Misused words

[Voulan]

I ounce nearly punched a friend after they used the word anorexic for people who are underweight

You "ounce" nearly punched a friend? That seems like an odd feat indeed. I think you mean "once"?

This is actually an example of the misused words I hate - when people use homonyms, or in this case, words that aren't even pronounced the same at all, or are badly spelled. Not that I'm picking on you.

Another is "Whiteknight". People are allowed to be offended by things that don't necessarily pertain to them directly, you know. Since when was it considered not cool, or even false, to be offended by something? Since when is labeling someone derogatorily going to make you a better person for not being offended by it, and devalue their argument? I feel offended when someone says that homosexuality is against nature, and I'm not gay - does that mean I'm whiteknighting gay people?

I was once called a whiteknight because I was talking about female representation in games....and I am female. How does that even make sense?

 

[Klumpfot]

Does anyone know what the word "meme" means? It's not a captioned picture...

Isn't meme something that spreads very quickly, or something like that?

Not quite. A meme as defined by Richard Dawkins (who coined the term) is sort of a cultural gene. It's a word for an idea that spreads from person to person within a culture, and just like genes it can mutate. As such it is intended to be an evolutionary explanation for culture. That is my understanding, at least.

 

[BartyMae]

IRONY
IRONY
IRONY
IRONY
And I'm done, that's literally the only word I can think of where people get all uppity about the meaning and such, for such a simple word it's meaning is just so hard to pin down...

Oh yeah and I thought people got over the whole "Gamer entitlement" thing by now?

"literally" is also a word people misuse very often.

Isn't "literally" an auto-antonym? It has two definitions that are opposites of each other - it can be used figuratively...or as "in reality".

 

[an annoyed writer]

"Of"

Should "of"
Could "of"
Would "of"
Hadn't "of"

*cringe* Make it stop. I can understand making a mistake like this if you're a child and you've heard it but never read it, but come on. A grown-ass adult should have done enough reading in their life to understand this distinction.

That one really pisses me off. you're contracting "should" and "have" so go with "Should've". There's not even an additional keystroke there.

Anyway, the thing that rustles my grammatical jimmies is when people use apostrophes in the wrong places. Like when they're referring to a plural of something, so they're like "ant's" instead of "ants". Makes me want to strangle the writer of the error in question, especially when they do it repeatedly. I mean, come on: we're writing for other people here, and if you want to persuade them to your lines of thinking, the least you could do is make it easier for them to read your drivel.

 

[Loonyyy]

Oh, and that's another one. "White Knight". Insulting people and making insinuations about their motivations doesn't make you clever, or cool by virtue of cynicism.

I am rather entertained that you are making insinuations about a persons motivations because someone is making an insinuation about a motivation.

So, way to destroy your own argument chum!

I think you should reread what I said, because it's not that at all. I apologise if English is your second language, but that's an unforgivable mistake for someone fluent.

I said it doesn't make you cool, or clever. I didn't say that was what the user intended to be. The point of offering an argument is to demonstrate insight however, and that requires 1) Actual fucking insight. Some cleverness, intellect, knowledge, or perspective which advances the discussion. 2) Manner. It's been shown many times that ad hominem and insulting descriptions lower the acceptance of propositions in arguments.

Although, if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that most of those calling "White Knight" are hoping the fact that they made the call alone ends the issue. You know. Kind of like you did. That's not an argument on it's own, and it's not some insight that's been given. It's an insult at best, and ad hominem everywhere else.

I'm insinuating that the call makes you both the opposite of cool and clever. Using it makes the post unlikeable, and shows no real insight or discussion.

Also, you do know what you did there right? Tu quoue. I call you out on something and you say "You too!". That doesn't help things. If I'm wrong, you're still wrong. The response doesn't fix anything, except to make your criticism even worse, because now you yourself have disagreed with it.

Oh, and that's another one. "White Knight". Insulting people and making insinuations about their motivations doesn't make you clever, or cool by virtue of cynicism. And unlike feelings of entitlement, where you can actually identify those statements, very rarely have I seen the term "White Knight" directed at someone who actually said their position was based on some misplaced chivalry.

I'll second that one. If I see someone use "white knight" in a post I roll my eyes, stop reading, and usually put them on my ignore list, because it's pretty clear that they're never going to say anything of value. If you're too lazy/stupid to come up with proper criticisms of other people's arguments and have to settle for parroting insults that you read on 4chan, then I'd rather you didn't take up space on my page.

