Books I Loathed discussion
Words I Loathed
Kate -- he used "nut" as a verb? That's a new one for me. I actually giggled!When I hear "bust a nut" I immediately flash to that baseball player years ago who actually lost a testicle from a bad pitch. Do you remember that?
Another "gross-out" word I thought of was "itty titty". It was funny when I heard it though. I was going to get my mail and bumped into an older neighbor. She and I struck up a conversation and she told me that I was just a tiny bit of a thing and then she said "you even have itty titties. How cute!" She giggled. I was a little shocked but she just kept repeating it. I think if I never hear "itty titty" again, it'll be too soon -- bad cliche!
It makes me vomit in my mouth a little when I hear people say "convo" - short for conversation. As in "Someone needs to have a convo with her about this." Sometimes they even use it as a verb!! As in "We'll have to convo about that." We'll have to what?!? Are you kidding? If you're too lazy to say the whole word, then I'm not going to devote enough time for a discussion when you're obviously super busy and need to truncate words just to fit everything in!
I am so disappointed the PC police have cut a swathe through this discussion . The attitude that everything is equal is what has brought us to such a parlous state in the first place. Sorry to put a damper on all the 'Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy' but some things are not correct.Wash and warsh maybe regional variations when spoken but, unless it is in dialogue, wash is the correct spelling. Also using iregardless is just a display of ignorance and 'growing a business' when you mean expand or develop is pure laziness and the lack of a decent vocabulary.
With the constant rush in forums and in emails mistake will often occur but I would hate to think that my typos were the basis for changing the English language.
When disorientated started cropping up I could see some logic in the formation but it felt wrong so I did something totally revolutionary and looked it up in a dictionary!
Language must change and adapt to the times, we have been influenced by Shakespeare, sports and modern technology. But I object to the fact that our language is now being shaped by people who can't be bothered to check whether its or it's correct, by people who will invent an ugly word rather than cracking open a dictionary to discover a apposite one that already exists.
Through fear of offending anyone we are allowing our language to be governed by laziness and ignorance. And then we are all shocked when certain language gurus claim that differentiating between imply and infer is pure elitist snobbery.
I was going to reply to your post with some lengthy prose in support of the points you make. I changed my mind and decided "Hear, hear!" was better.I note also the deplorable way the computer geeks have bastardized the definition of many words under the guise that the technology demands it. It doesn't and never did. The English dictionary I use weighs over twenty pounds, no one can convince me that redefining words was necessary.
Red Evans author On Ice Order Barnes & Noble
One loathsome word: seminal. Surely this is the most overused word in lit'ry circles today. Gad! My favorite example is from Nancy Pearl's "More Book Lust." In this work, which for the most part I enjoyed, is a brief essay on feminist literature in which the word "seminal" is used at least 5 times. Oh, the humanity. Did her editor have no ear/eye for irony?one loathesome usage: dialogue as a verb. "We need to dialogue about that issue." What? Just how will we dialogue? Hmmm??? Hate it, hate it, hate it.
I am going to second Red and tip my hat to Eshchory!As odd as this is going to sound, I cannot stand the word "bucolic". I just get the heebie-jeebies when I hear that word, which is kind of odd. It's a normal word and there's really nothing wrong with it, I just can't handle reading or hearing it. I just shiver, not in a good way. I think it's kind of bizarre that I loathe that word cause it's not offensive, and I even looked it up the first time I saw it, but just grates on me. I usually pull out my thesaurus and go with "pastoral" or "countryside".
"Oreo" as a derogatory term is loathsome! I love Oreo cookies but could not eat them for years because of being bullied with that word! I think it's terrible!
Mod
That's exactly how I feel! I've never heard someone say "a bucolic symphony" but rather have heard "a pastoral symphony" and it just sounds so much better. I don't think anyone would go if it was called a bucolic symphony.
I hate the word "bulbous."
I've always thought the word "phlegm" LOOKS more disgusting than even what the word means..."g" and "m" should never sit right next to each other.I also hate when authors use the word "munch"; "nibble" I can tolerate, or "snack" (as a verb), but never, EVER "munch".
The word doesn't bother me as a rule, but I noticed J.K. Rowling used the word "extremely" a lot. That got kind of annoying. If everything is extreme, then isn't the extreme normal?
