"Amazing" Should be Banished From the English Language

[ThunderCavalier]

Personally, if I got to pick words to be banned, I'd probably ban something like OVER and 9000 from ever being in the same sentence ever again.

I'd also want to ban Nyan, but the dreaded flying poptart cat... thing doesn't exactly seem like something bad enough to get rid of Nyan when it'd similarly get rid of something as cute as this:

Spoiler: Warning: May be too cute for you to handle.

Azu-nyan!

 

[MaxwellEdison]

"Boo hoo, language evolves and social animals follow trends."

C'mon now, getting riled up over people using the term occupy?

 

[marurder]

They need to come to China and hear how often Chinese use the word "interesting" (when speaking English). Nothing is amazing, funny, entertaining or even important. They're all 'interesting'.

 

[Keltzar]

Why is an American University saying anything about the English language?

As an Englishman I have to protest that the people in charge of this survey utilise the language incorrectly in hundreds of ways every single day.

Pavement, not sidewalk
Dustbin/rubbishbin, not trashcan
Colour not Color
Lefttenant not Lootenant

Keep English English!

I feel that you are treating language in exactly the same way that this Englishman hates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

 

[Fbuh]

You can't really push a word out of the English language, short of somehow convincing everyone that they shouldn't ever use it again. What is the purpose of them even making this survey? Do they think that just because one group of individuals doesn't like a word they can actually hope to remove it form use? Isn't that not only a huge fucking waste of time, but conceited and pompous to boot. People are really amazing sometimes.

snip

Honestly, Englishmen do not speak the same as they did 300 years ago. Why do you except all the land you acquired back then to change their manner of speaking every time you do? You shouldn't have claimed more territory then you knew how to keep tabs on if you want everyone to keep up. Unless, of course, you were being ironic (a word people seem to hate but I do not know what else to use in this context), bringing up the fact that language evolves over time and people shouldn't freak out over its misuse. After all, at the end of the day we all just speak terribly incorrect Latin.

Actually, that's an improper use of the word ironic. The true definition of irony is "something having a result that was not intended." IT is one of the most incorrectly used words in the English language.

 

[ShadowLord180]

Mad and troll, pretty much a typical scenario, some posts something, somebody will disagree and call the guy a troll, then somebody else or the original poster will go U MAD BRO? And then I want to kill everyone involved in that conversation.

U MAD BRO? (sorry)

On topic: They want to ban occupy just because of it becoming a meme I mean really?

You know what we have to do then. Occupy Lake Superior State University

I'm in, when are we doing this shit?

Also, baby bump is only overused because everyone and their dog's brother is getting pregnant these days -.-
And yes, you did read that correctly, its so bad that even MALE DOGS are getting pregnant.

Obviously I'm employing hyperbole here, but sadly it is still far too close to the truth. People disappoint me.

 

[Baneat]

Please get rid of appalling and epic.

The holocaust was appalling, not scoring a goal is not.

 

[Strazdas]

my opinion on this article:

Spoiler

i would ban word "gay". its been so used ans misused in so many ways that its lost all its meanings.
also i used "occupy the office" years before occupy wall street was in effect. it sounds cool. and its usually true.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Yes, let's ban words because Martha Stewart overused it on her show.... WHAT?!?

You can't really push a word out of the English language, short of somehow convincing everyone that they shouldn't ever use it again. What is the purpose of them even making this survey? Do they think that just because one group of individuals doesn't like a word they can actually hope to remove it form use? Isn't that not only a huge fucking waste of time, but conceited and pompous to boot. People are really amazing sometimes.

I concur, it's really quite amazing that a couple words are what have some people riled up. Not that Kim Kardashian somehow profited from a divorce. Not that the Jersey Shore cast haven't been individually assassinated in a manner similar to the movie Seven. Not that they made a damn Smurfs movie. Not even that Apple can't release a product with a semi-original name that doesn't have the prefix "i." But that people use the words and phrases "amazing," "baby bump," and "man cave," and other people suddenly noticed.

Don't get me wrong, I have my own little pet peeves that make me want to go all Clive Owen in Shoot 'em Up, but that's pretty ludicrous. Here's a tip for people really bothered by these words:

Amazing: Hang out with pessimists.
Baby Bump: Avoid pregnant women and don't watch E! or Entertainment tonight.
Man Cave: Stay away from bachelor comedies or bros.
Ginormous: Avoid large objects.
Trickeration: Is... is this actually a thing? Fine. Don't watch sports.
Occupy: Don't study World War II and the German occupation of France, especially.

