I have on several occasions had conversations with people about words that are irritating and even cringe worthy to hear. It has always been an interesting topic to me because I wonder what is it about a word that can be so damn annoying. Is it what the word means or connotes? Is it simply the arrangement of the letters that make an unappealing sound when spoken? A negative association perhaps?
The word "moist" seems to come up most frequently in these discussions as being rage inducing. "Moist" definitely has a dirty or sexual connotation to it that might gross some people out but "wet" can mean the same thing but doesn't get the same negative reaction. The other word I hear frequently is "suckle". I don't like this word either but "breast feeding" doesn't bother me. I also had a friend who hates the word "Chico" with a passion but can't explain why. If I ask her she just repeats the word in a sour voice a few times and will say "ugh it's just annoying".
So I bring this up because I am curious if there are any words that cause word rage in any of you and if you have any thoughts on why this happens.
Have a moist day my sucklings!
Hmmm...not that I can think of at the moment. Though I did mention "lesion" in a IM conversation with Sara last night during House and she was not happy.
ReplyDeleteI have a real problem when people use (what I tend to consider) sexual words in a nonsexual context. It makes me cringe. Examples?
ReplyDeleteErect.
Climax.
Penetrate.
There are more, I'm sure, but those are my top 3.
Aaaaw c'mon Carly, just the other day, I jizzed up a board with the sander.
ReplyDeleteAnd they call turtles "cooters" in the south. I love it!
I am with Carly. I have had to sit through a 5 minute conversation with my dad once about an upcoming project at work where he kept saying "steel errection" and it made me both uncomfortable and giggly, I didnt like it.
ReplyDeleteOther words I have thought of that irritate me are:
salve (this one is the worst)
chagrin
fornicate
toggle
mucus
Also Susan at work has the absolute worst pronunciation of spanish words I have ever heard. Margaritas are "mar-gur-itas" and a relleno is "Re-Leno".
And while I am at it, I am really getting annoyed with the phrase "going green". It is overused and overly cheery.
SPEAKING of which...remember the good ol' Dukes of Hazzard?
ReplyDelete"Crazy Cooter comin' atcha!"
Gah!
Ok I lied, I have one more. The word Maxi I loathe. Whether it is used in front of the word pad or used to describe a long dress, its a horrible word.
ReplyDeleteWhat if it's in front of mize or mum?
ReplyDeleteOh, and Carly, have you ever used a plunge router? Mmmmm....so dirty.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's nothing like erecting something with a good piece of hardwood.
im so bummed that adam told y'all about my aversion to the word lesion. this is why:
ReplyDelete1. how gross does that sound?
2. it makes me look like a total dork, what with our im conversation containing the word lesion. (we were discussing syphilis)
syphilis huh? Does Woody know? Lesion is an ugly word though, especially when you say it like leeeesion, bleck.
ReplyDeleteAnd maxi does not bother me when its in front of mum or ize because in that case it is pronounced more like maxa, like maxamum. If you really pronounced the "i" in those words though, it would bug me.
Totally doin' now.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to maxeemize the fun in abusing these words.