I agree with Kate and Tara bucolic always makes me think of someone with TB coughing up a lung. Pastoral is much more evocative of the actual meaning of the word.
Christen,"Convo" was a clue on Jeopardy earlier this week. I had already read this thread, so I had to laugh when I got it (so did another contestant which proves people are aware of this strange little term).
Today I listened to a programme about British Politics and some woman was talking about 'making efficiencies'. What does that even mean?
As far as butchering language is concerned I think politicians have a lot to answer for.
Just to pick up on the original intent of the thread, I just had to share this pearl I picked up from a book I got through BookCrossing a couple of days ago.In the book Thrice Upon a Time, two characters meet up and shake hands resulting in this charming simile: "It was like grasping a double-thick cut of spare rib that hadn't died yet."
What does that even mean?
I'm only a couple of pages in yet, but the book only has six reviews here but it's at 4.50 which surprised me, as the prose seems to contain a lot of sci-fi clichés and "interesting" turns of phrase, such as the one above.
I hate to see the term "fun-bags" used to describe breasts. It seems to insinuates that breasts should be hung up in a gym and punched around a few times...
I'm still trying to figure out "It was like grasping a double-thick cut of spare rib that hadn't died yet." I kind of like it but I don't get it and I can't tell you why I like it. It made me giggle a little.I hate "fun-bags" too. I don't think breasts should ever be referred to as any sort of establishment an insect would live in i.e. ant hills. Also never mosquito bites, bee stings, or mole hills. I'm allergic to ants, bees, mosquitoes, wasps and spiders, so seeing breasts described as any of those "bites" is just disturbing to me; I don't want my breasts referred to as the things that require epinephrerine (sp?) shots. No, no, no.
I don't know that slang words are necessarily hatred, Natalie. There are many slang words for male genitals, and those same words are often used in a derogatory manner (as in calling someone a dick), but I don't think that using the slang word to describe the body part is hateful. I certainly don't hate men or their anatomy. I guess the point I am trying to make is that it depends on how the word is used. That said, there are some body-slang words that seem filthier than others (such as the loathed C U Next Tuesday word I can't even bring myself to type).
I dunno, Natalie...there's a difference between being "strong-willed and assertive" and then being so assertive that one becomes a "dick." Again, though, I think it always depends on context. "That guy can be kind of a dick sometimes" is quite different than, "Don't talk to him, he's a total dick".You're right about the sociology thesis. I've been meaning to go through the thread and creating a list of words and phrases, see what i can see. I'll let everyone know about my findings. Of course, it depends on how busy work is the next week...
In reference to Natalie's comment, I find both 'dick' and 'pussy' to be derogatory - that they differ in meaning is clear, but I cannot imagine someone who would enjoy being called either one. Even the strong-willed vs. timid distinction becomes blurred if one considers the implication of saying that some guy is 'pussy-whipped' - I don't picture any stereotypically weak female in that situation!
I just have to say, I'm definitely strong-willed, assertive, and very feminine. The traits are not mutually exclusive. I guess I don't automatically jump to the conclusion that everyone has negative views toward women, and that referring to one's breasts as "tits" or "boobs" or whathaveyou implied such.
Oh lord, I'm about to jump into this....A friend of mine is gay, and when we talk she'll sometimes say things like "That's totally gay", meaning stupid, or lame. By that reckoning, does that mean she hates herself? Or is she just being hateful to other gays?
I'm sorry, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a word is only that.
Now everyone, please stop "dicking" around - yuk yuk yuk
I read the whole darn thread and here are my contributions:My old boss used to say "I spoke to x and he indicated that..."
I loathe that use of the word. Come on! Say they said, or they told you something. Indicated makes me think of a mime or a turn signal.
I very much dislike the misuse of touché. It's from fencing; it's the acknowledgment of a hit. The other person scored a point in a debate. I can't express the way I've recently heard it used... I just remember that it was used incorrectly and as someone who has taken both French and fencing it drives me up the wall.
I will freely admit that I am horrible about overusing ellipsis. But usually because I am trying to express the way I would say something out loud in an informal email.
A phrase that should stop people in their tracks is "No offence, but...." Seriously, just stop right there, if you have to use that phrase to begin a statement you should just stop.
