The Guardian reported on words most hated by a selection of English poets.
These included:
redacted
pulchritude
appall
Pulchritude, by the way, means “physical beauty or attractiveness.” It’s one of those instances when the word and its definition are a mismatch.
An ugly word meaning beauty.
My wife’s least favorite word is “moist.” It literally grosses her out to say the word in her presence.
“Moist” often tops lists of most despised words, along with words like “vomit,” “phlegm,” “pus,” “panties,” and “whatever.”
Words that make me wince include:
“Got.” I can’t find a way of using this word without sounding guttural and stupid. The words “have” or “received” are almost always suitable replacements.
Shortened words: It annoys me to hear someone use the word “delish” in place of “delicious.”
Finish the word! It’s only one more syllable!
I also despise the avoidance of profanity through abbreviation. A-hole is the example that makes me cringe the most, but there are many, many others. Either swear or don’t. Abbreviating it only causes the reader or listener to mentally reference the actual word, thereby defeating the purpose of avoiding the word in the first place.
My least favorite word of all is “homophobia.” Webster’s defines this word as “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.”
Not good.
If you discriminate against someone based on their race, you are a racist.
If you discriminate based on sex, you are a sexist.
Neither mentions fear or aversion. But if you discriminate against a homosexual, you suffer from homophobia and are a homophobe. You could possess an irrational fear, or you could be acting discriminately towards homosexuals, but there is no word to distinguish between the two.
Thus, the word “homophobia” does double duty, and in doing so, I believe it diminishes the prejudicial and discriminatory parts of its definition.
When a stupid, worthless person stands in opposition to any member of the LGBTQ community, I refer to them as a bigot because it is a more accurate description of who they are.
I have no use for “homophobia.”
Do you have any wince-worthy words that you’d like to share?
