The most misused words in the English language

[Turtle]

Got. Anywhere, anytime I hears it; i got have nuttin' but focussed contempt fo' dat misuseditated Englishy wurd "got". (Ceptin' fo' poetry n songs n such; den it's otay ifn' ya gets mah drift. )

[lemit]

I was kind of half-way reading Reason's post and thinking to myself, "Those are pronunciations, not usages." But then I got to "miracle." That's one I hadn't thought out before, although I knew deep inside that supernatural forces were not necessarily at work. In a way, calling something "a miracle" seems like just colorful writing. But it's used with such regularity that people like me need to be reminded of its denotation. I'm sure I've misused it in sports reporting.

 

I don't know if we really want to get into the excesses of sports journalism. That should be its own thread.

 

Again, thank you for all this.

 

--lemit

[Michaelangelica]

Here's a couple of of words that aren't necessarily misused, but mispronounced on a regular basis.

 

Masonry - Often pronounced like masonary.

 

Realtor - Often pronounced like realetor.

 

Nuclear - Often pronounced like nukular.

 

Valentine's Day - Often pronounced like Valentimes Day.

And on this fine St. Pat's Day- celebrating all his wonderful miracles- just what have you (& my wife) got agintst the Irish?

One of them funny handishakes people?- the masonaries?

Boogger this,I won't be insinuated, I'm off to see a filim or should I go to 't newclear protetitnngs?

[lemit]

Michaelangelica:

 

Don't you mean the Masonites? I think my father may have been one of them.

 

--lemit

[Michaelangelica]

Michaelangelica:

 

Don't you mean the Masonites? I think my father may have been one of them.

 

--lemit

Saints an' begora!

Yes that's tem, not the wuns we sent pennies to, fur 't starvin dork people

en 'frica.

[lemit]

Yes, the dorks in Africa need our help. But how do we get it to them? And how do we get them to look beyond their dorkiness and see that we're helping them?

 

And besides, shouldn't we first take care of our own dorks? God knows we have enough of them right here and they need our help.

 

Also, I think many of our own dorks are Masonites.

 

--lemit

[Michaelangelica]

"Unique" and its sibling "the only one of its kind in ..."

 

"Fulsome". If journalists who use "he was fulsome in his praise of ..." ever bothered to look up the meaning, most of them would probably be pretty embarrassed...

 

 

Just this week I saw an article on education programmes in local prisons, with an official being quoted as saying, "Our aim is to create an illiterate nation." Appears they are succeeding...

You have taught me the mening of fulsome-thankyou.

Although not everyone agrees:-

The Macquarie Dictionary

 

fulsome

// (say 'foolsuhm)

adjective 1. offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; gushing; insincere: fulsome praise.

2. comprehensive; expansive: in fulsome detail.

3. lavish; unstinted: *She cheered up a little, however, under the fulsome praise and encouragement of both Lucy and Hope --nourma handford, 1953.

4. Obsolete disgusting; nauseating.

5. Obsolete copious; abundant. [Middle English fulsum, from full1 + -some1; evidence of association with foul]

--fulsomely, adverb

--fulsomeness, noun

 

Usage: The shift in meaning of this word from `offensive to good taste' to `lavish, unstinted' (ironically, the original sense of this word) offends some writers but seems to have gained acceptance with the majority.

Macquarie Dictionary

 

So if I now give you rep for your post will I be being Fulsome in my praise?:hyper:

 

 

An interesting article:-

Right Words begins with two antithetical quotations.

This from Anthony Burgess: ‘Language is not an intellectual construct, but the property of the people. Nobody is better than anyone else at it.’

 

And this from Dorothy Green (anybody who knew her can hear the sharp indignant voice): ‘You are told by experts that language has to change. To which the only retort is that it does not necessarily change for the better and there is no reason it should change overnight because some illiterate *** has a microphone in front of his mouth.’

 

Dorothy Green's words remind me of a sentence by the great pioneer lexicographer Samuel Johnson. ‘Change’, he declares in the preface to his Dictionary, ‘is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.’

 

Both Anthony Burgess and Dorothy Green are right, says the author of Right Words, using that word again.

‘Language belongs to us all, and we speak that language as we please.