You know what word is really overused? "The." There. Now get creative, sheesh.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Or, how about we keep all words in the english language and use them how we please?

It's changing all the time, words we use today will have new meaning in future and different spellings, why is it so important that we don't just allow this change to occur.

 

[Thaliur]

Yes, let's ban words because Martha Stewart overused it on her show.... WHAT?!?

You can't really push a word out of the English language, short of somehow convincing everyone that they shouldn't ever use it again. What is the purpose of them even making this survey? Do they think that just because one group of individuals doesn't like a word they can actually hope to remove it form use? Isn't that not only a huge fucking waste of time, but conceited and pompous to boot. People are really amazing sometimes.

I concur, it's really quite amazing that a couple words are what have some people riled up. Not that Kim Kardashian somehow profited from a divorce. Not that the Jersey Shore cast haven't been individually assassinated in a manner similar to the movie Seven. Not that they made a damn Smurfs movie. Not even that Apple can't release a product with a semi-original name that doesn't have the prefix "i." But that people use the words and phrases "amazing," "baby bump," and "man cave," and other people suddenly noticed.

I just realised... when the word "amazing" is banned, Apple will go completely bankrupt. Their whole marketing strategy will collapse.

 

[kiwi_poo]

wow. people getting sick of memes. stop the bloody presses.
While we're at it, ban "arrow" and "knee".

fuck's sake just suck it up. banning words is censorship and censorship is the worst thing to happen to the internet

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Because how dare language change, evolve or adapt

 

[MrBenSampson]

If anything should be on that list, it should be the word "like." I've heard people misuse it up to four times in a single sentence.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Maybe the overuse of the word amazing isn't due to it being randomly thrown around, but rather a by-product of the mental deficiency of the people who use it?

You can say a toddler finds a lot of things amazing, because he simply does.
Those things are new experiences that he does not expect, so they amaze him.

So, assuming a TV show host has the memory and reasoning capability of a mayfly, being amazed by everything isn't that much of a stretch.
Either that, or they're assuming their audience are the ones who are mentally deficient.

The word isn't the problem.

 

[The Wooster]

"Amazing" Should be Banished From the English Language

I think the only areas in which I have disagreement are:

1. When someone uses a phrase or word as though it had the exact opposite meaning.

"Infer" and "imply," mentioned in the Fry video, are one of those cases. If you "infer" it means you think I said it, while if you "imply" it means I should be lead to think you said it.

For another, more extreme example, consider if someone told you, "That substance is inflammable." If we aren't using the agreed-upon definition, you might be led to believe that substance is not a fire danger. Dire consequences follow.

2. When structure, grammar, or punctuation cloud the meaning of a sentence:

"Flammable. An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning "combustible" is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means "not combustible." For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline or explosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable."

Possibly my favourite passage from EoS.

 

[fnartilter]

No ban for "ironic?" i mean, half the internet seems to have forgotten how to use the word correctly so i thought these guys would be all over it.

Man that's Ironic

As for *Announcer voice* AAAAMMMAZING! Meh at least "legendary" has stopped, remember when everything was "legendary?" Good times

I had to listen to this interviewee who misused the word "ironic" a jillion times. I hope he takes an arrow to the knee.
The word "crazy" should be taken into consideration. People call inane, ordinary things "crazy" - what the hell is with that? "That rock was like crazy! It was like, awesome! Bro."

 

[CaptVickHartnell]

I can't stand people who fight the evolution of language. I definitely agree with Stephen Fry in the link the OP posted. Nouns becoming verbs, like "Friend", although it might grate on the ear a little, are exactly how our language evolves. If an English speaker from 1000 years ago fell through time to now, they would probably be horrified by the way even the most linguistically educated people speak.
I do get annoyed at the mis-use of certain words, "less" and "fewer" for example, or miss-use of the subjunctive, i.e. people saying "I wish I was..." when it should be "I wish I were...", but I'm not the type to write angry letters, or ask that it somehow be regulated. I think grammar should be taught in schools, simply so that instead of beating people around the head with corrections when they make these mistakes, we teach people, from a young age, to enjoy language, enjoy the use of it, use it correctly, and to embrace the evolution of new words.
As for the original topic. I think the over use of "Amazing" is like the over use of "Awesome" or "Epic", it's a little annoying to hear something like a t-shirt described as "awesome", and it does somewhat detract from the impact of the word if something genuinely awesome or epic or amazing happened, but to actually try to have it banned? The sort of people who do this really are the worst kind of pedants, and they should al be forced to live somewhere that uses a slight pigin dialect of English, and we can all watch their heads explode. It'll be well funny.