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13 Words Overused Until They Mean Nothing (decimated, Eviscerated)
Brook Adams ^ | May 8, 2020 | Brook Adams

Posted on 10/14/2026 5:07:27 PM PDT by DoodleBob

I love this. I hate that. Really? Is it necessary to exaggerate? If everything is huge or outrageous or unprecedented, then how will we express things that are truly out of the ordinary? Florid language is the enemy of clear, concise speech. Like putting exclamation points and emojis after every sentence, it pervades modern media and makes everyone sound like adolescent twits. I don't dislike the following expressions, nor do I hate them. I detest them with a burning rage that disrupts the very fabric of space and time.

- Amazing/Amazed: People say this when they really like something, but it seems to imply low expectations. Did you expect your $30 hamburger to suck? Did you expect the roller-coaster to be boring? Who do you think you are, James Bond? And finally, 'Amaze-Balls'? What does that even mean?

- Decimated: Used in journalism and elsewhere to mean drastically reduced. The literal meaning is to be reduced by 10%. Well that all depends don't it? If Jeff Bezos' finances were 'decimated', he would go from $140 billion to just $126 billion... Wow, decimated! How about this; "At the barber shop, my hair was decimated".

- Devastated: To be destroyed. I was devastated when Netflicks stopped streaming Buffy Vampire Slayer. Now you can only rent it on disk.

- Eviscerated/Gutted: Gutted, like a fish. Currently used to say that something has been rendered ineffective somehow. I think a term this disgusting and extreme should refer to extreme cases. For ordinary things it seems quite stupid; "my dinner plans were EVISCERATED", "The yard-debris pickup schedule was GUTTED". Oooooh!

(Excerpt) Read more at brookadams.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: affordability; climatechange; globalist; hyperbole; lowiqhyperbole; neocon
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To: DoodleBob

I hope “racist” is at the top


61 posted on 10/14/2026 6:11:32 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: DoodleBob

Used to be, only things like art exhibitions and museum collections were “curated” by experts. Now “curated” describes every product hawked to mankind. The word is like fingernails scraping through the blackboard of your brain.


62 posted on 10/14/2026 6:14:43 PM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: DoodleBob

Dang! Caroline is even worse than Hillary with all of those “you knows.” 😖

Obama does that too.


63 posted on 10/14/2026 6:17:01 PM PDT by Allegra (I hate the word “literally.” )
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To: DoodleBob

Epicenter.

Penultimate


64 posted on 10/14/2026 6:18:28 PM PDT by Romulus
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To: DoodleBob

I welcome people’s thoughts and prayers.


65 posted on 10/14/2026 6:19:50 PM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: DoodleBob

They forgot “covfefe”.


66 posted on 10/14/2026 6:20:47 PM PDT by chickenlips (Dimocrats, creating dependency since 1828)
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To: systemjim
How about an awesome pickle?

I don't know, you tell me.
What is it about the pickle that you think is awesome?

Is it the size of the pickle? The shape of the pickle?

Does the pickle image have exciting vibes for you?

67 posted on 10/14/2026 6:24:12 PM PDT by humblegunner
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To: DoodleBob

Overused and misused words:

Like
You-know
Umm
It
Treason/treasonous
Facist


68 posted on 10/14/2026 6:29:02 PM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: DoodleBob

“EXPONENTIAL”


69 posted on 10/14/2026 6:32:43 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
You are asking the Almighty to condemn that bit of cabbage to eternal torment because it did not go in the bowl?"

LOL!!!

That is the literal meaning of the phrase ...

And spoken of an animal or inanimate object, it's theologically absurd.

Spoken of a human person, it's a really horrible thing to say.

70 posted on 10/14/2026 6:37:18 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Wow! Laughing historically is worthy of textbooks! ;)


71 posted on 10/14/2026 6:49:08 PM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: Fungi
Like

Listen to an conversation and you will hear it at least every third or fourth word.Sean Hannity cannot say a sentence without using it. One reason I stopped listening to him.

Totally.

72 posted on 10/14/2026 6:51:21 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: DoodleBob

“Have a great rest of your day.”

Where did that come from? Talk about an awkward turn of phrase.


73 posted on 10/14/2026 6:52:57 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: DoodleBob

I notice Brits overuse the word “brilliant”. Cambridge dictionary defines it as intelligent or shining, then gives up completely and defines it as “very good” in informal usage. I’ll bet that really burns the classics masters...well..not literally.


74 posted on 10/14/2026 6:55:33 PM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: DoodleBob

“Nothingburger”.

That juvenile term is a cancer on the English language.

I don’t take anyone who uses that childish term seriously.


75 posted on 10/14/2026 7:00:15 PM PDT by CrimsonTidegirl
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To: DoodleBob

Let’s face it -— language not only evolves; it also devolves. It makes it difficult to be specific about word usage. I’m certainly no expert. I miss William F. Buckley Jr.


76 posted on 10/14/2026 7:01:49 PM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: Flaming Conservative

And Monty Python.


77 posted on 10/14/2026 7:02:40 PM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: DoodleBob

😂


78 posted on 10/14/2026 7:08:20 PM PDT by ConjunctionJunction (Vim vi repellere licet)
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To: DoodleBob

those that get to me...
game changer
consensus
people who use “amount” instead of “number”
anyone who says “irregardless” when they should use “regardless”
and since I’m bit**ing about stuff, if homosexuals are 3% of the population why are they 60% of the people on the food network?
when did the percentage of inter-racial marriages become so prevalent because at least half the commercials I see are mixed race couples yet I can’t think of any I know personally?
why is it always the adult man in a commercial an idiot that the woman and/or child has to correct or show the right way?
I’m done for now.


79 posted on 10/14/2026 7:10:15 PM PDT by Dad was my hero
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To: DoodleBob
Debunked: most of the times it just means a denial with slobbering acceptance by the press rather than disproven.

Dropped: Most of the time I have to dig deep to see if it means eliminated or delivered. "Taylor Swift dropped a new song today" "Oh, was it so tritely annoying that she decided to erase it entirely?"

80 posted on 10/14/2026 7:10:48 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (If the Islamic Republic government is in power in Iran when the war is over, we will have lost.)
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