Commonly misunderstood words that get your blood boiling

[JoJoKitty]

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?

According to Dictionary.com, that is a proper use of the word. (Decimate 1. to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague.)

Though it annoys me to hear current meanings of some words, I always have to remind myself that all languages evolve and grow. Some words will gain meaning as we speak them everyday. The point of these words are to get a point across, and if they have done that, then their goal is complete.

Still, I hate when people say library and picture as "li-berry" and "pitcher".

 

[milo2215]

Eclectic

 

[jelock]

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?

damn you ninja.

anyway, yeah, decimate. i hear people say it all the time as in total destruction. it's really bad when i tell them what decimate actually means and then they don't believe me. god.

/slaps the non-believers

except that is a correct useage. the 1/10th definition is a historical defintion.

From the Oxford English Dictionary

Pronunciation:/ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/
verb
[with object]

*
1 kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of:the inhabitants of the country had been decimated
*
drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something)ublic transport has been decimated
*
2 historical kill one in every ten of (a group of people, originally a mutinous Roman legion) as a punishment for the whole group

 

[Hoplon]

"Near miss"
Wouldn't that mean that you hit the target? I've heard far too many people use it to mean that they nearly hit something.

that would be Nearly miss.

Near miss is it only just missing the target.

 

[WrathOfAchilles]

Theory and Hypothesis. Pisses me the F right off. So tired of someone thinking of an idea and calling it a theory "I have a theory" bullshit you do. Until it's been proven correct under certain circumstances it's an hypothesis. If it gets proven enough it becomes a law, but you don't start with a theory.

 

[bak00777]

ignorant, fucking hate it when people use it wrong, seems like everyone that went to my high school, or lived in the town, used it wrong.

Edit: they would use it as a synonym for rude, and to make matters worse they would pronounce it wrong, they would say Ignant, instead of ignorant.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

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?

Decimate, when used in situations such as yours, actually goes back to (according to my 8th grade history teacher) a certain war (I forgot which) where if they lost a battle, the general would line up the men in a row and go by and kill every tenth man... and according to Merriam-Webster, it can also mean "to reduce drastically." But you can't decimate a single person unless you mean to chop them into 10 equal parts. I also hate it when people use "massacre" like that.

And irony is just as annoying. But everything I can and have said is summarized here. [http://www.cracked.com/funny-1085-irony/]

Theory and Hypothesis. Pisses me the F right off. So tired of someone thinking of an idea and calling it a theory "I have a theory" bullshit you do. Until it's been proven correct under certain circumstances it's an hypothesis. If it gets proven enough it becomes a law, but you don't start with a theory.

Theory is speculation... unless used scientifically when it's just accepted as plausible. Just like "The Big Band Bang Theory." How are you supposed to recreate the creation of the universe? Or the creation of this:

Literally...

"I literally looked around for five minutes and didn't see you!!!"

As opposed to metaphorically, or say, figuratively? It especially annoys me when people on the news say it. It doesn't make you sound as smart as you think it does.

Communism/fascism are very misunderstood words and concepts as well.

I ironically incorrectly use "literally" because I'm an idiot like that. I'll often pair "literally" with a hyperbole ("I literally ran a million miles to get here") and I'm pretty sure that causes a lot of rage.

I also agree with communism/fascism being misunderstood. Basically the reason people hate them is because they've been told to hate them... kind of like the French. There's no reason why they hate communism, they just do. In fact, if you ask someone who preaches anti-communism why it's so bad they often won't be able to tell you or their arguments will be paper thin.

 

[Naeo]

I.E. versus E.G.- respectively, they literally mean "id est" (it is) and "exempli gratia" (example's sake), respectively meaning "in other words" and "for example".

Democracy versus Republic- America is not a democracy. We are a republic, which has inherent elements of democracy, and we have instituted more than just the barebones, but we are still a republic. We pledge allegiance to the flag "and to the republic for which it stands". Goddamn.

Socialism versus Communism- not at all the same thing. Socialism is an economic theory, communism is a social, political, and economic theory that usually encompasses socialism. But it isn't socialism.

Ask versus Axe- just, fucking damn. Speak english.

More of a pronunciation thing, but when people say "excape". That isn't even a word.

As severally stated before, "irony". It's not what everyone uses it to mean, though it can encompass that meaning.

