I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

There are certain words that come "into style" and suddenly everyone is using them, and often times it seems they use them completely wrong. Ugh, it gets really annoying. I think the word "literally" is one I've heard a lot lately. "Man, I drank a whole bottle of sriracha last night, and today my anus is literally on fire!", "I played so much Bioshock Infinite for so many hours last night, my eyes literally dried up and fell out of my head.", "I woke up with such a hangover this morning, my head was literally exploding!"

I was venting about this in my head on the way to work the other day, and decided it could make for an amusing topic. I even came up with a nifty pop cultural reference for the thread title.

In my later years of college, everyone used the word "random" constantly. "That's random" had to be a phrase I heard at least a dozen times a day, and most the time there was nothing random involved at all.

Me: "I'm broke. I tried to go by the bank and deposit my check yesterday after I got off work, but they were closed."

Friend: "That's random!"

Me: "No. No, it wasn't. I got there at 5:01 and it closes at 5:00..."

===============================================

Me: "I'm hungry for tacos..."

Friend: "That's random!"

Me: "No. You just mentioned tacos not five seconds ago, and that made me hungry for them..."

This is very similar to how "lol" seldom means that the person who stated that is actually laughing out loud.

Awkward is another one that seem really popular right now. It is usually used right, but every now and then I hear someone use it in a way that is really, well, awkward. I feel like people just think it is fun to say (especially in falsetto, for some reason), and every now and then decide it is time to say it the next time someone says something where it might halfway potentially fit.

"I met this cute girl at the bar the other day--"

"Awkward!"

"--and totally got her number."

"Dude, I ate a whole bag of mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups this evening."

"Awkward!"

Inconceivable!

Can we mention words that are generally used correctly, but end being overused by people attempting to sound pretentious?  If so, I've got a few of those I've been hanging on to.

Is "correlation" one of them?

darth_ender said:

Can we mention words that are generally used correctly, but end being overused by people attempting to sound pretentious?  If so, I've got a few of those I've been hanging on to.

Yes, please do.

This is a fantastic

This is a cool

This thread is awes

I love

This thread sucks.

When I was young LOL meant 'lots of love' (a bit like SWALK being 'sealed with a loving kiss'). 

Bingowings said:

When I was young LOL meant 'lots of love' (a bit like SWALK being 'sealed with a loving kiss'). 

That's funny.  I recently heard a story from a coworker who told us of a friend who thought that in modern electronic discourse that is exactly what it meant.  So when this friend heard that another friend had lost her husband, she sent a mass email to the friend and all else involved in the discussion that said, "So sorry for your loss. LOL."  Oops.

thejediknighthusezni said:

            You know people who try to sound pretentious? :P

Indeed no, sir, but rather I find myself disadvantageously impotent when essaying to minimize my lexicon with picayune utterances.

In all seriousness, though I admit to probably coming off as pretentious, it's just the way I like to write.  I tend to use a moderately larger vocabulary than others when speaking, but I can't imagine I am anywhere in the same league as Bingowings, who usually motivates me to look up at least one word or reference when reading his comments.  But I try to ensure I use my words correctly, and I honestly make an effort not to resort too much to cliches.  You'll find that I actually tend to modify my idioms so they don't come off as just another overused phrase.

But there are those who continually use the same stupid words over and over trying to sound smart, especially in the news and politics.  Words like:

rhetoric
warmongering
optics
diversity
micro- (look on your shampoo bottles, nutritional supplements, lotions, etc.--they're all filled with micro-somethings!)
epic
war on...(drugs, women, minorities, Christians, Muslims)
fiscal cliff

I'll try to think of some more.

According to my son a lot of things are random. Things are also hectic or legit.

It's usually easier to bust people mis-using phrases when they are written, but the following are all too common:

one foul swoop

the power invested in me

for all intensive purposes

vicious cycle

There are some things I hate that aren't even considered incorrect, such as:

On accident

Come in useful

Went extinct

darth_ender said:

Bingowings said:

When I was young LOL meant 'lots of love' (a bit like SWALK being 'sealed with a loving kiss'). 

That's funny.  I recently heard a story from a coworker who told us of a friend who thought that in modern electronic discourse that is exactly what it meant.  So when this friend heard that another friend had lost her husband, she sent a mass email to the friend and all else involved in the discussion that said, "So sorry for your loss. LOL."  Oops.

My Mom did something very similar a few years ago, although it was much less embarrassing (along the lines of "drive safe, LOL")

darth_ender said:

thejediknighthusezni said:

            You know people who try to sound pretentious? :P

Indeed no, sir, but rather I find myself disadvantageously impotent when essaying to minimize my lexicon with picayune utterances.

In all seriousness, though I admit to probably coming off as pretentious, it's just the way I like to write.  I tend to use a moderately larger vocabulary than others when speaking, but I can't imagine I am anywhere in the same league as Bingowings, who usually motivates me to look up at least one word or reference when reading his comments.  But I try to ensure I use my words correctly, and I honestly make an effort not to resort too much to cliches.  You'll find that I actually tend to modify my idioms so they don't come off as just another overused phrase.

But there are those who continually use the same stupid words over and over trying to sound smart, especially in the news and politics.  Words like:

rhetoric
warmongering
optics
diversity
micro- (look on your shampoo bottles, nutritional supplements, lotions, etc.--they're all filled with micro-somethings!)
epic
war on...(drugs, women, minorities, Christians, Muslims)
fiscal cliff

I'll try to think of some more.

Ascertain!

Chillax

"ad hominem attacks."

• PERSON ONE: Here's my point.
• PERSON TWO: You're an asshole.
• PERSON ONE: Lay off the ad hominem attacks. 

An Ad Hominem argument requires that you claim that a person's argument is invalid because of who they are, not because of the argument. It has nothing to do with insulting someone. It could conceivably be complimentary.

• PERSON ONE: I think great people should get candy.
• PERSON TWO: You're only saying that because you're so great.

That's an ad hominem 

xhonzi said:

 

By-the-by... don't we have a "Words Mean Things" thread.  Oh, wait... that was a TheBoost thread.  And he didn't send me a Christmas Card last year so screw'em.

Here's an example of a non-ad hominem insult:

Xhonzi is a poo head. 

^LOL!

By the way, funny joke!