Posted on by Emily

Words that should be eradicated from the English language.

I am getting grumpy in my old age, and one of the things that drives me insane is the stupid words/phrases that we hear all. the. time. on Facebook, Twitter, whatever.

I have decided to compile a list to make it convenient for all of you to NEVER USE THEM AGAIN.

Now, I’m not throwing stones – I’m guilty myself. I’m sure I’ve committed more than one of these atrocities in the past 24 hours. But, with dedication and perseverance, we can change.

Without further ado, I bring you…

WORDS THAT SHOULD BE ERADICATED FROM THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

1. YOLO. I think that ridiculous acronym (which stands for you only live once, for those of you lucky enough to avoid that phrase until this point) is from a song, but I don’t really know. And before you tell me, I don’t WANT to know what song it is. Because it would probably get stuck in my head and then I’d have to end it all and it might be hard for my kids to understand why I killed myself over a song (but then they’d listen to it and be like, “oh, now I get it.”). ANYWAY. YOLO is a justification for doing stupid shit you know you shouldn’t be doing – and a poor justification at that. Also? I consider it to be prudent never to use words I’ve seen airbrushed onto men’s tank tops.

Now that’s a life policy I encourage you to adopt.

2. Mind.Blown. Really? Your mind is blown? That would explain why you chose to use a dumb phrase like that.

3. Periods.After.Every.Word. Now, I warned you that I was a perpetrator of some of this annoying shark, and what do you know, I used this one at the beginning of this post! But I annoyed myself when I did it.

4. That moment… I don’t know where that phrase came from or what started it – and, let’s be clear, I do not want to know – but that moment when I read “that moment…” on someone’s facebook status is when I want to punch my iPhone in the throat.

5. It is what it is. Really? WTF does that even mean? Actually, I’ll tell you what it means – nothing. It means nothing. It is not helpful advice, and it does not make me feel better – because even if it is what it is, “it” can still suck.

6. Foodie. One question – could you BE any more pretentious? I didn’t think so.

7. Selfie. This is actually the word that inspired this whole post. Selfie. An obnoxious word for an even more obnoxious activity. The only thing that would be better than getting rid of that word is to never have to see one ever again. What genius at Apple thought to him/herself, “Let’s see.. how can we make Americans even more self-absorbed than they already are? How could we make them MORE egocentric? Wait, I know – we’ll take something that’s supposed to focus outward – a freaking camera lens – and make it so they can point it at themselves! That way we can totally reinforce the idea that they ARE actually the center of the universe! Yay, narcissism!” Cue millions of dollars spent and thousands of hours wasted trying to Instagram the exact right angle of your face. (Sorry Jenny. xoxo. But seriously.)

Ugh, selfies. I am spent.

But I’m sure I’m missing some – what drives you crazy???

Post to Twitter

20 Replies to “Words that should be eradicated from the English language.”

  1. But selfies brought the world the Peace Sign Duck Face Toilet pictures!!!
    Those are like a newly discovered gem.
    Like, totally.

  2. YES! Especially #5 & 6. Regarding #7, I do sometimes wonder how I would’ve behaved if I would have owned a camera phone in high school… I’m pretty glad there is no documentation of my shallow behavior back in the day!

    1. I think the world is a much better place because I did not own a camera phone in high school (not that they existed)…but yeah.

  3. Here’s another one – YOLO is a justification for doing stupid shit you know you shouldn’t be doing – and a poor justification at that. Or – Really? WTF does that even mean?

    I’m just one – but I’m out.

    Deuces, Peace Out

    SMH

    1. For someone who was offended because Em posted a picture that used wingdings to simulate the “F word”, it is surprising you would come back and use the acronym WTF. Do you know what that acronym stands for? Or did you say to you just say to yourself, “YOLO! I am gonna use WTF today and be a total hypocrite in the process!”

  4. Most of those – yes.
    Mine? Has started to die out thankfully. My pet peeve is the #FML people with first world problems. Okay, you spilled coffee. That sucks. But really? It deserves a #FML hashtag? Also? 27 hashtags after EVERYTHING. Drives me nuts. One or two – that is fine.

    1. I am with you on the 27 hashtags Michelle! I think I’ve included that in a post before. It drives me nutballs.

  5. Thanks for the explanation of these words of which I know nothing. I promise to remain ignorant of them in the future.

  6. I agree with many of these, though I love to say “it is what it is” when I want to say “well I/you cannot change it, so it must be dealt with”. I do not like “God only gives you what you can handle” I don’t know where this is biblically based and I don’t like how it seems to mean “you surely can just handle this, because God knows you and this burden has been put on you.” I don’t like it at all. I think whenever someone starts to say this they should be forced to say “how can I help?”

    1. I need to find the verse that saying is based on Leah. I think it is totally misinterpreted. I think God gives us lots more than we can handle in life frequently. But if we let him, he helps us handle it or provides us with the tools to do so.

      1. I agree completly. I *think* the verse has to do with temptation… We will not get more temptation than we are able to handle.

  7. I really hate “it is what it is” mostly because my boss says it constantly when he doesn’t want to pay for something that needs to be fixed. Air conditioner broken in the middle of a summer heat wave? It is what it is.

  8. I agree with you 100%. In fact, I would have led a mutiny if selfie wasn’t on the list. Worst ‘word’ ever.

  9. Mine is calibrate, as in “…let’s get together and calibrate on…”. In reality it means “…we’re having this meeting so you’ll know exactly how I feel about this and how you should as well…”

  11. “Epic”. Maybe it shouldn’t be erradicated completely but it is definitely overused these days. No, your Starbucks this morning was not epic, neither was your child using the toilet or your trip to the beach. There are plenty of other words in the English language you can use.

    Also – I’m betting “selfie” is one of those that is probably going to be ADDED to the dictionary soon.

  12. When someone tells me some problem and responds ‘It is what it is.’, I want take them by he shoulders, shake them silly and yell ‘ Nooooooo!’ It doesn’t comfort me! That problem is going DOWN.

Comments are closed.