/10th ...If I hear one more guy talk about getting decimated on a game and his screen is utterly devoid of troops I will punch a kitten. Also, Irony, good god why can't people use it right any more?

Aye, both of these.
Irony has seen more flagrant misuse than any word I've seen.
In fact people usually say something is ironic when they mean it's quite fitting, which is itself quite ironic.
Sigh.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Bemuse and irregardless. I also hate how ironic and sarcastic is thrown around so much.

 

[jackknife402]

I hate the word Awesome. It means "god-like in appearance." Part the oceans for me ***** then if you think you're awesome.


Also ******, cuz I like calling people bundle of wood, meaning they're only good to be used in a fire, not calling them gay.

 

[Burwood123]

People misuse irony so much, that now it might aswell change definition. Irony is using a word to give the oppisite effect, e.g. Ugh, i have to work sunday. reply "that's nice" that's irony

 

[TylerC]

Whenever people throw the word "ignorant" around. I'd expand on that, but it'd send me into a rage.

I was going to say that too. Things like "People are so ignorant," is an ignorant statement in itself.

RPG Game.
And Role Playing Game Game?

People also call games RPGs when they're not. My friend said Halo was an RPG because you are playing as Master Chief.

 

[THE M3RCENARY]

I hate it when people mispronounce the word Manga.

It is pronounced "Mon-guh" not "Main-guh"

It pisses me off to no end.

 

[Matt_LRR]

I hate it when people mispronounce the word Manga.

It is pronounced "Mon-guh" not "Main-guh"

It pisses me off to no end.

ma-n-ga, really.

-m