Misuse of words

[Speicher]

B)

 

[Chrisz]

"Obviously.................." If it's so feckin obvious don't bother pointing it out to me!! Grr!!!

 

[Andy in Sig]

When talking about misuse of words you have to consider the use of Americanisms by the feeble minded. Four which particularly grate:

smart for intelligent
dumb for stupid
ass for arse
hey for hello (it exists in English but should only be yelled or be replaced by Oi).

 

[Chromatic]

When people say "can I get a xyz" instead of "may I have?"

+1
Also 'to go' when talking about take-away food.

 

[Haitch]

Fulsome.

It means insincere, excessive, offensive. It does not mean complete, honest, full. As in:
We sacked Carol Thatchter because she did not give a fulsome apology.

 

[asterix]

OP, maybe this is the problem:

TURGID

1. swollen and distended; congested
2. pompous and high-flown; bombastic (of language)

TORPID

1. apathetic, sluggish or lethargic
2. (of a hibernating animal) dormant; having greatly reduced metabolic activity
3. unable to move or feel

..like 'flaunt' and 'flout'..

 

[Arch]

Along with "Military Intelligence"

and another favorite of mine "Female Logic"

You're talking about oxymorons, not words used incorrectly....

 

[Andy in Sig]

Andy, you surprise me. Two perfectly good germanic words taking over from two namby-pamby franco-latin ones and you're complaining!

Quite, but the fact that they are inextricably bound with the Great Cultural Vacuum and tumble from the mouths of the Dead Of Brain puts them out of bounds for me, I'm afraid.

 

[dellzeqq]

Just how annoying is Sarah Kennedy? Can you imagine if she and Bill Oddie procreated?

DO. NOT. DO. THIS.....please

 

[dellzeqq]

When talking about misuse of words you have to consider the use of Americanisms by the feeble minded. Four which particularly grate:

smart for intelligent
dumb for stupid
ass for arse
hey for hello (it exists in English but should only be yelled or be replaced by Oi).

there we disagree. 'English is a joint stock language in which the majority of shares are owned by America'. To quote Churchill. American English has enlivened our own rather 'turgid' (hoho) home grown variety.

 

[Over The Hill]

Ye sayeth "say" instead of "sayeth", "here" instead of "herewith" and "the" instead of "ye". What cometh of ye world!

 

[ChrisKH]

there we disagree. 'English is a joint stock language in which the majority of shares are owned by America'. To quote Churchill. American English has enlivened our own rather 'turgid' (hoho) home grown variety.

In many cases American usage outdates English language development, their words originating from (Olde) England in the first place. No longer used here, but still used over there. Which words are right? Depends where you are at the time you use it, I would suggest.

 

[Fnaar]

Well I will if you insist - oopss that's not what you meant.

squeal!

 

[beanzontoast]

Could of, should of etc. instead of 'have' - always makes me wince.

 

[Andy in Sig]

In many cases American usage outdates English language development, their words originating from (Olde) England in the first place. No longer used here, but still used over there. Which words are right? Depends where you are at the time you use it, I would suggest.

But a lot of the stuff which is being imported is recycled German. Don't forget that so many German speaking immigrants went to America that serious consideration was given to replacing English with German as the national language. Not all those German speaking migrants were well educated. Dumm is German for stupid and the nearest English sounding word is dumb which of course means mute. That is how dumb incorrectly came to mean stupid in American. Another example is fresh for cheeky (German frech).