People who say "harikari" annoy me. It's "harakiri".

The word "nucular". If you say that you should be punched.

The double-is phenomenon sweeping the country. If it's in a relative/subbordinate clause it's fine but really nowhere else. You can say "what this is is" because "what this is" acts as a single grammatical unit. But saying "my point is is" is wrong and stupid.

People who say "lol" or "rofl" or "stfu" out loud/in actual, verbal communication and use them seriously. It taps into the deepest wells of hatred within me.

Inflecting your tone for a question whenever you pause in speech. It just makes you seem retarded.

The word "bro". I fucking hate the word "bro". It should not exist.

 

[Adventurer2626]

Theory and Hypothesis. Pisses me the F right off. So tired of someone thinking of an idea and calling it a theory "I have a theory" bullshit you do. Until it's been proven correct under certain circumstances it's an hypothesis. If it gets proven enough it becomes a law, but you don't start with a theory.

Even then a hypothesis has to be a testable scenario. Basically answerable by a yes or a no. Otherwise I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[instantbenz]

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

you got it ... fuckin professors using irregardless .... as i'm nearly done at my university, if i hear a prof use it, i'm calling them out.

also mac and apple are two words that are misunderstood as being superior when, in fact, they are overpriced mediocrity.

Thank you, just thank you.

A pleasure, as always, to oblige my friends and neighbors.

iSlaves ... what a pitiful sight.

 

[Skarovich]

that would be Nearly miss.

Near miss is it only just missing the target.

Near miss... it missed but came near to the target.


"Near miss" isn't "Nearly missed".

I stand corrected. Still sounds odd to me though...

 

[kjrubberducky]

People calling you a homophobe just because you are of the opinion that homosexuality is morally wrong. Also, people claiming you are being intolerant because you disagree with them.

 

[WrathOfAchilles]

Theory and Hypothesis. Pisses me the F right off. So tired of someone thinking of an idea and calling it a theory "I have a theory" bullshit you do. Until it's been proven correct under certain circumstances it's an hypothesis. If it gets proven enough it becomes a law, but you don't start with a theory.

Even then a hypothesis has to be a testable scenario. Basically answerable by a yes or a no. Otherwise I agree wholeheartedly.

I didn't say anything about being answerable although you are correct, I said proven(tested). Testing is the difference between the step from hypothesis to theory. The fact remains you must still start at hypothesis unless using the test hypothesis(theory) of someone else.

 

[Hoplon]

People calling you a homophobe just because you are of the opinion that homosexuality is morally wrong. Also, people claiming you are being intolerant because you disagree with them.

There is just a whole mess of contradictions in there.

On the one hand there is factual correctness.

On the other is a horrible intolerant dick cheese with superiority issues.

 

[similar.squirrel]

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?

Or Rocket Propelled Grenade Game, as my father has pointed out before.

OT: Common misuse of 'ironic', but I was probably ninja'd.

 

[Not-here-anymore]

EMP Pulse.
RPG Game.

ATM machine
PIN number
DVD disc

They're all fun!

Brought instead of bought (very common in the UK, like the people who say it)

CAPITALISED RAGE!

That one annoys me, too. [sub]Almost enough to make me go and kick a lamb. I'll make sure to find an especially cute one when I do so[/sub]

I guess the use of the word 'zombie' to describe a human infected with a variant of rabies or mad cow disease (or whatever the franchise chooses to use) is a little annoying due to the total lack of undeath apparent in the infected.

 

[dthvirus]

This thread half full of pedantics and elitists. I'm surprised people here don't use the word 'gay' for 'joyful'. Or 'dived' instead of 'dove'. C'mon guys.

This is English. The definitions of words change. Deal with it. Some of the complaints here are so trivial it's shocking. Like 'decimate'. You show me a man who still uses a definition from ancient goddamn Rome and I'll show you one badass time-traveler.

 

[no one really]

A lot of guys I know IRL says "irony" instead of "sarcasm".

Oh, and people saying "of" when they should say "have". Like "you should of done that".
Learn english.

 

[unoleian]

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

It's called slang. Look it up.

These things happen.


"Hey, sweet ride, dude!"

I bet that car contains little fructose.

But it's still sweet.

Just like that banging stereo is downright awesome.