Ok, seriously can we please stop endlessly spouting the word "overrated"?,,,,please?

[Oly J]

Hello everyone, I apologize in advance but this will probably end up being a rant thread (hey, nobody forced you to click the thread.)


and by the way the first person who says "welcome to the internet, you must be new here" is getting flagged, if this is allowed to happen, I'm allowed to be annoyed by it.


Anyway, I think most people who've been hanging out on the internet for a while will probably already have a pretty good idea what I'm about to say. The word "overrated" is incredibly overused, especially on the internet, and maybe today's just a particularly bad day for me but it's annoying. If people want to complain about anything that's even remotely popular or liked by anyone, all they have to do is spout the word "overrated" coupled with a few minor details that odds are anyone who likes the thing is already aware of and has accepted, and it looks to the casual observer like they have a credible argument.

(I think it's probably worth mentioning that I think a lot of the time the actual reputation of the "overrated" thing is exaggerated to make the word appear more applicable.)

Now this on it's own isn't so bad, the thing that bothers me, is that when I see someone say "This is overrated" it sounds to me like "a lot of people like something I don't, I must try to make them feel like sheep so that I can feel all superior and intelligent and stuff!"

Now I call things overrated on occasion, but it's mostly things I like, and I always stick to the actual meaning of the word, which as I understand it is "a thing of sufficient popularity and exposure as to have garnered a reputation it can no longer live up to, assuming it ever could" and not "a shitty thing that has no merit that everybody likes but nobody should because I say so damnit!"



in closing I'll say that I jusy hate how to so many people "overrated" automatically means "bad"

here are a few examples of overrated things in my opinion (and I still love the crap out of all of them)

Dragon Ball/Z (hell, any Shonen anime)

Final Fantasy VII (hell, Final Fantasy in general)

Marvel Comics

the Christopher Nolan Batman movies (hell, Batman in general)

ALL of these things, I acknowledge have (or at some point had) WAY more hype than they ever deserved, they are (or at some point were) VERY overrated, but I still love them, and if you don't you shouldn't use the fact that so many others do as an excuse, that's what hipsters do, and nobody likes hipsters, not even hipsters. lol


and if I do think something many other people like is bad, I'll probably just avoid talking about it altogether, the fact that you might not like something I do is fine but using it's popularity as an excuse to complain and try to make yourself feel smart is an attitude that just really gets on my nerves.

ok rant over, thanks for indulging while I vent for a while, so what do you guys think, do you agree we should stop using the word "overrated" so much (yes I am aware of the fact that I used it many times in this post alone, but context is important here)

 

[MysticSlayer]

So the word "overrated" is overrated? Wow, what irony!

OK, joking aside, how can I help it if I don't hold the same opinion of something as everyone else, and what word do you want me to use in place of "overrated"? It's a concise way of summing up my feelings, and what follows afterwards will generally show if I come under the "I don't like it" or the "I like it, just not that much" camps. Either way, it summarizes my opinion of the product in one word and offers an excellent opportunity for me to explain myself further.

Oh yeah, and your definition of "overrated" is sort of odd. "Overrated" is not contingent on popularity, just that it receives more praise from its general audience than you believe it deserves. While this generally goes along with some degree of popularity, that doesn't mean it has to.

 

[DoPo]

"Overrated" is not contingent on popularity, just that it receives more praise from its general audience than you believe it deserves.

And here is your answer to why I, and apparently OP, don't like the word, because it's a shorthand for

Spoiler: this

You do know you can say how you feel without it sounding so insulting, after all - "I don't like it as much as others", sounds better than "I think others should stop liking it as much".

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I hate that word. I really do. Overrated by who?! By critics? By general population? By guys in your school? Who exactly defines the quality of something for it to be overrated?! Can't we all just learn to distinguish between objective and subjective and move on?! I've watched first two seasons of Breaking Bad and didn't like it. It just didn't click it with me, but I can see that's it a damn good show! It's got one of the highest IMDB scores ever! Is it overrated since I didn't like it?!

 

[Vegosiux]

And here is your answer to why I, and apparently OP, don't like the word, because it's a shorthand for

Spoiler: this

I always thought it's more "Yaknow, this is really getting more praise and credit than I think it deserves."

In addition, I don't actually have to dislike something to think it's "overrated". After all, a good cheese sandwich is a perfectly good and tasty meal, but it's not exactly gourmet, so gushing over it like it's the most delicious thing you've ever tasted, I'm gonna pull the overrated card - even if I might be enjoying one myself, right now. Yeah, it's subjective, but people are lazy suckers for convenience, so we're gonna use something that takes up less syllables.

For example, 24, the first two seasons were quite good, but not exactly the second coming. After that, things started getting flanderized and motorcycle ramps have been shoved into the general vicinity of shark tanks, and we ended up with a "counter terrorist unit" that wouldn't be able to keep a terrorist out of their own bedrooms before it got nuked to bits just so that Kiefer Sutherland could be justified for employing a couple more "creative" interrogation techniques, aside from asking a question then IMMEDIATELY ASKING THE SAME QUESTION A LOT LOUDER.

