Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...

Four Words: Use Other Words Please
"Use other words please."
Commonly used phrases that inexplicably bug you
Most irritating cliche/phrase/expression
"Taking Things to a Whole `Nother Level!"
words that annoy
Words that should earn the author a slap
PROVERBIAL and other tip offs to poor writing

-- caitlin (wpsal...) (webmail), December 23rd, 2003. (caitlin)

Oh yes, yes yes. I second that one. And the people who say it, say it over and over.

I also have a horror of people who write prolifically in all caps.

This is true.

But, this is a topic that should be dealt with routinely and harshly... the only way we can correct the language and suppress it's organic growth is by exposing and banning every new usage as it occurs... Isn't that what the French do?

Also: 'fridge,' girls who refer to each other as 'girl,' proactive...i'll be back when i think of more....

'poetic justice'. Used by the lazy to describe all 'justice' the speaker approves of, instead of a particular type. The adjective is rendered meaningless.

Agree re 'bird' for woman/girl, and lament its threatened return. Stinks of 'I'm being un-PC, where's my medal?'. Also the C-person uses it, which kinda ends the argument.

Wait, huh? Fridge is the thing you put food in, whats wrong with it?

I'm picturing him saying things such as "Would you like me to remove another beverage from the refrigerator for you, whilst we watch some association football?"

As used to describe a footballer running into a streak of good form

When used in phrases like "a raft of policies" or "a raft of new measures" - why?!?!??!!?

Or a colon.

COINKY-DINK, "guestimate," and any time someone ends an interrogative sentence with "at," as in "Where's my keys at?" or "Where's your head at?"

I don’t feel compelled to attach my gender to my preferences I guess.

Much less as a girlie. I’m too grown to be a girlie of any type.

I do "thank you, appreciate it" when picking up coffee. "Appreciate you" reminds me of when younger people say "friend" in purely transactional situations (as in, asking a favor from someone who isn't a friend). Still, this is far better than "tysm" and (boomer-ish) "thx," which express the opposite of actual gratitude.

"Girl" I always avoided with anyone over 16 or so. In college, "woman" could seem awkward but "gal" was the perfect counterpoint to "guy." The 2010s resurgence of girl titles (Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl on the Train) viscerally rubbed me the wrong way and felt regressive. Lena Dunham gets a pass.

I always thought it was more of a southern thing but apparently

Preesheeaitcha is 100 percent a Southern thing, I never heard it anywhere until I moved to Tennessee 30 years ago. Like a lot of bits of Southern expression it’s escaped containment since, but I’m sure is still most common here. It took me a while to adjust to it, but I’m fine with it.

see also girl dinner, girls' girl, girlboss

you are an adult
it is ok to be an adult woman
let's cut it out please

if the men get the manosphere we need to stake our claim on dinner and loyalty and drop the girl shit
that is my unsolicited excessively strong opinion

girls trip
girls night

I'm off to the little boys room

put on your big boy pants

if the men get the manosphere

Gonna need to look up some guides on how to return an unwanted gift.

i'm a big fan of the cis gay usage

girl what

and use it all the time, mostly to myself, mostly in reference to other cis gays

it's the belittling quality of girl-(xyz) that repulses me
it's not the word "girl" itself

And the recent "girl math"

My dad used "gal" all the time, but it always felt like a product of his '30s-'40s upbringing, not any kind of dismissal.

pretty hard to say what is and isn't dismissive -- it's like nagging, in the eye of the beholder

"tone" and "optics" in politics:"If we/they/you could just tweak these for the fussy baby public,"

“gal” is one of those words like “slacks” that is just too terrible for me to want to use. “swell” is sort of in there too, but manages to pull off being inherently funny enough for me to use. words that seem to be from like, catcher in the rye— eg “phony.”

