I saw the phrase "meteoric rise" again today and it made me throw up in my mouth. Nothing goes down faster than a meteor. Nothing nothing nothing nothing can go DOWN faster, harder, or more spectacularly than a meteor. I don't get it. I will never get it. And before anyone pastes links claiming that the phrase refers to "something that comes out of nowhere," the etiology of the phrase is "meteor." Without the word meteor the phrase cannot exist. And meteors do not rise. Under no circumstances can a meteor rise. Nor can anything come down faster than a meteor. Anyone else have a least favorite word or phrase? Other than "literally," which is a perfectly good word provided the speaker/writer understands the definition.
"This goes without saying, but..." If it goes without saying, don't say it. Full disclosure: I've caught myself saying this.
Can it just be a word? If so: chronicle. It sounds more like an unsightly foot/toe problem than a literary word.
Yeah, I'm not crazy about the noun, but I've used "chronicling" here or there. Usually in some unnecessary, self indulgent literary passage... like "the night's steady chronicling" or some shit that usually gets deleted later.
Utilise. It shouldn't exist. Use 'use' instead. I hate it because it's used by people who think longer words make them sound more intelligent.
You don't think that "I make utilise of this fork" sounds more intelligent than "I make use of this fork"?
"This piece of tripartite cutlerarion aparatus appears to be of great utility in the consumption of nutrious sustenance"
Reminds me of this thread: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/the-most-irksome-word-in-existence.148689/ I stand by my hatred of business buzzwords:
'Literally' has become post, post-modern, quite cool once again, like a herb with everything - in a good way when before it was a stink bomb for morons. I see 1000% going the same way. Also, there might be mileage in those 'business buzz words.' I feel they were yesterday's enemy. I feel it in my comfort zone. My wife says 'boisterous' as the euphemism for all objectionable male behaviour. Even when I spell it out.
People who say 'respect' or worse 'recognise' at the end of sentences (unless they really are young gansta's from the 'hood and possible even then) - Tim Westwood I'm looking at you likewise the use of Phat, and Nuff ... as in "Phat ride bro, nuff respect, recognise" .... oh do f*ck off In the same vein the use of 'the babylon' to refer to the authorities or police ... Urban Grimshaw was written in the early noughties , trustafarian wannabes who've picked this up are about 15 years out of date
Also Personally , as in personally I feel , or personally I like ... its fine if you are using it to differentiate from the opinion of your employer or group "as in personally I feel internet trolls should be nailed to the wall by their testicles but I don't speak for WF" but lately you hear people using it everytime they express an opinion "personally I'd like a latte"
Yep. The program's broken, but all we care about is updating the user interface. Shit still doesn't work, but we're dressing it up to look pretty. Putting lipstick on a pig.
Never heard that one, but it sure sounds like it. A shitty product is a shitty product, regardless of how nice it looks.
There are a few that drive me nuts. First, I don't dig "like" used in an adverbial sense, as in, "She made a fist like she was going to hit him." Isn't that what 'as if" is for? Though I'm probably in the minority, as I see it more and more in modern writing. Next is "nauseous" in the sense of "feeling sick." I know most dictionaries permit this now, but aren't there plenty of words that already mean "feeling sick," among them, nauseated?
"Well you said...", followed by mumbo jumbo that has nothing to do with what was said. Also "not to put words in your mouth, but..." Assume is a fun on. Makes an ass out of you an me. Though it is not a bad word in my opinion. What the hell does synergy mean anyway? They never explain that one.
Synergy is where the sum is greater than the parts - like say a barrel of nails dropped into a crowd will only injure the person it hits, a stick of dynamite dropped into a crowd will only injure those in the imediate vicinity, but a stick of dynamite in a barrel of nails.... in business bollocks speak it means combining two ideas to make something better than either of them ... like putting the Mac OS on intel chip systems
