Pointless words?

[llama64]

Utilize. Seriously, what is the point in this word? What purpose does it serve other then to make the speaker sound smarter? I can think of know case in which the word "utilize" is justifiable over a simple "use" or "uses".

I'm curious if anyone else knows of other pointless words.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

most pointless word in the English langague:

"pointless" by definition

[llama64]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

most pointless word in the English langague:

"pointless" by definition

That is damn funny to me.

[jayswin]

My two most hated words are 'basically' and 'ultimately'. Business people drop these two words like they're going out of style. They're both just filler words that (like you said) are used to make the person sound smarter.

"and ultimatley that decision will have to come from you...."
"well basically we'll have to change our plan...."


I don't know why, but I just want to puch people in the face when I hear those two words, lol. It's always those corperate types too, and from what I hear, calgarypuck is quite corperate, so I'm sure there are some people on here that will confess to over-using those words.

[NSFL]

Motile. It's a biology word that has the exact same meaning as mobile, but only biology dorks use it. Why can't they just use mobile? Do they really need their own word?

[llama64]

Well, opening it up to corporate speak... the term "offline" is used way too often in every meeting I've been in.

"Good point, lets take this offline later to discuss this further!"

Does this mean we were online in our meeting?

[JiriHrdina]

Whilst.

[ricoFlame]

Thusly

[fredr123]

Not to start a debate on the usage of "utilze" but I found this on dictionary.com:

Usage Note: A number of critics have remarked that utilize is an unnecessary substitute for use. It is true that many occurrences of utilize could be replaced by use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such as They utilized questionable methods in their analysis or We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize mass transit after the bridge has reopened. But utilize can mean "to find a profitable or practical use for." Thus the sentence The teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to operate the computers, whereas The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction.

Perhaps it's not so much that the word is pointless as it is people using it in entirely the wrong situation.

[troutman]

Things they say in Britain, that we would not (my father-in-law from Germany uses these terms, as he learned English from Brits):

fortnight = two weeks

straight away = right now

boot = trunk

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Originally Posted by NSFL

Motile. It's a biology word that has the exact same meaning as mobile, but only biology dorks use it. Why can't they just use mobile? Do they really need their own word?

hmm..since only biology dorks know this, are you implying you're a biology dork?

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

hmm..since only biology dorks know this, are you implying you're a biology dork?

I said only biology dorks use it. I stubbornly continue to use mobile.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by NSFL

Motile. It's a biology word that has the exact same meaning as mobile, but only biology dorks use it. Why can't they just use mobile? Do they really need their own word?

haha, I had to laugh at this one.
I could picture how this work came to be: someone couldn't pernounce mobile correctly, and inorder to not feel stupid came up with the term motile.

There are alot of words that may seem pointless in the english dictionary. They just need to be utilized correctly.

That said, there are thousands of words that basically have the same meaning.

[CrusaderPi]

It's not a word, but hearing 'irregardless' drive me right up the wall.
Same with improper use of the word 'seen'. As in, "I seen that dude yesterday".

[Bill Bumface]

Inflammable and orientate.

[tanguay'sstillgood]

Originally Posted by NSFL

Motile. It's a biology word that has the exact same meaning as mobile, but only biology dorks use it. Why can't they just use mobile? Do they really need their own word?

I used to wonder about this one too, and it pissed me off, so after you mentioned it, i checked out dictionary.com:

motile - moving or capable of moving spontaneously
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/motile

moblie - capable of moving or being moved readily
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mobile

I guess they could be different because of the "spontaneous" in there. Mobile seems to also apply to things that can be moved by external forces, whereas motile is for objects that move by internal forces. So, I guess motile is a more specific word for some things that are mobile.

[Juventus3]

Edmonton?

[BlackEleven]

I don't like the word 'whatnot', especially when people end a sentence with 'and whatnot'.

"I went to the store and bought some groceries and whatnot". The 'and whatnot' is completely unnecessary.

[Nuje]

Originally Posted by troutman

Things they say in Britain, that we would not (my father-in-law from Germany uses these terms, as he learned English from Brits):

fortnight = two weeks

straight away = right now

boot = trunk

Haha...for some reason, I like the Brits words. Although it's purely from watching Top Gear, I use the words "astonishing" "epic" and I even started using "petrol" sometimes (but that one has more reason, as it confuses my European family when I say "gas", as they assume a gaseous substance, and the word gasoline irks me for some reason)

[PowerPlayoffs06]

"Ergo" is another of those pretentious words.

"Irregardless" drives me up the wall as well.