Most Annoying Words/Terms

[sydbat]

I find that I an getting annoyed by certain words/terms...especially n00b in boards like Absolute Beginners. I think we know you are new to GNU/Linux and Ubuntu because you are asking questions in that particular forum.

I'm not singling anyone, or group, out. I just find that it is an extremely overused (non)word (one of many). There must be alternatives.

What words/terms do you find overused (and therefore annoying)?

If this is in the wrong board (or completely inappropriate), please move (delete) as needed.

[dca]

'robust'

[dca]

'ubiquitous'

[lukjad]

How are those words annoying?

My word that I find really annoying is "irregardless".
Followed closely by "dethaw".

[LaRoza]

"believe you me"

[kirsis]

Pre.

There's too much use of this prefix pre, it's all over the language now. Pre- this, pre- that.

"Place the turkey in a pre-heated oven." That's ridiculous, there's only two states an oven can possibly exist in, heated or un-heated! "Pre-heated" is a meaningless ******* term.

It's like "pre-recorded" - "this program was pre-recorded". Well of course it was pre-recorded, when else are you gonna record it, afterwards? That's the whole purpose of recording, to do it beforehand. Otherwise, it doesn’t really work, does it?

Pre-existing, pre-planning, pre-screening... You know what I tell these people? Pre-suck my genital situation!

;)

(man, was Carlin awesome or what)

I also dislike 'lol' a lot (Yes, some people insist on using it as a word. Verbally. Even non-English speakers. *shudder*).

[Tristam Green]

Pre.

There's too much use of this prefix pre, it's all over the language now. Pre- this, pre- that.

"Place the turkey in a pre-heated oven." That's ridiculous, there's only two states an oven can possibly exist in, heated or un-heated! "Pre-heated" is a meaningless ******* term.

It's like "pre-recorded" - "this program was pre-recorded". Well of course it was pre-recorded, when else are you gonna record it, afterwards? That's the whole purpose of recording, to do it beforehand. Otherwise, it doesn’t really work, does it?

Pre-existing, pre-planning, pre-screening... You know what I tell these people? Pre-suck my genital situation!

;)

(man, was Carlin awesome or what)

I also dislike 'lol' a lot (Yes, some people insist on using it as a word. Verbally. Even non-English speakers. *shudder*).

well...pre-heated means "heated before the turkey is placed in the oven" lol. yes, you could just as easily say "place turkey in a heated oven", but pre-heated just allows for omission of another step -- heating the oven.

i dislike the word scope. Everything has a scope these days, and everyone is fighting tooth-and-nail to avoid overextending it.

[kirsis]

well...pre-heated means "heated before the turkey is placed in the oven" lol. yes, you could just as easily say "place turkey in a heated oven", but pre-heated just allows for omission of another step -- heating the oven.

Nah, I don't really got a problem with Pre (though thanks for the clarification). The title of this thread just reminded me of the bit George Carlin did on airline announcements (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DagVklB4VHQ)

My real problem's with those who say 'lol'

[decoherence]

Well, I don't know about specific words, but "at the end of the day" is a phrase that is WAAAAY way way overused in this neck of the woods.

it's just gone totally viral maaan... (oh, wait..!)

[sydbat]

Then there's "out of the box" when describing stuff working without a problem after installing Ubuntu (for example). Um...I didn't get a box with my download...

[LaRoza]

Then there's "out of the box" when describing stuff working without a problem after installing Ubuntu (for example). Um...I didn't get a box with my download...

It refers to hardware ;)

[estamand]

"Epic" That word is used too much recently.

[sydbat]

It refers to hardware ;)Thank you. I have been assimilated without futile resistance!:tongue:

[lukjad]

I don't like the term pro-life. I also don't like the term pro-choice. The opposite of life is death. You never hear of anyone running around saying that they are pro-death do you?

Here is why I don't like the second term. I am "pro-choice". I just think that the baby should choose if it wants to live or die.

[gnulinuxoss]

'microsoft' is very annoying for some reason. As are 'vista' and 'XP'. I'm guessing XP isn't a word as much as an acronym ... but what does it stand for? eXcrement Pile? eXtremely Poor? eXtremely Poopy? *shrug*

[Dixon Bainbridge]

People that say "like" all the time.


"and she said blah, I said like no way, and she said like, yeah..."


Also, "literally". Most of the time people mean "figuratively" but they are too stupid to know the difference. They tend to put "literally" as a qualifier for everything.