In speaking as we wish, we help to create the new language that is always being born out of the old. Still, if you call a cabbage a clock people will have difficulty in understanding what you mean.’

from the same article

arguably, which sounds as if it is committing the user to more than it really is. Right Words has the form it is arguable, and nails it.

 

begging the question, which as Murray-Smith says ought to mean, but often does not, trying to prove an argument by using an argument that is itself open to argument.

 

diffuse confused with defuse.*

 

fulsome ‘does not mean generous, outgoing or lavish.

It means … cloying, unpleasantly servile, insincerely flattering’.

 

viable, as in a viable leader. ‘In science’, the author writes, ‘viable means capable of living, and the word is best left to science.’ He includes it in the category of bully words employed ‘to terrorise, or bully, or to seek to impress with words that sound “superior”’.

* that could prove unfortunate?

The 1996 Stephen Murray-Smith Memorial Lecture: Right Words - No 63 Autumn 1999 - La Trobe Journal

 

Basically, basically is a useful word

A fun article to read if you are a wordsmith

 

Two word that are overused and don't seem to have even a specific meaning-- "um" and "er".

[Michaelangelica]

Did someone ask about 'sic' before?

It is usually used in quoted text to point out that the error in spelling or usage is the person being quoted not the person using the quote.

Usually used by supercilious pedants who would like this thread .

Sometimes it is used to point out tothe reader (or proof reader?) that you have misspelled the word for a reason.

e.g.

"I will try to be more (sic) explicit in the future"

You are either explicit or you ain't; it is like being pregnant.

 

Also my new Google translator button gives this

Latin: sic

English: thereby, thus, such, so

French: comme, tellement, comme cela, ainsi

Spanish: así

Italian: cosÌ

Dutch: dermate, even, zozeer, zo, zodanig, dusdanig

 

While on pronunciation I hate people who can't say "H h"

Especially when it comes before a vowel and so 'an' is used instead of 'a' ; thus becoming doubly grating.

E.G.

an 'erb"; verses, "a herb"

herb

// (say herb), US // (say erb)

http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/[email protected]@919FFD46198744/-/p/thes/article_display.html?type=title&first=1&mid=4&last=4&current=1&result=1&DatabaseList=dictbigmac&query=herb&searchType=findrank

 

Also 'ssss' becoming 'zzzs'

"Baayszill 9sic) "instead of "basil" Has no Yank watched Faulty Towers?

basil

// (say 'bazuhl)

noun any of various herbs of the genus Ocimum,

Macquarie Dictionary

 

How come 'Ss' are being replaced by 'Zs' in USA spelling?

e.g. 'specialization' (sic)

instead of 'specialisation'.

 

Even the pronunciation of 'Z'

"Zeee"(sic) instead of "Zed".

Very aggravating especially on Sesame Street where they need to be more culturally sensitive-for an international kid's audience.

"Pot Pourri" is another, with lots of different pronunciations, but who cares how people pronounce stolen French.

 

Some accents I find grating -South African.

A New Zealander(sic?) is easily picked their 'Es' are always pronounced as 'Is'. Australians get them to say "I had six fifty times"; then fall about on the pub floor laughing -sigh, you have to take the good with the bad in all countries :singer:

Recently (10+ years ago) there was a10-12 part series on the English language. What horrified purists was one show where they found an Island with an exclusive religious order off the west coast of USA (or Canada) who spoke English as Shakespeare did.

More 'tirtrry terd' (sic) street than Theerty(sic) Third' street!:singer: much to the Horror of Private British public Schools.

In that programme it also said that every international pilot has to spek Englis. All instructions for taking off and landing are said in English. Heaven help us!

[freeztar]

I bet you abhor inches as well, M. :singer: :)

 

How about this seemingly benign word: ask

 

It seems easy enough, even for most foreign tongues. Yet, in Atlanta, it's not uncommon to hear a phrase such as "I told dat full dat I ain't axin em no mo". It's a nightmarish mangle. Axing someone is quite different from asking someone. :singer: Maybe we should stop using "ask" and switch to "inquire". That way, we'd get "enquaya" instead of "inquire". Much less menacing imho.

[modest]

Where's my keys? Where's the scissors? Where's "are" gone?

 

~modest

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Did someone ask about 'sic' before?

I was about to:hihi: Annnnnnd I'm pretty sure I have either here or elsewhere.

