What are terms you hear overused or misused?
And in what way? Are they terms you use or would like to use but don’t because of how they are misused?
One that came to my attention recently is “gaslighting”. I watched the movie “Gaslight” the other night and it reminded me that rather than be used to refer to a form of psychological abuse in which a person is made to question their sanity or reality, it’s commonly used on internet forums simply as a means of obfuscation when confronted with an argument one doesn’t like. I very frequently come across its misuse.
Another one is “triggered”. I think it describes a valid type of hysterical overreaction where the person desires to completely eliminate an opponent rather than engage with their argument, but often I simply see it used any time there’s a disagreement, as if contesting someone’s argument is itself a form of being “triggered” which essentially renders the term meaningless.
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21 Answers
@elbanditoroso “literally” for sure, and not just in the classic sense of “figuratively”, but using it as a general intensifier in a way that seems incoherent to me, e.g. “I’m literally so tired right now”.
“Oh my god!” Even I overuse that one!
Triggered originally referred to, and still does, something ‘triggering’ a PTSD symptom, i.e., causing someone (extreme) emotional distress, usually as a result of stimulating feelings or memories associated with a particular traumatic experience. It’s a shame that it’s been watered down to the point where it’s essentially meaningless.
“Trust me” and “you have no clue”.
@smudges Oh yes! I really hate that one as I have PTSD!
@Demosthenes
I am so glad that someone finally explained correctly the origin of the term ‘gaslighting’.
Correctly used, as per the movie you cited, it is mental abuse meant to confuse someone and make them think they are crazy —driving them to the breaking point.
Some of us may have done this to teachers and professors when in an academic setting.
I once kept writing the name and date of an event on the board in the same handwriting several times after the professor erased it, and then every few months after the professor erased it. A director even repremanded the professor for having the date of the event on the board for so long, even though he had erased it several times.
NOT-SUSTAINABLE drives me crazy.
“amazing” and “satisfying” popping this zit is SO satisfying
People say, “precisely” when they mean, “exactly”. These two words have very different meanings.
Decimate, which means to kill, destroy or remove 10% (hence the “dec” root). People use that word instead of obliterate or annihilate.
Podium, a raised platform for elevating a speaker (thus “pod,” meaning foot). It isn’t the object that someone stands behind while addressing a crowd.
@gondwanalon Precisely and exactly are synonyms. Look up one and you’ll see the other as a definition.
I just realized I used this in another post…“I know, right?!”
@smudges It depends on what dictionary you are looking at. In the true application of precision and exactness they are very different. Those who work in statistics know how very different these two terms are.
Example of a dart board. Throw 3 darts. If they all land in the bullseye then you have good precision and good exactness. If you have a tight grouping far off from the bullseye then you have good precision but poor exactness. If the darts are all over the board then you have poor precision and poor exactness.
You’re right, and after doing a little research, I’ll say that most of the time in our everyday use of the words, they are synonyms. However, when it comes to science and, especially statistics, they often have different meanings.
@Love my doggie The romans are once again responsible for decimate as a verb. It was the harshest possible penalty for the severest of infractions on the part of any legion or its subdivisions, where one in 10 were counted off in an assembled formation and executed on the spot. It was often a feat so agonizingly accomplished (considering that men known and distinguished for both valor and experience might well be numbered in their ranks) that the very order risked open revolt by the army at large.
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