The overused word of the century

The Bing Blog ^ | 9/3/08 | Stanley Bing

[wbill]

I was at a meeting yesterday, one of those painful presentations where a guy comes in, does twenty minutes of PowerPoint, and nearly turns his entire career to suet. That is neither here nor there. I mean, those things happen all the time. This time, it was Badnick’s turn.

What was interesting to me is that in the middle of the debacle, I heard a small snap. It was the sound of a straw breaking a camel’s back. During the meeting, I realized that a certain word has now been so overused, so over-extended, so bled of any meaning, freshness or appropriateness, that it must now be retired.

That word is Leverage.

I believe I first noticed its widespread acceptance perhaps twenty years ago...(snip)

[Semper911]

Looks like you, Stanley, and everyone on this thread needs a copy of this book:

Buy it here: (used copies available)

Corporate Bullshit

It is hilarious because it is oh so true.

[Plutarch]

No, not leverage.

The most overused word (by pundits at least) is....

pivot.

[Kevmo]

task when used a verb!
***Seems like there are many nouns that get used as verbs, to the point that I heard someone call it “verbalizing”, not realizing that “verbalizing” was already a word. Let’s action on this, and create some more noun-verb upgrades to the English Lexicon ASAP.

[Steve Van Doorn]

"Actually, I think Actually is Actually the most overused word in the English language."

Gay!

[Monterrosa-24]

Another one that was especially overused a few years back was “forthcoming”. Media talking heads still use it when they should use “forthright”.

[Petronski]

It’s more than mere filler, it’s a tell. They’re signaling that what they are about to say is actually a matter of dispute.

[Gator113]

“At the end of the day”

I hate that phrase.

[Between the Lines]

I think that “hero” is overused. Just because a person is able to dial 911 it does not make them a hero.

[ThomasThomas]

Implode is a good word.

[Kevmo]

Eliminating Cliches http://www.kristisiegel.com/cliches.html Cliches are overused, trite expressions. Cliches are a form of Engfish because they do not communicate.Traditionally, cliches were comparisons such as "good as gold" "; "big as a house"; "red as a beet"; and so forth". However, ordinary expressions and/or ideas become cliches when they are overused. Comments like "Hot enough for you?"; or, "Have a nice day" barely register because we've heard these remarks so often. It is easy to identify classic cliches like "as slippery as an eel," "rich as sin," or--and here's an old one--"as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." However, the everyday variety of cliches may be harder to notice; these are the expressions they we use so unconsciously that they become invisible (and deaden our writing). A cliche may also refer to an idea. Some examples of cliched ideas or images include grandfathers/mothers with twinkling eyes, "fluffy" kittens or bunnies, pounding hearts, sweaty palms, and stomachs with butterflies. A list of some overused expressions (there are many more) is provided below: Some examples of cliches ... in the nick of time couldn't catch my breath for the life of me without moving a muscle without a doubt to tell the truth couldn't keep my eyes open at the drop of a hat cut to the chase did not have a pleasant bone in his/her    body but to no avail it was bad enough like the pot calling the kettle black got the best of me put two and two together to this day bubble was burst knows full well honesty is the best policy times heals all wounds next thing I knew dumb as a rock bored out of my mind quiet as a mouse stopped in my tracks before I knew it without a doubt in a jiffy without a hitch stopped in my tracks little did I know goose bumps all over the time of my life needless to say well worth the wait even to this day frightened to death scared out of my wits waste of time rushed for time with only seconds to spare without a care in the world it couldn't happen to a nicer _____ a matter of time lost track of time seemed to take forever lasted an eternity like greased lightning thought to myself made a big impression on thought he/she was hot stuff

[Hoffer Rand]

Totally. Which is totally the second most overused word, by the way. ;-)

[Kevmo]

sorry, it loses the page breaks

http://www.kristisiegel.com/cliches.html

[Joe 6-pack]

"Another pet peeve is "conversation". "

Once you've "dialogued," conversations don't seem at all unattractive.

[Joe 6-pack]

"I think that “hero” is overused. Just because a person is able to dial 911 it does not make them a hero."

I could not agree more.

[TSgt]

It’s not a word but irregardless is like nails on the chalkboard to me.

I also loath people who use “it’s” in place of “there’s.”

It’s gonna be a lot of people at the party.

[Defiant]

It’s filler for small minds and slow thinkers.

[Notary Sojac]

My personal biggest peeve is "steep learning curve" used to mean its exact opposite.

Don't get it? Plot an x-y graph with time on the horizontal axis and skills acquired on the vertical axis. Now, what does an hard-to master skill look like?

[Kevmo]

Not kidding. :-)
***That’s hard to believe. I dislike it when freepers don’t use the sarcasm tag. /s

[Remember Ruby Ridge]

I have to nominate “conversate.”

[wbill]

I just requested your book from Santa Claus. We'll see if I get it this year.

Otherwise, I'll need to dialogue with Mrs WBill about the acceptability of holiday gifts. I won't throw her under the bus, though.