 

While on pronunciation I hate people who can't say "H h"

Especially when it comes before a vowel and so 'an' is used instead of 'a' ; thus becoming doubly grating.

E.G.

an 'erb"; verses, "a herb"

I hate it when peoplez pronounce silent letters like "H" at the beginning of "herb"....Tis not Herb(ert), Tis herb....unless it's yer chum Herb as in Herbert who still owes you fifty bucks:hihi:

 

 

Also 'ssss' becoming 'zzzs'

"Baayszill 9sic) "instead of "basil" Has no Yank watched Faulty Towers?

Love Faulty Towers.

 

How come 'Ss' are being replaced by 'Zs' in USA spelling?

e.g. 'specialization' (sic)

instead of 'specialisation'.

Because we're addopting fonetikal spelling, so'z all the idiots grageeating

from our ejukashunal sistem kan git a job (Holy crap my spell checker must be overloaded or something because it's not even trying anymore:hihi:)

 

Even the pronunciation of 'Z'

"Zeee"(sic) instead of "Zed".

I find zed to be far more annoying....Where the he....um...ck does the "d" come in to the picture...

Very aggravating especially on Sesame Street where they need to be more culturally sensitive-for an international kid's audience.

Huh....I figured you to be older than the Sezme St. crowd:hihi:

"Pot Pourri" is another, with lots of different pronunciations, but who cares how people pronounce stolen French.

People that use pot porurri annoy me in general;)

 

Some accents I find grating -South African.

A New Zealander(sic?) is easily picked their 'Es' are always pronounced as 'Is'. Australians get them to say "I had six fifty times"; then fall about on the pub floor laughing -sigh, you have to take the good with the bad in all countries :)

Recently (10+ years ago) there was a10-12 part series on the English language. What horrified purists was one show where they found an Island with an exclusive religious order off the west coast of USA (or Canada) who spoke English as Shakespeare did.

More 'tirtrry terd' (sic) street than Theerty(sic) Third' street!:singer: much to the Horror of Private British public Schools.

In that programme it also said that every international pilot has to spek Englis. All instructions for taking off and landing are said in English. Heaven help us!

:singer:

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Hmmmmmmmm.....lets try this......ZedZed Top.......YECH!!!!!!

Zedebra....betta but still kinda funky

Zedeliotropic

Zedelda

zedealot

Zedelienople:hihi:

New Zedealand......New Zedealander:hihi:

Would make a nifty Montyesque sketch but I wouldn't wanna use it all the time:hihi:

 

 

Sorry I know is stupid, but it is terribly funny:hihi:

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Where's my keys? Where's the scissors? Where's "are" gone?

 

~modest

In the tank next to the TIG welder:hihi:

 

Also over used TIG....It's GTAW dammit!....It's only TIG when an inert gas only is used....Tungsten Inert Gas....most of what is refered to as TIG is actually Gas Tungsten Arc Welding which uses various mixes of inert and active gasses.

 

Also MIG in 90% of manufacturing is not MIG but GMAW because Argon is expensive while Mixes with CO2 are more cost effective.

 

Very irritating:naughty:

 

 

BTW I have no idea where are has gone.....just seemed like a good intro for my rant:D

[mynah]

Forget not the input of the automatic spellchecker.

 

I only noticed now that it had taken upon itself to autoreplace "rictal bristles" in an article on nightjars with "rectal bristles", thus moving these structures to the other end of the bird, where they are sure to cause considerable discomfort. Unfortunately I'd already sent off the article, so I had to draft a hasty and somewhat embarrassed letter to the editor...:)

[Essay]

Mynah... you are bad. :) :) :)

But... :) [no pun intended]

In the tank next to the TIG welder:hihi:

 

Also over used TIG....It's GTAW dammit!....It's only TIG when an inert gas only is used....Tungsten Inert Gas....most of what is refered to as TIG is actually Gas Tungsten Arc Welding which uses various mixes of inert and active gasses.

 

Also MIG in 90% of manufacturing is not MIG but GMAW because Argon is expensive while Mixes with CO2 are more cost effective.

 

Very irritating:naughty:

 

 

BTW I have no idea where are has gone.....just seemed like a good intro for my rant:D

I had to add....

 

DD,

That's the best rant that I've seen in several weeks, and certainly my best laugh of the day.