Indeed. It's almost never given in the form of an argument though, so you rarely have to stop reading. The post, and their thinking, is done very, very long ago.

 

[Ambitiousmould]

"I could care less"

COULND'T! YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS!!!!! THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR SAYING!

Oh my god! Thank you for saying that! Seriously, when people say "could care less" I want to shoot them in their face.
which brings me onto...

There, their and they're.

Why is this so difficult, internet, why?!

there is referring to a location: "over there"
Their is referring to someone's possesions: "I hate people who use 'there' incorrectly, their brain cells appear to have not quite developed.
They're : they are

my 8-year old brother can use these correctly.

 

[MrBenSampson]

Like I almost like want to like learn another like language so like I won't have to like hear the word "like" like ever again.

 

[Loonyyy]

Like I almost like want to like learn another like language so like I won't have to like hear the word "like" like ever again.

Is your avatar from the DAS BOOT commercial? Because that thing is amazing.

 

[MrBenSampson]

Is your avatar from the DAS BOOT commercial? Because that thing is amazing.

Yes it is. I saw the .gif while browsing /v/, and I had to have it.

 

[AngloDoom]

Well after a year's worth of gaming debacles, I've finally become sick of the word "entitled".

Pfft, that's such a straw-man opinion to have.

I'm not sure how, but evidently a fairly significant chunk of the Internet populace has gotten it into their heads that the word means something along the lines of "over-expectant and spoiled".

Stop making straw-man arguments!

Now for convenience, here's the Oxford dictionary definition of the word (entry #1 in this case):

entitle
verb [ trans. ] (usu. be entitled)
1 give (someone) a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something : employees are normally entitled to severance pay | [ trans. ] the landlord is entitled to require references.
2 give (something, esp. a text or work of art) a particular title : an article entitled ?The Harried Society.?
? [ trans. ] archaic give (someone) a specified title expressing their rank, office, or character : they entitled him Sultan.
ORIGIN late Middle English (formerly also as intitle): via Old French from late Latin intitulare, from in- ?in? + Latin titulus ?title.?

God, you're being such a straw-man right now.

Now I understand that language is a living organism, and that the meaning of words evolve over time (the multiple entries of entitle being proof of that), but when in the name of William Shakespeare's gym socks does word manage to mean the very opposite of it's original definition? That's like using the word "hot" to describe Absolute Zero! It's insane!

No-one said that! Classic straw-man.

It's not even like there's much effort required in using the word properly in the context. Using the term "over-entitled" requires a whopping 5 extra characters, yet it fits the bill perfectly with no ambiguity or confusion.

*sigh* /rant

Anyways, for learning and discussion value, which words are your particular pet peeve for their misuse, and what is their original/correct intent? Feel free to use any language for this.

I'm not even going to answer such a post full of so many blatant straw-men running around.

 

[MrBenSampson]

Oh, don't worry. Every language has a similiar overused / misused word like... like.

I was afraid of that. Is it to the same extreme, though? On a few occasions I've heard people saying "like" 3-4 times per sentence. I actually kept count once.

 

[Bocaj2000]

Strawman argument

No one who uses that phrase knows what it means.

Spoiler

Well after a year's worth of gaming debacles, I've finally become sick of the word "entitled".

Pfft, that's such a straw-man opinion to have.

I'm not sure how, but evidently a fairly significant chunk of the Internet populace has gotten it into their heads that the word means something along the lines of "over-expectant and spoiled".

Stop making straw-man arguments!

Now for convenience, here's the Oxford dictionary definition of the word (entry #1 in this case):

entitle
verb [ trans. ] (usu. be entitled)
1 give (someone) a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something : employees are normally entitled to severance pay | [ trans. ] the landlord is entitled to require references.
2 give (something, esp. a text or work of art) a particular title : an article entitled ?The Harried Society.?
? [ trans. ] archaic give (someone) a specified title expressing their rank, office, or character : they entitled him Sultan.
ORIGIN late Middle English (formerly also as intitle): via Old French from late Latin intitulare, from in- ?in? + Latin titulus ?title.?

God, you're being such a straw-man right now.

