Job Discussion Forums

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

"pwned" annoys me the most.

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

What is that? Never heard or seen it.

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

It comes from "owned", as in: "I owned that test" (I "killed" that test). I have no idea how it came to be "pwned", but it did, and it drives me nuts.

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

Yeah, that is pretty bad. Ridiculous.

smithrn1983 · Joined: 23 Jul 2010 Posts: 320 Location: Moscow

Supposedly it came to be pwned because someone mis-typed the word owned, and the usage stuck. Still, a horrible word that should be banished from the English language.

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

The family are "DEVASTATED"

Time to switch channels.

Best
Basil

gfisher · Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 20

Here are some from me:

I hate, and for a full couple of seconds after someone uses it, I hate the person who says: "..., much?". For example, if a ball is blue and you mistakenly call it red, someone who lacks wit and originality and who has heard someone else use this form of observation might say, "Colour blind, much?". If you spill milk, they might say, "Clumsy, much?". It's supposed to be a witty way of saying, "You are colourblind" or "You are clumsy", but since those observations aren't in themselves witty neither is the "much?" phrase. I just want to vomit on the person who uses it because not only is it a trite observation blandly stated but it's a bland phrase copied from someone else and repeated ad nauseum.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Using the word "game" as a verb. 'I am going to game tonight', where game = play video games.

Indiscriminate use of the word "absolutely" and inaccurate use of the word "literally".

I also dislike that the preferred U.S. spelling of "judgement" is "judgment". The "e" after the "g" makes the "g" have a soft sound as in "judge" or "change" or "gentleman", just as it does with the second "c" in "chance". That is the function of the letter "e" in those words. "Judgment" should have a hard "g" sound, as in "gun" or "green".

There are many ambiguities and flat out contradictions in our rich language but this discrepancy in spelling can be justifiably eliminated, surely!

Having said that, I believe that it is only a matter of time before our language is rationalised and spellings become more phonetic. "Thought", "through", "though" - seriously? I welcome what will be called the "dumbing down" of our language. It is unnecessarily difficult! Time spent learning it at an advanced level yields scant rewards.

I have no life at the moment but I'm working on it!

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

johnslat · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:27 pm Post subject:

Dear johntpartee,

"Don't dumb it down! Please! Another way of saying "the anomalies of English" is "job security"!

You betcha!!!

Regards,
John

TeresaLopez · Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 601 Location: Mexico City

And let�s not forget all the people who say �no offense but...� right before they go on to say something offensive. And it�s usually an idiotic, opinionated observation. I think what a lot of these words/phrases have in common is that they let people think they are being clever when they are really saying something rude. I also think the words good, bad and stupid should be banned. Really, can�t we come up with something more interesting that Yeah, it was a good movie. What does that even mean? I like language that communicates something a little more interesting, or a little more precise.

johnslat · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:44 pm Post subject:

Dear TeresaLopez,

I agree - but what do you mean by "a little more interesting?" Smile

Regards,
John

TeresaLopez · Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 601 Location: Mexico City

For example, instead of saying that was a �good�meal, tell what made it good, was it spicy, well cooked, innovative, etc. I forbid my students from using the words good and bad, and it does wonders for their vocabulary. At the very least you could say a meal was delicious instead of good. Or maybe good to you means it was really mediocre, but to me good has a different meaning. Delicious, I think, is less ambivilent.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:20 am Post subject:

Along with "good" and "bad", "nice" is a word whose use should be discouraged in class since it means nothing other than "not bad".

Steinmann · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:05 am Post subject:

Decimate, when used synonymously with annihilate. It might be picky of me, as the word has crept into common usage along those lines, but I believe one should be aware of a word's etymology, especially where the usage is nonstandard.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:19 am Post subject:

Dear Steinmann

Ah, but probably only one in ten knows the etymology of decimate.

Regards,
John