Words, Words, Words!
The other day, I was editing something Bart was writing and I said, “I’d like to take out the phrase ‘short and sweet.’ It just bugs me.” (This might be why you don’t want me to edit things for you – my own personal quirks will start shooting out my ears).
Bart said, “You know, I don’t really like it either. Take it out.” (This is why I married him).
I have a lot of words I’m sensitive to – words that make me cringe.
Sometimes it’s only certain circumstances that I cannot tolerate a word or phrase:  “Lol” in an IM conversation is fine; “Lol” in a blog post makes me want to die. Smiley faces in IMs and emails don’t bother me, but I am a cruel editor of them in any blog posts. They never ever make the cut.
The phrase “mani/pedi” makes my skin crawl, although not as much as the term “prego.” (I feel as if my blog is defiled just by writing those two things on it. Shall have to bleach my computer screen tonight). The list, my friends, is never ending.
And I know I’m not the only one. It seems to me that most people have some words or phrases that are absolutely grating to them.
My college roommate could not stand the word “mate.”
Landen wants to vomit when she hears “moist.” (I am 100% with her on this one).
What words make you cringe?
Do I dare even type it? (nipple) aagghhhh! Can't even stand to see it in print!
For me, it's "hubby" and "hubs." Ick. (Though I do still read, and love, lots of blogs that use those words regularly.)
Oh, good lord, yes. Prego is just, eww. Also, preggers.
Any acronyms in posts drive me up a wall. You have an infinite amount of space, just spell out your BTWs and IMOs. It really won't take that much more time. I promise. I will, however, have no problem with them on twitter or in text messages.
"Kreativ" spelling drives me nuts, as does random "cApItIzAtIoN". Not capitalizing anything hurts my head.
Irregardless!
"Antidote" instead of "anecdote" – how much more different can these things be?!
"Ambivalent" used as a "meh" word when it really means that someone is strongly pulled in two conflicting directions.
"Free reign/rain" instead of "rein" – it's like a horse, people!
(Okay, so maybe these are really more my pet peeves, but they make me cringe!)
I am SO with Landen on "moist." Blleeghjlakrlkscjk *shudder*
Also, "spore."
"Preggers" kills me a lot more than "prego" but I hate both.
I HATE message board lingo. Like LO (little one), DH (dear husband), DS (dear son) and DD (dear daughter), among millions of others. Freaking type it out, people. Stop being so lazy. Plus it takes me ages to decipher what you're saying.
I'm much more likely to just type out "haha" than use LOL. Because odds are good that I'm not actually laughing out loud and I think few people really are. If I really AM laughing out loud then I will use LOL.
Also, as long as I'm writing a novel of a comment about things that bug me, I cannot stand it when people use the wrong from of their/there/they're or it's/its in a blog post. When you're typing fast in gchat or whatever sometimes your fingers get ahead of your brain and it happens, but when you're writing something that you have time to think over and edit? There are no excuses.
I hate when people misspell definitely as "defiantly." Or use "viola" or "wah-la" when they mean "voila."
I also despite when people type in one really long block of text. I will very rarely take the time to actually read it. Waaay too much effort.
There are probably a lot more, but now I'm all annoyed and I need to move on.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's completely grossed out by the word "moist". Ugh.
And, ~Jennifer~, TOTALLY on the random capitalization. It's so irritating!
I hate the words "moist", "tender", and "firm". Blech.
HA, I totally have a typo in my comment. I DESPISE things, not despite.
I'm so with you and Jennifer and Kayle (on definitely).Phrases that make me cringe (and yes, I'm having a hard time even typing these out on someone else's blog, thus the long parenthetical explanation to prolong having to do it): artsy-fartsy, easy-peasy.I really like the word squeegee though.
I really hate prego and preggers. I don't mind moist (although I used to have a good friend who hated the word purse… kind of reminds me of that). I don't like panty or pantyhose (uh, I even hated writing them). Hello just call them underwear and nylons. I don't like the random caps or saying "heart" for love (ie. I {heart}… yuck). And I really hate LOL. Seriously. Ok that's all I can think of (although of course there's more).
I'm so glad to hear everyone else hates prego-they use it in the papers these days and it drives me crazy (and by "paper" I mean trashy tabloids at the checkout counter). My least favorite word…"nub". sick.
PS-I'm a friend of Kayla's from her early CA days. I've read your blog for awhile-I love your book reviews. Just wanted to stop lurking.
I can't think of anything I hate at this moment although my husband has some phrases I think are weird.
I agree about spelling words out-just do it, don't be lazy.
What I love is how this post made me laugh, laugh, laugh at my desk in the middle of the day!
Oh, and prego or preggers is an awful way to refer to a lovely pregnant person.
What would be twisted is to combine all these yucko word choices into one blog post.
Dude….HATE prego and preggers. And mani/pedi.
I may have occasionally let a smiley face slip into my blog posts…please don't hate me for that.
Reading these comments, I am a bit paranoid about what I might have inadvertently written in my blog posts (I am thinking about RA's comments here and the general misuse of words).
I would have to say the word baggie has always sat ill with me. I prefer just to say platic bag, or small ziplock bag, versus "baggie."
Regarding the word moist. Yes, it does give me a bit of the heebie jeebies, but when you are describing baked goods like cakes and muffins, what is the alternative? Nothing else works.
I hate prego. And preggers.
Also u and ur. Hello people, two more letters aren't going to kill you, but they will make you appear more intelligent. I can't even make myself use them when texting.
When my mom used to mend things for me or test pant size shopping, she would say "I'm not trying to be fresh". The word "fresh" in that context bugs me to no end. Ugh.
I started saying preggo as a joke because it bugged me so much and now sometimes it slips out on accident. Help!
Hahaha! You must hate my blog -lol (wink wink). But I understand – the most terrible word ever – DROWNED – but only when used in the present tense. Grrrr!
example – The water was so deep I thought I might drowned.
Hate. It.
Also, puns. I hate puns.
I hate the p word too, and also the one that ends in p-ers! I also despise hubby and hubs. I don't like panties either, I use undies! LOL bothers me too.
I'll admit that I use smilies in my blog posts…
Sorry 🙂
Not a big fan of "crusty," but I think I'm with you when I say that "Prego" makes my soul bleed.
"hubby." I hate it. It's diminutive and degrading, to me at least. And also hate "prego," as well as "preggers" and any variation thereof. I side with Jennifer as well, random capitalization or (worse) characters instead of letters (@#$ etc.) make me sad.
I agree with you and all of your readers! They've already covered the worst offenders. I also hate "probe," "cougar," and especially offensive, MILF. (Should I even have to explain that's offensive? Still, I see it in mainstream media these days.) I have made a conscious effort to eliminate LOLs with "ha-ha's," but it so concisely expresses the sentiment that it's hard to avoid. Likewise, smiley faces.