...and a most educational and informative rant too! Well done and thanks.

 

Still laughing... you should write a song about Argon... play a few chords... an' pick out a tune on y'ur GTAW.

===

 

But I suppose if you don't have a guitar, it's a mute point!

===

 

Has anyone ever run across that misused word?

I know about the moot point, but I suppose "mute" could be interpreted to seem vaguely meaningful.

I figure it's sombody who's learned the word by reading, but who knows?

 

I am very glad that I heard somebody use the word epitome, before I started talking about the forest scene that appeared to me as the epi-tome of beauty.

 

Epi-tome: the top, big book or big story. :) Y'know, from the Latin: epi and tome

Well it made sense to me as a definition, when I was reading new words and trying to define them just from context.

 

...and then there are some parents who mispronounce a word as some family joke, but the kid grows up thinking that's the normal way....

===

 

But I'd think most people were familiar with mute, so how do they get that--out of moot?

...unless they think that is the British spelling--or some alternate spelling?

 

But however they picked up this little quirk is a moot point, it's still grates a bit.

 

~ ;)

 

p.s. "In the tank next to the TIG...." :) ...I've got tears....

...again.

[lemit]

Essay, I can't read what you just wrote because I don't know what the abbreviations mean. I would ask for a dictionary that includes the blog shorthands except that I don't want to understand them. A linguistics forum should be a last refuge for written language that can be spoken. I know it takes longer, but with many more people who have lots of time on their hands, maybe we can stretch out some of our time, including wasting a few seconds to write out words in full.

 

Of course, I have already advocated that people waste a lot more time to actually edit what they send out to the public in the way that, when I was starting out, there were more editors than writers in publishing. I have heard that the equation has now been reversed in print publishing, and of course, it has been infinitely reversed in what we do here, although the pay hasn't been reduced a lot from when I was active in publishing.

 

To return to the reason this thread exists--although it could be argued that any use of the blog abbreviations is misuse--since this is a science forum, what about the PhD's in science who seem to dislike the word "who" and never miss a chance to add "m" to it, I suppose because they can't think of a way to add a sylable? We all know that the more sylables a word has the more significant it is, don't we? (I have to concede that when I was first doing news we were always conscious of the "fog index." I tried to write at an 11th grade level, which was high then.)

 

I suppose a good question about the science PhD's would be which branch of Ph did they get their D in? I happen to be a fan of Eighteenth Century Ph, particularly Cartesian Ph, but I can't find many science D's who are interested. Maybe they prefer Ancient Greek Ph. That would be fine with me. After all, most people consider it to be the source of all Western Ph.

 

See what can happen when you use abbreviations?

 

Also, some of you may have noticed I will occasionally end a sentence with a preposition. That isn't sloppy editing. I know of few rules that help language less than that one. (Do we have a new thread there?) Prose should be baby poetry. It should have a rhythm and flow to it. It should scan. The flow and readability of language, as well as its ability to convey meaning. should be most important.

 

Speaking of language flow, I discovered in studying American humor that its development paralleled the development of journalism. I also noticed that when I myself practiced tight writing people laughed. Simple, crisp writing seems ironic because we're so used to the way those science PhD's and many other people write, God bless 'em. If there were even more of them, I might have been able to make a living writing humor. But anyway, I don't worry about a preposition at the end of a sentence because the sentence is often much more simple, more crisp, and more readable with that preposition left out to dry.

 

(Maybe some of those science PhD's in engineering could study language flow. I probably wouldn't be able to read their reports.)

 

I apologize to all those high school English teachers I've offended. You do work I was asked to do fresh out of college and from which I have never stopped running.

 

Thank you to all you who have read this long-winded rant. I'll do something shorter, crisper, more readable next time.

 

--lemit

[lemit]

Mynah, I wonder how someone learning English as a second language feels about this language that will incorporate any words it feels like from any other language? I'm always amazed when I recognize a holdover from our German roots. Grimm's law (which some people think should be more strictly enforced, like gravity) as well as our eclecticism, among other things, have given us a language that's so nuanced (sloppy) that it maybe shouldn't be the first language of science.

 

I don't know. I'm just doing some stream-of-consciousness here. Sex. Hunger. Sex.

 

--lemit (sex)