My family and I were having a conversation a while back about certain words that make us shiver. You know those words, you read them or inadvertently say them and shudder or want to slap the writer with your mechanical pencil? A few of mine are:
- moist
- crotch
- puss
- creamy
- amazing
- very
Many more. They kind of come and go depending on my mood.
And phrases. I have phrases that I parrot, but truly hate when I have to hear them. Most of them are business-speak. Company culture can really make me retch; just a little bit.
- reach out - as in "I reached out to Mr. Sprocket."
- at the end of the day - who's day may I ask?
- on the same page - most of the time we are not even reading the same book
- in and of itself - wtf is this?
- take a meeting - take it where?
- have a face to face
- folks - hate this one passionately, I am not "folks"
- bottom line - let's leave my bottom out of this
- teachable moment - gag
My daughter, Bella, sent me an article yesterday that I read with relish, talking about this very thing. Word aversion. Moist being at the top of the list. Apparently it's at the top of everyone's list!
The article made me poke around and read more. The comment sections of a few articles were the BEST! Apparently everything makes someone retch. Language is powerful. The emotions that certain words evoke are both unexplainable and fascinating.
For instance, here's a list of "do not say" words and phrases I found on
Vox Critica.
- Nowadays (or these days)
- Trenchant
- Heady stuff
- Piqued my interest
- Football (to mean soccer)
- Foodie
- Scenester
- Reported (when applied to someone else’s opinion), also “informs us that...”
- Literally (to mean really)
- Proverbially (to mean figuratively)
- At the end of the day
- Apropos of nothing
- For all intents and purposes
- Just sayin’
- No offense
- As it were
- Having said that
I kinda hate "foodie" too. Really? You like to eat and you're a "foodie?" Does that mean I'm a "coffeeyy?" Sorry, that was really bad. Hard to resist myself at times.
And here's a list of "do not say" that
Kurt Andersen (former editor of
New York magazine) left pinned to a wall after he had been let go (fired).
- authored
- bigs (meaning "prominent people")
- bistro (okay in restaurant reviews, but sparingly)
- boast (meaning "have")
- celeb
- comely
- comfort food
- duo
- don (meaning "put on")
- dubbed
- eatery
- eponymous
- fin de siecle
- flicks
- hails from
- hubby
- indie (exception granted for indie rock)
- intone
- lifestyle
- maven
- New York's finest
- overly
- penned
- queried (meaning "asked")
- sentences beginning "result" or "reason"
- scripted
- sport (as a verb)
- staffed/staffer
- tapped (meaning "chosen")
- , um,
- , uh,
- , well,
- A who's who of
- zeitgeist
What would you add to these lists? Are there certain words or phrases that make you run for the toilet? Speaking of that - toilet is one of my cringing words!