"I like literally walked down the road." Or something like that. Or the hilariously innappropriate...


"I literally died laughing." Really? How come you're still breathing then, idiot.

[rune0077]

All the annoying variations of spelling Microsoft that seem so popular on forums like these. The oh-so-clever usage of $ instead of the S. It must stop now, please, it's childish and meaningless and just plain bad for the entire Linux-community.

[dca]

How are those words annoying?

My word that I find really annoying is "irregardless".
Followed closely by "dethaw".

If you were around during the internet boom/bust those words described EVERYTHING!

'Irregardless' is more annoying because it's not a word so why it's used would just annoy the snot out of me...

[RiceMonster]

"Epic" That word is used too much recently.

Nah, that's easily the most epic word ever.

Anyway, I hate some of the slang I've been hearing lately.

"Yo, what you sayin?"

That's supposed to be the same as "How are you?", or "What's up?" Whenever someone says that to me, I say "What? I didn't say anything", or I repeat what I said. Some people get annoyed :). Oh, and then there's all these stupid words and phrases for leaving like "I'm gonna peace" or "yo let's bounce". Some slang is seriously stupid.

[Icehuck]

I dislike the term, "touch base". My boss comes by and says, "I wanted to touch base with you regarding issue x." I just want to poke him in the eye every time.

[Maratonda]

Acronyms

[hosk]

Anyway, I hate some of the slang I've been hearing lately.

"Yo, what you sayin?"


Yo Rice, what it do?


Oh what annoying words did I learn at my last job. Touch base, definitely. Then there was finalize, that's a dumb word. Oh, and someone would 'reach out to you'. There was no reaching, there was calling to discuss things business-like.

Oh and also, high-level overview. An overview is never low-level, is it?

[timzak]

Since we're talking about annoying words, one area I feel Linux is a bit lagging in is names for applications, DEs, distros, etc. Some don't exactly roll off the tongue. Some seem unpronounceable.

Like "gnome", "xfce", and any multitude of kde apps starting with "k".

Just trying to navigate through some program menus in distros like DSL, Puppy, and Antix can be confusing to a newbie.

When the first question in your product FAQ deals with how to pronounce its name, you know you should come up with something better.

[lukjad]

Lay off the names. >:( Or else...
This will turn into a 500 page long flame war.
;)

[beercz]

Pre.

There's too much use of this prefix pre, it's all over the language now. Pre- this, pre- that.

"Place the turkey in a pre-heated oven." That's ridiculous, there's only two states an oven can possibly exist in, heated or un-heated! "Pre-heated" is a meaningless ******* term.

It's like "pre-recorded" - "this program was pre-recorded". Well of course it was pre-recorded, when else are you gonna record it, afterwards? That's the whole purpose of recording, to do it beforehand. Otherwise, it doesn’t really work, does it?

Pre-existing, pre-planning, pre-screening... You know what I tell these people? Pre-suck my genital situation!

;)


A definite +1 for this.

Also what's the meaning of pre-booking? You either book or not book. Is pre-booking, booking to a time to make a booking?

Pre-order? What's that all about? Ordering an order?

Drives me mad!

[beercz]

Giving 110% (in terms of effort!)

What? You weren't giving 100% beforehand? How exactly is one going to give 110% effort?

[lisati]

How are those words annoying?

My word that I find really annoying is "irregardless".
Followed closely by "dethaw".


Ditto for the "irregardless",
"Youse" for "you" when speaking of more than one person,
"I didn't to nuttin'/nothink/nothing" (when said to the cop on shows like COPS; a blatant admission that instead of the "nothing" that they supposedly weren't doing, they were doing something of interest to the police: think about it!)
"eck settera" for "et cetera"
"ax(e)" for "ask"


And the list goes on......

Perhaps I'm listening with an accent or something, but when some people talk of a new "era" I think they're talking of a new "error"......

[roaldz]

I pick ¨Unbuntu¨

[lisati]

Oh - another one: when the voice-over announces that a show was recorded before a LIVE studio audience. Were they expecting us to think that the studio audience was DEAD?

[rune0077]

Oh - another one: when the voice-over announces that a show was recorded before a LIVE studio audience. Were they expecting us to think that the studio audience was DEAD?

Well, most tv-laugther is actually just old recordings, many of them having been around since the 1950's and still used today. So, when they don't say it's a live studio audience, there's a good chance that, yes, the "audience" is in fact long since dead.