For mispronunciation I used to pronounce chaos as ch-asos. I don't know where I came up with the extra s but at least the Ch was understandable. Why isn't it spelled with a K?
Finally I love the non-word snarky.
I have no fear of using the "c-word" (any c-word, for that matter), and I am a feminist, and majored in women's and gender studies in college. But I am a fan of reclamation.
Natalie can I help with the sociological thesis?Brian's mention of his friend using "gay" to mean stupid or lame made think of something. There are several words that have been spoken and written for decades, but over time their meanings changed. Like "gay" would appear as a description of how happy a person was: "She sang gayly as she skipped down the street". But now "gay" carries a negative definition. It's kind of interesting.
So, on a different note, "zit" is a word I cringe at. When I read a sentence with it, it just conjures a bad image, whereas "pimple" isn't quite as bad an image.
I like "snarky" too, that's a fun one.
Tara, I feel just the opposite about zit and pimple. Perhaps in my mind a pimple just has to be larger than a zit. A zit you can ignore while a pimple stares at you.
the word "tits" doesn't bother me, because its roots are latinate. the word for "breast" in spanish and french is similar to the word "tits".
I like breasts no matter what you call them, but I prefer them to be called breasts over all of the other names for them. My least favorite is "knockers," which has always led to a picture in my mind of breasts knocking against knees. Back to some of the other words that have been discussed here, I don't like convo either. Zit bothers me as a word, but it works great when playing Scrabble. I like to use the word "smarmy" at least once a week.
Erica, that's funny cause I have it completely opposite for zit and pimple. Hehe. Although getting either is a nuisance :)Mark, I laughed at your comment about knockers. The mental image was hilarious. It's like that scene in Young Frankenstein when Gene Wilder is helping Teri Garr out of the wagon and Marty Feldman bangs the large door knockers. Gene says "What great knockers" (I think, haven't seen the movie in awhile) cause he's looking at the door and Teri Garr looks down at her chest and says "Why, thank you Doctor", not realizing he's not talking about her.
I ADORE the word "smarmy", and when I say it, I always throw in an extra "ch" where it doesn't belong ("schmarmy"), just because I like the sound of it. I also love the word "churlish" and "revolting".As for ellipses, I know I overuse them, but I'm seemingly helpless to correct it. Same for parentheses; and, come to think of it, for semicolons, too. The thing is, I THINK parenthetically. Let me tell you, trying to have a "convo" (sorry, couldn't help myself..) with me is like conversating (yeep!) with Reverend Jim...I trail off, mutter, and throw asides around like a schizophrenic might. I'm far more articulate when I write (scary as that might seem to some), but I still am prone to winding around the point.
Back to the main topic: As much as I don't care for the word "tits", I HATEHATEHATE the term "titties". It's so NOT alluring...can you imagine what could be less so? Well, I suppose "lovely lady lumps" (damn you, Fergie) gives it a run for its money, but honestly, I'd never heard that before the song "My Humps" became popular.
Another word that makes me cringe when I read it is "grin" or "grinned". I can see that it conveys an expression different than "smile", but it always seems so...cheesy. Amateur-ish.
"Romance" terms such as "member" and "length"... oh and of course the "C-word." Can we just be real and call it what it is? Oh and as some others have said using "sex" instead of genitals. It's just odd to me.le sigh.
Also metaphors about such. Like Xysea said.
One of my favorite movie scenes is when Leslie Nielson tells Priscilla Presley that she has a nice beaver as he's looking up her skirt when she's on a ladder, and then she pulls a stuffed beaver with its big old tail from a high shelf with a quizzical look. I lol'ed all over the floor. I don't like the word titties very much either, except when Larry the Cable Guy uses it to describe the bars he likes to frequent. Grin should be deleted from the English language. It seems like it should be the opposite of frown, but I'd much rather see the word smile as the antithesis of frown than grin. Turgid is a very swollen word that reminds me of a river at flood stage filled with flotsam and jetsam, and I have never even thought of using it while talking with a woman. By the same token, I don't think I would ever say "You make me limp." That would mean I would need to walk with a cane. :)
I completely agree about all the moronic euphemisms for genitals and sex. If you can't use the actual words, you shouldn't be writing about it either.Also, I HATE HATE HATE the expression "chick lit". What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Women as protagonists? (then Brontë and Austen belong to that category)
Women as the primary audience? (Yeah, because we're one happy, homogenous group)
Female protagonists whose main interest is shopping? (Clothes, bags and shoes, that is. If they they're stockbrokers or sells weapons, you've got another genre.)
