When words are abused and misused........

pobody's nerfect

Mon, Jan 25 2010, 9:45 pm

on that note, there are two words that I think really get abused.

[crazy] and depressed.

they both refer to serious conditions. they aren't synonyms for annoyance.

bubby

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 3:36 am

pobody's nerfect wrote:

on that note, there are two words that I think really get abused.

[crazy] and depressed.

they both refer to serious conditions. they aren't synonyms for annoyance.

And when kids call each other "[slow people]", even in jest, it appalls me. As a former English teacher, it had to have been one of the few misuses of a word I really despised.

louche

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 10:01 am

[quote="bubby"]

Hashem loves me wrote:

Tefila wrote:

I have a question for you Tefila. I'm really curious. Did you never tell someone " I love your outfit, shoes, sheitel, etc." ?

Oooh, I would NEVER say that! Too tacky. I always say, "Tefila, you are the epitome of sartorial elegance."

Far classier, don't you agree?

Not only classier, but a greater compliment. If you say you love my outfit, you could mean you covet that outfit, which would look great on you but looks like a shmatte on me. But if you say I'm the epitome of sartorial elegance..well, actually that's not such a compliment because "sartorial" is used more with respect to menswear, "sartor" being Latin for "tailor" and tailors tend to work more with menswear. You could mean that the outfit makes me look like a well-dressed guy. However, as my personal style leans heavily to the tailored rather than the frilly, I really do aspire to heights of sartorial elegance, so feel free to assure me that I have reached them!

BinahYeteirah

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 11:08 am

The "love" thing doesn't bother me at all, but I hate Wink

when people misuse the word "literally".

Examples:

"I was so happy, I was literally on cloud nine!"
-- Really?

"He literally kills his pants."
-- I wasn't aware pants could be alive.

The other side of this includes statements such as, "She was literally crying." Why would anyone think that she wasn't really crying if you say she was? Just saying someone is crying doesn't sound like an exaggeration or figure of speech, so the word "literally" is superfluous.

louche

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 11:37 am

LOL, BY!

We all have our pet language peeves. You must admit that using "literally" for emphasis is a lot better than using the "F-bomb" for the same purpose. But, yes, I know what you mean. "I was literally petrified." Shades of Harry Potter. Could you hear and see but not move? Was it like those anesthetics that merely immobilize you without relieving the pain? Or was it more like blacking out and being oblivious to everything until you were released from the spell? Who did the de-petrification spell on you?

WriterMom

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 11:46 am

During the Clinton impeachment proceedings, the CNN talking head said, after some shocking revelation, "The air was literally sucked out of the room!"

No, dear. I can assure you, it wasn't.

louche

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 1:49 pm

WriterMom wrote:

During the Clinton impeachment proceedings, the CNN talking head said, after some shocking revelation, "The air was literally sucked out of the room!"

No, dear. I can assure you, it wasn't.

Yes it was--oxygen deficiency to the brain is the only plausible explanation for some of the idiocy that went on.