[beercz]

"Solutions"

It seems every company offers "Solutions" (e.g. "Providing solutions to the [whatever] industry") - just look at the livery on tucks, vans and lorries.

I thought a solution was a solid dissolved in a liquid (e.g. salt in water).

[retbak]

- standard
- ship it
- holla
- sick

[lundish]

"you know what I'm sayin'"

- NO, I DON'T

(Carlin again)

[issih]

Loose and duel, mostly because they are forever being used where people mean lose and dual, it drives me bonkers.

This probably makes me very very sad.

[lisati]

Some people seem to confuse similar-sounding words, e.g. there/they're/their and your/you're

Other people seem to mix up "i.e." (Latin for "That is") and "e.g." (Latin for "Free Example")


EDIT: Another gripe is with affect and effect. (hint: affect is a verb; although effect can be used as a verb, it is also a noun. Example of 'correct' use: His actions affected the outcome and had an effect.)

[beercz]

Don't start me on the inappropriate use of apostrophes (and NOT apostrophe's) :x

[timzak]

"noo-cular" for nuclear

"acrost" for across

[rune0077]

Don't start me on the inappropriate use of apostrophes (and NOT apostrophe's) :x

Some of us only speak/write English as a second language, and the proper use of things like the apostrophe can be a wee bit confusing, so you must bear with us. I assure you, it is (or it's) mostly not meant to annoy you :)

[lisati]

Don't start me on the inappropriate use of apostrophes (and NOT apostrophe's) :x

Many bonus points are available for helping avoid problems with this one!

[beercz]

Some of us only speak/write English as a second language, and the proper use of things like the apostrophe can be a wee bit confusing, so you must bear with us. I assure you, it is (or it's) mostly not meant to annoy you :)
Apologies if you took offence, but I wasn't referring to contributors to this forum specifically, I meant the inappropriate use of apostrophes in general. I am English, and therefore English is my first language. However, many, many of my fellow English people do not know how to use apostrophes correctly.

I have even noticed the bad use of apostrophes in newspaper advertisements, websites and even shop signs and vehicle livery.

[lisati]

Well, most tv-laugther is actually just old recordings, many of them having been around since the 1950's and still used today. So, when they don't say it's a live studio audience, there's a good chance that, yes, the "audience" is in fact long since dead.

Ah, the dreaded laugh track. Why can't they let us decide for ourselves if the show is funny?

[flytripper]

at the end of the day.....

that is by far the worst.

[rune0077]

Apologies if you took offence, but I wasn't referring to contributors to this forum specifically, I meant the inappropriate use of apostrophes in general. I am English, and therefore English is my first language. However, many, many of my fellow English people do not know how to use apostrophes correctly.

I have even noticed the bad use of apostrophes in newspaper advertisements, websites and even shop signs and vehicle livery.

Don't worry, no offense taken, all meant in polite jest. Apostrophes are one of the things that is a bit hardy in the English language, though.

[rune0077]

Ah, the dreaded laugh track. Why can't they let us decide for ourselves if the show is funny?

It's terrible. Somehow they must have known that their show just wasn't funny enough to get people laughing, so they had to add the laughter just to make us feel a little guilty for not laughing.

[beercz]

Don't worry, no offense taken, all meant in polite jest. Apostrophes are one of the things that is a bit hardy in the English language, though.
It may be hard, but the inappropriate use of apostrophes has become much more apparent in recent years though, I would say in the last five years or so.

[samwyse]

"Polished" when talking about distros. "Dark" when discussing comic book movies. "Prequel".

[spoons]

at the end of the day.....

that is by far the worst.

Quoted for truth. Just the other day someone said to me "At the end of the day, Linux will not compete with Windows because the kernel isn't finished."

It's a way to make yourself sound smarter than you are.

[amazingtaters]

Gosh for me, there's a whole list.

1. St. Louisans saying things like "torch, shorts, wash" because they come out "tarch, sharts, warsh"
2. The use of bro/brah to describe a friend, generally male. We're neither brothers nor lingerie.
3. Not really a specific word, more of a grammar problem really, but people using commas by the boat loads. Personally I would rather see too few commas in a paper. It's just murder trying to proofread a paper for someone when there are too many commas. Commas often indicate a pause. Thus, I take the briefest of pauses when I reach a comma. However, this often leads to uncessary pauses that throw off the rythm of a sentence, which means I have to strike the comma out and re-read the sentence. I'd guess that my reaction could best be described by the 4chan meme/sage-esque post which goes something like "RAGE"

[lumix700i]

Hate when someone says
- Un00btu
- poopbuntu

[sydbat]

...sharts...That has a WHOLE different meaning where I come from...