Quick, fun, not necessarily lifealtering reads? (Harry Potter? Dean Koontz?)
This is not so much something written in a book, but spokenabout books...I strongly dislike it when people say they "read" an audio book. I believe the term would be you "listened" to the book.....
And I dont know why, but there is something about an Audiobook that bothers me. (Im afraid I will upset quite a few people here by saying that)... I feel that by listening to a book, rather than reading it, you are losing a huge part of the experience....
I don't like the categorization of certain books as chick-lit either. It makes me feel like I would only be able to read one of them in secret, illicitly. And who is to be the judge of what is chick-lit? And why is it considered with disdain by many people? Women don't have substandard minds, but maybe there are still people around who think they do. There are, of course, trashy novels out there about shopping just as there are trashy novels about shooting people, etc. But I'd rather lump them all together as trashy novels; and reading a trashy novel is not a literary sin, or else we'd all be headed for literary hell. Where is that? To me it's being forced to read something that I don't want to read. To me, reading is about freedom. (Picture the scene in Braveheart, "Freedom!")Audiobooks -- I've never been able to listen to one, because while listening I'll go off on a thought tangent and completely lose track of where I was. And I can't listen to a book and drive.
I particularly despise 'sperm,' as in, "taste his sperm," or "drink his sperm." Sperm is only a percentage of that bodily emission.
Mark: I have the same problem with audio books as you do: I end up "listening" to my inner dialogue (which is LOUD, let me tell you), and when I come to, I don't know what the hell's going on in the story. Interestingly (to me, anyway), I can listen to talk radio just fine, but stories? Not a CHANCE. I can't listen to anything read aloud and be able to follow it (letters, instructions, whatever)...I distract myself by nodding, even: "Hmmm, I just nodded; I wonder if they caught that? Did I nod long enough? Can they tell I'm not really listening? I wonder how long I can go without making ANY noise? Lalalala...wow, it's been like three minutes and I haven't even made a listening noise..." (That's what my head sounds like.) In my case, it's (diagnosed and treated) ADHD, but even medicated, I'm worthless in that arena. The ADHD also helps explain/excuse (right?) my overuse of parentheses and ellipses.Hell, I can't even watch movies without missing most of it. Oh well.
Jessica: Oh, I'm SO with you on the sperm thing...never mind that there are just some things that should never, EVER be described, let alone inaccurately...
Recynd: My inner dialogue never knows when to shut up. I'll be trying to focus on what I'm reading and my mind will wonder off topic. It's terribly frustrating at times. Sometimes it's completely unrelated to the reading - "I wonder what I should have for dinner" - and other times I'll run with whatever I just read and will stare into space to twenty minutes pondering the reading I should actually be reading.Did that even make sense?
I overuse parentheses and ellipses also in informal writing. I tend to type as I talk, and I find I talk parenthetically sometimes too.I think the F word is overused.
I agree with smarmy and snarky... those are great words.
I hate it when people say they "literally" did something when they really mean they "figuratively" did something. I also hate it when people who are hungry say that they are "starving."
Jessica: Yes, your post made perfect sense, at least to me.Medicine helps quite a bit.
Sarah: Instead of "starving", how about "peckish"? Affected, maybe, but it's a great word. I'm with you, too, on "literally". It's even more offensive when it's combined with finger quotes. "I literally [insert wildly waggling fingers here] can't stand that girl..." Nine out of ten times, they don't even mean "figuratively", they just use "literally" as a superlative.
"I'm literally starving to death." Oh, how I wish.
Speaking of celebrity gossip, I'm so tired of the portmanteau names like Brangelina or TomKat. I mean, Bennifer was kind of clever because Ben and Jen rhyme, but the other names are just stupid and trying to hard. Also I think it's sad that when people become a couple, the public stop viewing them as individuals.
To "hunker down" makes me think of illegal pillow smuggling: "Don't get involved with him, he's a down hunkerer." Hunkerer? hmm...
I'm reading these posts and nodding my head.Chick Lit: I don't understand how that came about but it does make me twitch when I hear it. I have the same reaction to "chick flick". I don't think I understand what the definitions of "chick lit" and "chick flick" are, so I'm horribly lost.