Now I understand that language is a living organism, and that the meaning of words evolve over time (the multiple entries of entitle being proof of that), but when in the name of William Shakespeare's gym socks does word manage to mean the very opposite of it's original definition? That's like using the word "hot" to describe Absolute Zero! It's insane!

No-one said that! Classic straw-man.

It's not even like there's much effort required in using the word properly in the context. Using the term "over-entitled" requires a whopping 5 extra characters, yet it fits the bill perfectly with no ambiguity or confusion.

*sigh* /rant

Anyways, for learning and discussion value, which words are your particular pet peeve for their misuse, and what is their original/correct intent? Feel free to use any language for this.

I'm not even going to answer such a post full of so many blatant straw-men running around.

By Odin's tits... this person actually used correctly!

 

[Bocaj2000]

double post

 

[DJjaffacake]

So many, where to begin?

First, your and you're. The former is an indicator of possession, the latter is a contraction of you are. Not difficult.

Second, there, their, and they're. The first is an indicator of location, the second is an indicator of possession, and the third is a contraction of they are. Again, not difficult.

Next, then and than. Then is an indicator of either time or order, than is used to compare things.

Also, could of, would of, should of, etc. I can see why you would make this mistake if you've barely ever read written English, the contractions could've, would've, should've, etc. sound very similar. But it's could have, would have, should have, etc.

Note how I used etcetera several times above. Note it is etc. not ect.

No onto things that aren't mix ups:

Hilarious. According to about half the internet, especially TVTropes, anything that is even remotely funny is hilarious. No. Hilarious things are extremely funny.

Finally, misogyny and sexism. These two go together. Misogyny (this applies to misandry as well, but you see that much less often) denotes hatred of women, it is not synonymous with sexism against women. Similarly, sexism implies discrimination because of gender, not just discrimination against women.

Ah, it felt good to let that out.

 

[MrBenSampson]

Well, Germany has 'Alter' (another word for 'dude' in this context) and 'Junge' (boy, again 'dude' in this context) that can be heard up to 5 times per sentence (and I don't mean long sentences. Those people can't talk in long sentences). My personal record was a sentence where a fine young lad managed to put 'Alter' 6 times in a sentence that was only 18 words long (I also like to keep count when I don't have the music player at hand).

And those are the two words I can think of on the fly. There are several more in this 'lingo' that seem like a substitute for punctuation, emphasis or replacement for words that are either unknown or too hard to pronounce.

German is the only language that I've been thinking about learning. That's a little disappointing to hear. How common is that trend? I've noticed "like" spreading into older generations, so it's not just young women anymore(but it's still mostly them).

 

[Voxgizer]

"Of"

Should "of"
Could "of"
Would "of"
Hadn't "of"

*cringe* Make it stop. I can understand making a mistake like this if you're a child and you've heard it but never read it, but come on. A grown-ass adult should have done enough reading in their life to understand this distinction.

This one.

Then and than being mixed up really gets on my nerves.

Then = A word describing a sequence of events or a potential sequence of events.

Examples: I went to the shops and then I went home. + I am going to go home and then I shall have dinner.

Than = A word to compare things.

Examples: I like chocolate more than ice cream. + I can run faster than you.

It's amazing how often people mix these up, and would use the former in the latter examples and vice versa.

This too.

Let's not forget "our" and "are." I see this mistake fairly regularly. "Let's get are stuff and go." "No, first, you get a dictionary and read it, then we can get OUR stuff and go."

 

[maninahat]

Well after a year's worth of gaming debacles, I've finally become sick of the word "entitled".

I'm not sure how, but evidently a fairly significant chunk of the Internet populace has gotten it into their heads that the word means something along the lines of "over-expectant and spoiled".

You probably already know, but the use of the word in debates is synonymous with "self-entitled" (which is to say, not actually entitled, but feeling as though they are). It's being used ironically.

"Bemused" gets misused a lot. It sounds like "amused", so people think that's what it sort of means, when it actually means "confused". It's a shame, because the common (yet incorrect) definition is a lot more practical - we have loads of words that mean confused, but what word do we have that means "politely amused by a confounding situation"?

I hate the word "natural" when used in tandem with "organic" and as an antithesis of "chemical". There is nothing natural about industrial machinery mixing lemon juice in with your laundry detergents. By that logic, MSG is "natural", seeing as how it is derived through fermentation and bacteria and shit. They're all chemicals.