Many of the ones that are either overused, misused, or just plain wrong, which might include "thinking out of the box," "just saying," "orientate," "at the end of the day," "irregardless," "I could care less," , or adding "gate" to a political scandal. Also annoying is the misuse of the word "literally," which I hear from talk show hosts every day. Another one that I hear on the radio all the time is "based off of." Mistakes in speaking or writing don't bother me so much. I make mistakes, and sometimes embarrassing ones, but people should learn from their mistakes. I hate it when the mistake becomes mainstream because no one recognizes it as being wrong. The result is that there is no more sense to our language. If Sean Hannity "literally" wants to die because a politician says something stupid, then he needs to quit listening to the news, or at least call a suicide prevention line. He's one of the worst. He uses "literally" in the way that some people use "Um."
If it's a relief, let me say that the same can be observed in other languages, too. Mistakes are made and then become mainstream and no one seems to care or realise that these are mistakes. After a while, it sounds odd if you use the word or phrase correctly or, even worse, if you have the guts of telling people that this is actually a mistake. Sadly, language mistakes are also made by anchormen and -women as well as by (talk) show hosts and journalists speaking in public, and those mistakes are not just slips of the tongue but reveal a lack of knowledge. Sometimes these mistakes are so elementary that it's hard to understand why there is a deviation from the rule in the first place. Language is part of a person's identity. That's why speakers don't want to be corrected and, by the same token, are reluctant to correct others including their kids. Later on, kids tend to adopt the language as it is used by their idols in entertainment and then accept that kind of usage as normative and cling to it. I feel you just have to grin and bear it because this trend can't be reversed anyway. Code follows usage. As for overusing words, this seems to be a different field because it's way more subjective than language mistakes for which there is a codified norm. Language usage keeps changing and so do personal preferences. Sorry for the mistakes I made.
These are now commonplace. (But I don't have to use 'em!) "That shows transparency." "This will soon go viral." Also "optical" used out of context. (And others I can't think of at the moment...) Hal
One I'm hearing a lot lately is organic. Not related to food. Examples: I’ve used this checklist to grow my organic traffic by 162% in 30 days. (referring to internet traffic) The group carried on an organic discussion. The two had an organic relationship.
I'm still trying to figure out "on fleek". WTH?? And I guess it's too much trouble for that extra syllable, so just say "cray."
Never heard that one Nancy. Would that refer to a relationship or conversation that was full of uh...*manure*?
From Urban Dictionary: On fleek: what uncultured idiots use to describe perfection. "Yo brows are on fleek!"
These 3 words/phrases are under consideration for possible addition to the dictionary. superager n. someone over the age of 65 whose memory and thinking skills are similar to those of someone in their 20's silver striver n. someone who continues to work after they have passed the typical retirement age grey tsunami n. the high number of elderly people in the world in the 21st century, caused by people living longer and by the “baby boomer” generation now reaching old age You can VOTE HERE if you you have nothing better to do.
Latey, I have liked the word algorithm. I really don't know exactly what it means, but I heard it on a documentary. I try to incorporate it into conversations with my kids so they don't think I'm older than dirt.