Along with smarmy and snarky, I love skeevy. And I also like the word "peckish". I like saying it when I am hunting for a snack. "Hunting for a snack" is a bit much and I say it all the time. Really? Can I hunt chips or chocolate the way others might hunt deer? Umm, no. I need to stop saying "I'm hunting for a snack".
Baby-bump: the first time I heard that word I thought the reporter was talking about the crib bumper that people buy so it took me awhile to figure out that it is a new way of saying a celebrity is pregnant. It's another one that makes me twitch.
And the celebrity name combination thing. What is that about? I agree with Sarah. I don't think I would want to have a group name. I know I would not be very happy about no longer being "Tara" and suddenly being something else. Actually, after thinking long and hard, gossip columnists wouldn't do that with my name cause it just wouldn't sound right. Plus, I couldn't think of a celebrity male to pair my name up with who wasn't married or who I could even remotely imagine dating.
Along the sex lines: Turgid also makes me think of a flooded river, but not a body part. Also, "throbbing meat stick" just doesn't do it for me.
I think in parentheses and ellipses and quotes. I talk in quotes and parentheses. It's a terrible habit and I'm working on breaking it, but I have managed to master the "blank stare, smile and nod" trick. It works wonders when I'm at work.
I must add "ass lips" to this list. I abhor this being used. I never saw anything remotely similar to this described 'body part' in my biology texts...
About what Natalie said, the pink cover is a dead giveaway. I wish they wouldn't be marketed that way. Hey, I'm not going to carry around a pink book. Not that I have anything against the color. It was drummed into me probably from birth not to like pink, however. Strangely enough, my elderly, homophobic but beloved father wore a pink shirt the last time I saw him. Strange turn of events. But I've never seen him reading a pink book either. I have discovered through being involved in this thread that there are alot of words and phrases that I don't like. There are, of course, many more words that I really do like. But I'll add one more phrase here that I hate: "focus group." I used to be forced to be in them where I worked, and to read about them in the wonderfully horrible management guru books. The only thing I liked about them was their alliterative value for what I constantly muttered under my breath while involved in them.
Tara: Personally, I like "hunting for a snack". I like the way it looks, and I like the way it feels when I say it. I usually "forage" when I'm hunting for that snack."Throbbing meat stick"? Is THAT what you said!? That's right up there with...
...never mind.
Everybody: Where have you all been my whole life? I might not have been the antisocial hermit that I've become had I known where to find you; the internet can be a wonderful thing (assuming you don't get hung up on off-shore gambling and porn sites, that is. [Where in heaven's name IS "off-shore" anyway? If I'm going to use the word, I ought to know what it means.]). Anyway, cheers.
Isn't "off-shore" the middle of the ocean?
It doesn't have to be exactly the middle, but i think in the context of off-shore gambling, it means just outside the boundaries of a sovereign entity, and therefore not affected by its laws. i dunno what the distance is, though...50 miles? 10? Haven't you seen that Simpsons episode with the monkey and the pirates, he said vaguely...
I also like and agree with Anna about chick lit. I hate that it is viewed as "bad" by some people. I hate when people say "You're reading,that? Like there's something wrong with it. At least I'm reading, That is more then can be said for most of our country.
Mark, Dad had on a crushed velvet purple suit jacket the last time i saw him!! I guess 70 is the license not to "not give a %#$@", as he would say.=]
Books I Loathed
Books mentioned in this topic
The Blonde Identity (other topics)Medusa's Sisters (other topics)
Who We Are Now (other topics)
Under the Influence (other topics)
North of Nowhere (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Stacey Ballis (other topics)Emily Giffin (other topics)
I don't know if this word is more of a dialect or a colloquialism or just plain ignorance but this is a word that, not only do I loathe, but I HATE to the core of my being, whether in print or spoken: the "n" word. I find it personally offensive no matter how it is spelled. I have read books that take place during slavery and the "n" word was used and I admit, I was upset by it BUT it had historical context or significance in those books. But to see it now, in the lyrics of songs or to hear it on TV with a change from "-er" to "-a" upsets me. It makes me sad! I think I would rather read a new novel with the "c" word in it 5 million times than a new novel with "N" ending with "-a" in it once.