Thursday, September 16, 2010

Words I Dislike

Here is a list of words I dislike.
It's a short list, because being writerly, I like most words.
But not these ones:

Guesstimate: This is a guess/estimate hybrid. I find it very annoying. "Guess" is implied in "estimate" and vise versa. One or the other will do but meshing them together in an attempt to make yourself sounds smarter or more precise is just not cool with me.
Pick one.

Ridonkulous: Okay, this is not a word, strictly speaking, although, according to the urban dictionary, it apparently is.  I have heard this "word" crop up in conversation from time to time. I guess it is supposed to mean ridiculous, but for some reason, the person feels compelled to infuse the word "donkey" in there, or whatever "donk" is supposed to be short for.
Someone used it last week during a conversation, which shortened our convo considerably. Coincidentally, she was wearing Crocs. "Ridonkulous" seemed a perfectly apt word for a Croc wearer. Maybe that's why I hate the word. Maybe if she would have been wearing nicer shoes, I would be writing "Words I Love" instead.
Maybe.
But I doubt it.

Nekkid. This word is supposed to mean naked. Well, I guess that much is obvious. But I really hate this pronunciation. It seems high school-ish to me. Juvenile. Although, to be honest, I don't really like the word "naked", either. I would prefer not to hear the word 'naked' in any sentence, ever, except for in reference to the wine "Naked Grape." I do not want to hear about anyone in their unclad state. But if you are going to say naked, if you must- (although, honestly, I don't see why you must), then say it properly, at least. Give it the respect it deserves.

And this isn't a word, per se- more a category of words, but I also dislike it when people use random nouns as verbs.
 Eg) "I corkscrewed the ball over the fence."
WTF is that supposed to mean?
These types of impromptu verbs seem to crop up mainly in the context of sports stories, which by the way- I also dislike. Don't talk to me about sports, as a general rule. Unless you're Tom Brady. For you I would be willing to listen.

I think I would keel over and die if someone used a combination of these words on me.
As in: "I guesstimate that he would feel ridonkulous nekkid."
If you are ever stuck in a conversation with me that you want desperately to get out of, that will work.

4 comments:

Joann Mannix said...

I kind of like ridonkulous. It smacks of ridiculousness. I might use it in a sentence, but my shoes are pretty sweet and you would never, ever see Crocs on my feet or tennis shoes for that matter. So you might like it better if I said it.

The words I hate are creamy, (I have no idea why. Probably because I'm not a big fan of creamy things.)

And crotch. And do not put those words together, or I might just have an epileptic seizure.

Terri said...

Supposedly...hate that word.

There's another C word I cannot stand, but I don't think I'm old enough to say it yet.

randine said...

I don't mind supposedly so much as long as it gets pronounced properly. Drives me CRAZY when people say "supposably." or "libary."

And I TOTALLY agree that 'creamy' and crotch should not be used together. EW. I just did it and I feel dirty now.

Lorrie said...

Can you do a list of pronunciations you hate...I'll start you off:
Taco - taaaaaaco
Nacho - ditto
Laboratory - lab-or-atory
That is all for now!!!