Was still a fun pastime but ugh, not exactly the distilled essence of awesome badassness that it was made out to be. Okay, now, years after that show ended, it's kind of faded to make room for other stuff. Such as Breaking Bad.

Oh, by the way, Burn Notice is rather neat. Nobody better call that one overrated. *hypocritical smirk*

 

[DoPo]

And here is your answer to why I, and apparently OP, don't like the word, because it's a shorthand for

Spoiler: this

I always thought it's more "Yaknow, this is really getting more praise and credit than I think it deserves."

Who decides how much praise and credit should one thing receive? You, me, that guy you passed on the street few days ago? And what happens once they go over the acceptable levels?

I always thought that the acceptable praise and credit should be about the same amount as you received them. If people like it - whatever, they like it, I don't think they are necessarily wrong or deluded - I've determined that some people are just weird and like different stuff than me. Sure, that probably makes them freaks of nature or something, but I, at least, don't care.

I some show or game or whatever is liked, then it certainly did something to deserve that - maybe it's not something I'll appreciate but others clearly did. So if it has a following of 100 people, it probably deserved that many, as it appealed to that many. If it has a following of 1 million people, it probably deserved that many, as it appealed to that many.

Why should we let any one person decide how much praise and credit should something get? I would have thought it's self-evident that we can't, it's up to the public to decide it.

 

[Vegosiux]

And here is your answer to why I, and apparently OP, don't like the word, because it's a shorthand for

Spoiler: this

I always thought it's more "Yaknow, this is really getting more praise and credit than I think it deserves."

Who decides how much praise and credit should one thing receive? You, me, that guy you passed on the street few days ago? And what happens once they go over the acceptable levels?

I always thought that the acceptable praise and credit should be about the same amount as you received them. If people like it - whatever, they like it, I don't think they are necessarily wrong or deluded - I've determined that some people are just weird and like different stuff than me. Sure, that probably makes them freaks of nature or something, but I, at least, don't care.

I some show or game or whatever is liked, then it certainly did something to deserve that - maybe it's not something I'll appreciate but others clearly did. So if it has a following of 100 people, it probably deserved that many, as it appealed to that many. If it has a following of 1 million people, it probably deserved that many, as it appealed to that many.

Why should we let any one person decide how much praise and credit should something get? I would have thought it's self-evident that we can't, it's up to the public to decide it.

So you missed the part where I said that "Yes, it's subjective, but people are lazy suckers for convenience, so we'll use something that takes less syllables"?

There's no cat in this particular tree, seriously.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I kind of agreed especialed the last two overrated threads I have seen on here recently. You know which words we should used more? Underrated!

 

[Barbas]

I think more people should own a dictionary of synonyms. We look up synonyms while writing to try and keep our text fresh and engaging, so why not do the same with our speech? It is a terrible thing to kill a perfectly serviceable word.

"Overvalued" and "Over-promoted" would often serve our criticisms better, and they only took me thirty seconds to find. "Embellished"? "Magnified"? Looking up synonyms is actually fun and I would recommend it to anyone.

I am super-duper serious.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't use the term much myself, but I will indulge my overrated labels once in a while. Same with the word underrated, as I'm aware in both cases, not everyone is going to like what I like, so I won't waste time on it.

Plus, I'm a pretty mainstream person in general, if something is popular, I'm willing to concede it is probably good, or at least decent.

 

[Phlakes]

You'd have a point if opinions weren't facts, but as we all know, if one person thinks something, they're right and everyone else is a fanboy or corporate shill.

 

[loc978]

Hello everyone, I apologize in advance but this will probably end up being a rant thread (hey, nobody forced you to click the thread.)

and by the way the first person who says "welcome to the internet, you must be new here" is getting flagged, if this is allowed to happen, I'm allowed to be annoyed by it.

You are most certainly allowed that... but I hope complaining like this was therapeutic for you... because ranting about annoyances truly holds no other value.

One might even say that complaining about what other people choose to complain about is... overrated (and yes, I recognize the mild hypocrisy of me taking the time to type this).

so what do you guys think, do you agree we should stop using the word "overrated" so much (yes I am aware of the fact that I used it many times in this post alone, but context is important here)

As far as I'm concerned, this sounds like flat-out telling other people what to think. Overrated is in the mind of the beholder... though I admit the frequency of voiced complaints gets a little tedious for me.

 

[Oly J]

"Overrated" is not contingent on popularity, just that it receives more praise from its general audience than you believe it deserves.

