The most misused words in the English language

[mynah]

"Unique" and its sibling "the only one of its kind in ..."

"Fulsome". If journalists who use "he was fulsome in his praise of ..." ever bothered to look up the meaning, most of them would probably be pretty embarrassed...

Lemit, I agree about some huge blunders that are picked up before they get into print. At one magazine where I used to work as a journalist, I saw a sub-editor rendered speechless with laughter at this photo caption for an article on bridal wear: "The bride is dressed in a white dress with a low neckline that clearly exhibits her virginity." As the sub said once she was able to breathe again, "I'd love to see the pic. Just how low can a neckline be?"

Just this week I saw an article on education programmes in local prisons, with an official being quoted as saying, "Our aim is to create an illiterate nation." Appears they are succeeding...

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by modest

Care of Family Guy:

Anyone using the phrase “irregardless”, “a whole 'nother” or “all of the sudden” will be sent to forced labor camps

~modest

irregardless ??
You have to be kidding? What the hell is it supposed to mean?

I am literally nonplussed by that.
What is the opposite of nonplussed ?
I am nonplussed about that too.

"Natural"--the most overused word?
Now some flavour and fragrance designers say "nature identical"!
A new ABC show on advertising is a 'hoot' called
The Gruen Transfer
It looks at advertising and advertisers. A great programme.
A pilot went out last year and it looks like we might get a full season of it this year. Very funny if you have an Oz sense of humour or humor (sic?)

Another gripe of mine is the lovely word "disinterested" meaning impartial- "free from selfish motive or interest"-Webster-a very handy word to use.
However it is often used now to mean "Not interested"
Consequently, you can't use it for fear of being misunderstood.

[lemit]

Thank you, Mynah. The bridal story is the most wonderful one I've read in years. The story of which I'm reminded, which isn't nearly as good, is that when I was at The Denver Post, one of the photographers left an excited note on the bulletin board announcing a brand new baby and listing the size as 7' 11". One of the staff cartoonists soon added a drawing of a doctor's arm holding up a pair of legs that descended out of the picture.

I promised a list. I don't have it yet, but I'm often intrigued by "literally."

--lemit

[mynah]

Another bugbear of mine, too. I recall a sports commentator saying, "He literally had to jump six feet high to take that catch!"

[modest]

Originally Posted by modest—yesterday

...I never knew who sung that...

~modest

~modest

[lemit]

I just looked through this thread again and discovered something I'd somehow missed before which is like the hackneyed "fingernails on a blackboard" to me. Thank you, Turtle, for "went missing." I haven't done any research on this term. If anyone can give me its etymology, I'd love to see it. Any time I hear it on television, I always ask "Went where?" Nobody responds. Sometimes my cat gives me a dirty look, but that doesn't count, since she does that a lot.

Again, thank you for this thread.

--lemit

[pamela]

I googled and found this for "went missing"

The reason went missing sounds strange to Americans is that it's a British idiom (1, 2). I've seen sources placing the first use of went missing as far back as 1944 (3), but my version of the Oxford English Dictionary places the first use in a 1958 book by British writer Norman Franks (4). The OED places gone missing in the same category as the phrase go native, which is used to describe a turn to or relapse into savagery or heathenism. I've also heard the term go native used to describe the transition a newcomer to Washington D.C. undergoes as he or she accepts the government bureaucracy, which I suppose could be considered turning to savagery or heathenism.

Grammar Girl :: Went Missing

[lemit]

Now that's personal, Pamela.

About 35 years ago I edited a book titled "Grow Native."

So, is "Go . . ." considered meaningful by American English speakers, or for that matter, English English speakers?

Again, thanks.

--lemit

[pamela]

"go figure!"
this is a very common phrase in American English but it isn't used for calculations
I have caught myself saying it and thought "what the heck does that mean?, since it really doesn't apply to what you are trying to convey"
I am not sure about the English english(why does that feel redundant) but i will google

[lemit]

I don't know. If someone told me to "Go figure," I think I'd have to take it pretty seriously. I don't know exactly where I'd go, or exactly what I'd try to figure, but I suppose I'd figure that out on the way, specially if I had someone with a nice figure to go with me.

Sorry for the implicit sexism. I'll try to be more explicit the next time.

--lemit