[yabbadabbadont]

This thread is hella-cool...

[sydbat]

Omg!! Wtf!?! Ffs!!!

[sydbat]

Just thought of another one - "rule of thumb". What is this exactly? All I can picture (and have since I was a small child) is a thumb with a crown!

"The THUMB has spoken!!!"

[RiceMonster]

Just thought of another one - "rule of thumb". What is this exactly? All I can picture (and have since I was a small child) is a thumb with a crown!

"The THUMB has spoken!!!"

Haha, I've never thought of the expression, but now that I do, it does sound really goofy.

[BobLand]

"I has..." on captions
"In a word..." followed by a string of words
"The Lions Share..." Lions DON'T Share!
"your" in place of "you're"
"there" in place of "their"
making short words longer
making long words shorter
made up words
awesome
I love it
Dude!
bitch
FAIL
schtraight, schtring, schtreet
"full figured" -- what ever happened to FAT!
"If you're like me..."
All advertising

[ice60]

i don't like it when people say "off of". when i was really small i thought people who said that had a speech impediment lol, now i'm older i just think they have an impediment :D

i took my pen off off of of of f f the table loool.

[ice60]

i really don't like people who say "heads up" either, people who say it should be killed off.

[saulgoode]

The use of "disconnect" as a noun.

[lukjad]

Duuuuude. You are, like, sooooo bogus! Like, Chill man! Don't flip out bro! Gotta get down with there lingo! Your, like, srlsly needin' some cool.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

enhanced user experience

[t0p]

Mofo. It should be Mofu, surely?

And then instead of than, and than instead of then. *looks around at certain forum users* ;)

[JillSwift]

"of"

As in "Could of, would of, should of."

It is really supposed to be "Could have, would have, should have."

Don't get me started on apostrophes (http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif). ;)

[yabbadabbadont]

i really don't like people who say "heads up" either, people who say it should be killed off.

Obviously, you've never played a lot of baseball... :lol:

[adamogardner]

'ubiquitous'

but how else would you describe elephant diarhea?

rural is my choice. I prefer to use pastoral.

[beercz]

... awesome ...
+1 for awesome

Whale watching is awesome, picking a friend up as 7pm is not awesome, despite the friend's declaration to the contrary.

[ice60]

Obviously, you've never played a lot of baseball... :lol:
i've played rounders a couple of times, but i didn't say heads up ever. although, if i had a baseball bat in my hand when someone said it it would be very useful :D

if i had to pick between shouting "heads up" and letting someone get hit on the head with a baseball, i'd do everything i could to get an ambulance there quickly ;D

[Giant Speck]

I hate it when people use the word "virii" instead of "viruses."


Virii isn't a word. It's because virus is Latin, and in the Latin language, it is already plural, so a Latin plural ending for it does not exist.

And even if it wasn't already plural, virii wouldn't be the plural form of it because virus is a neutral noun. The ending -ii can only applied to feminine Latin nouns.

In this case, if such a word were to exist that could be the singular form of virii, it would be virius, not virus. And the word virius doesn't exist.

Stop adding Latin endings to words that don't need them in order to sound smarter. To people that actually care about grammar, it makes you look less smart.

[lukjad]

When someone tries to use "I" instead of "me". I understand if they flub it with me. It's a pure mistake. If they try to sound smart by saying "between you and I" I start casing around for a baseball bat of intelligence. ;)

[Giant Speck]

I saw a clip of a disaster movie on YouTube and during it, a man says that something happening is incredible.

In the comments, someone thought that by saying it was incredible that the guy was enjoying it.

Incredible means "unbelievable," people. It applies to bad events just as much as it does to good events.

[adamogardner]

hi I'm back I was elsewhere and realized a word that grinds my gears, it's "troll" there is something not nice about it. And though I realize the social skills of some leave something to be desired, it is dissonant to label a fellow of ours with a derogatory remark. If it gets that bad, then moderation can adjust things. And in the general context like "a troll can be well intentioned" is still just a hard visually unpleasant word. Just my opinion though - probably cause I'm in touch with my own inner troll.

[lisati]

What about "deal to"? I used to have a problem with it, thinking that "deal with" was correct. But if you're angry with someone, you're tempted to deal some revenge to them, and you're less inclined to co-operate with them.

[hyperluv]

outsourced

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