And here is your answer to why I, and apparently OP, don't like the word, because it's a shorthand for

Spoiler: this

You do know you can say how you feel without it sounding so insulting, after all - "I don't like it as much as others", sounds better than "I think others should stop liking it as much".

you know, you've just expressed my entire point in a sentence or two, it's not the word itself I have a problem with but most people who describe something popular as "oveerrated" seem like they're saying people who like it are wrong,

and anyway the amount of people that like something is useless as an indicator of how good it is, if there's a show that millions of people think is pretty good, as in good enough to tune into every week, but nobody particularly loves it, is that show overrated because millions of people watch it? where is the definition? so yeah that pic you posted sums up pretty much what I think of people who just spout the word to try and shame people who like things they don't

Hello everyone, I apologize in advance but this will probably end up being a rant thread (hey, nobody forced you to click the thread.)

and by the way the first person who says "welcome to the internet, you must be new here" is getting flagged, if this is allowed to happen, I'm allowed to be annoyed by it.

You are most certainly allowed that... but I hope complaining like this was therapeutic for you... because ranting about annoyances truly holds no other value.

One might even say that complaining about what other people choose to complain about is... overrated (and yes, I recognize the mild hypocrisy of me taking the time to type this).

so what do you guys think, do you agree we should stop using the word "overrated" so much (yes I am aware of the fact that I used it many times in this post alone, but context is important here)

As far as I'm concerned, this sounds like flat-out telling other people what to think. Overrated is in the mind of the beholder... though I admit the frequency of voiced complaints gets a little tedious for me.

I would never presume to tell others what to think, my entire issue with the whole overuse of the term overrated is based on my perspective that it seems like telling someone they shouldn't like something

and yes I was in a bad mood earlier and complaining as I did was very therapeutic, I appreciate that you took the time to indulge me in my venting

 

[Vegosiux]

you know, you've just expressed my entire point in a sentence or two, it's not the word itself I have a problem with but most people who describe something popular as "oveerrated" seem like they're saying people who like it are wrong,

So, the use of the word in the meaning of "It's alright, but honestly I don't think it's that great" is acceptable then?

and anyway the amount of people that like something is useless as an indicator of how good it is, if there's a show that millions of people think is pretty good, as in good enough to tune into every week, but nobody particularly loves it, is that show overrated because millions of people watch it? where is the definition? so yeah that pic you posted sums up pretty much what I think of people who just spout the word to try and shame people who like things they don't

This is a rather complex issue if you ask me, actually, one that touches closely on marketing and how much someone paid to have a show aired in the prime-time slot.

 

[Yopaz]

"Overrated" is not contingent on popularity, just that it receives more praise from its general audience than you believe it deserves.

And here is your answer to why I, and apparently OP, don't like the word, because it's a shorthand for

Spoiler: this

You do know you can say how you feel without it sounding so insulting, after all - "I don't like it as much as others", sounds better than "I think others should stop liking it as much".

That's my major problem with the word too, we not using it the way it should be. Also it's hard to apply the word when what we're rating is subjective anyway.

Now I use the word at times, some things are overrated, but it's hard to say what is actually overrated or not. One thing that is for sure is that everything you like that I don't isn't overrated. That's differing opinions. I'd rather see the word disappear than see it being thrown around as much as it currently is. I get really annoyed at all these threads discussing overrated games, music and movies. We get it, you don't like X and you don't think people who likes X should be liking it either.

 

[Oly J]

you know, you've just expressed my entire point in a sentence or two, it's not the word itself I have a problem with but most people who describe something popular as "oveerrated" seem like they're saying people who like it are wrong,

So, the use of the word in the meaning of "It's alright, but honestly I don't think it's that great" is acceptable then?

and anyway the amount of people that like something is useless as an indicator of how good it is, if there's a show that millions of people think is pretty good, as in good enough to tune into every week, but nobody particularly loves it, is that show overrated because millions of people watch it? where is the definition? so yeah that pic you posted sums up pretty much what I think of people who just spout the word to try and shame people who like things they don't

This is a rather complex issue if you ask me, actually, one that touches closely on marketing and how much someone paid to have a show aired in the prime-time slot.

you wouldn't even have to say the "it's alright" part, I guess the term frustrates me in it's overuse because no one who uses it to say "I don't like this thing that a lot of people seem to like" is necessarily wrong, subjective opinion and what-have-you, but where is the line? overrated as opposed to what? why can't people just say "this isn't really my thing" rather than saying "people shouldn't derive as much enjoyment from this as I assume they are"?

 

[Vegosiux]

I am generally dismissive of the word as well, some games can be over praised (such as many people I know ignoring the many flaws GTA V does indeed have) But it is usually used by people who don't like somethings popularity.

Now allow me a firsthand comment. Hype aversion is a thing. I suppose it's a mix of "being late to the party" and feeling excluded with all your other friends just not shutting up about whatever the next greatest thing ever is (resentment), and feeling like you've seen so many "next greatest things ever" in your life that proceeded to fade into obscurity when the next "greatest thing ever" came along that you think it can't possibly be that good (cynicism).

On the other hand, if something is marketed heavily and intensely before it even sees the light of the day, the cynic in me only has one question: "What aren't they telling me about it?"

 

[FalloutJack]

*Checks with the FCC*

This thread is not yet rated.

(Hah-hah, a new joke!)

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

As many people have already stated, some use it in place of "I don't like it as much" but most of the time (or some of the time, it's hard to tell) people use it to try to make their opinion sound objective.