And the recent "girl math"

i presume this is derogatory? lol i still remember melissa a. being the first in our class to grasp long division in fourth grade

not unrelated to why we went to senior prom together eight years later

I hate all variations of "girl-" like -boss, -math etc
"Girl Math" is something like concluding that an expensive piece of clothing or makeup is worth it because you wear it a lot, I believe?
(If boys find it hard to understand this then, think of it like a football season ticket where you attend many matches, making the cost-per-game much better value.
;-P )

I thought it referred instead to shoe math, as in if you get $500 shoes for $400 you are actually ahead $100, which one should celebrate by buying more shoes.

A pet peeve of mine is men, especially but not exclusively guitarists, speaking of "gear acquisition syndrome" where you decide it's important you have this one very specific distortion pedal (which was a deal at 10% off!) but now you need a better amp to properly hear the new pedal, etc.

Manly men with gear-intensive hobbies (golf, fishing) who appear to regard their purchases either as grimly necessary to maintain viability ~or~ as a facetious affliction, but might very well bristle if it were described as what it really is: shopping.

Lol yes!! Men actually do be shoppin.

is the issue with GAS that it is only applied to music gear or is it something different?

I'm pretty sure bike, boat, golf, camera, and gun enthusiasts speak of it too.

Much less as a girlie. I’m too grown to be a girlie of any type.

Omg I had this exact thought yesterday before I even looked at this thread! It made me angry to the point that I considered posting to the irrationally angry thread, but my anger is exceptionally rational about this.

hm. well idk i like it. i don't enjoy everyone telling me to grow up as if there's some dividing line between childhood and adulthood where you just stop saying certain things because they sound embarrassing

girl math and girl dinner are both very bad i agree but that seems different from "____-girl" or "____-girlie"

Xp YMP — carpentry, home improvement, … growing up, my friend’s dad was into model trains … he definitely had GAS re model trains

potentially this is very different for a girl who finds all references to herself as a girl very gender affirming

i feel like maybe it's somewhat related to being queer, something about relationship safety maybe being more prioritized so it's easier to enjoy being soft and submissive, when the other side isn't so relentlessly domineering? maybe not even queer, i mean i'd hope that queer relationships tend to give more of this but i really don't know, more "good and balanced relationships." i know that when a cis gay man shows me that they have the strength and courage to be incredibly gentle and present, that unlocks my ability to share my submissive side with them.

Are we going to address the rise of "girlypop"?

i hate the use of the word "think" which i see most frequently in articles about restaurants opening. usually related to the menu - "think: lobster mac and cheese, duck confit, bacon wrapped dates, Ube lattes"

idk how common it is elsewhere, it just seems vv common in those types of pieces.

my favorite use of the word "think" obv is Aretha

hm. well idk i like it. i don't enjoy everyone telling me to grow up as if there's some dividing line between childhood and adulthood where you just stop saying certain things because they sound embarrassing

It isn’t about embarrassment for me, it’s about being dismissed, belittled, deprived of agency, along the lines of how for centuries, women had to have men co-sign on bank accounts… Idk, I also don’t feel pressure to abandon a sense of play or humor just because I am an adult.

It could be a cis-fem thing and/or a cultural or even generational thing…idk.

I think I have managed to avoid or ignore whatever “girl math” is supposed to mean. I feel very fortunate for this, as the kid who was best in math in my grade in the entire school district, and as an accountant and financial consultant for businesses and nonprofits.

cis women who absorbed all of that and are independent and themselves in spite of it are always very inspiring to me. there are a lot of them and they're wonderful!

Xp map —-i feel that some language is positive in some cultures/contexts and negative in others… if this girlie / girl thing originated in queer culture, I totally see how it can be powerfully positive. It’s the leakage into straight culture that I object to lol.

For me it’s not terribly personal, as I choose not to use those terms in my own communication. Other people are free to do what makes them happy — using gendered language is their choice as well.
What makes me flinch:
* obviously the belittling nature of being infantilized
* the fact that infantilizing language referring to grown women is so thick in the air and water and overall cultural atmosphere that I have to explain why I think it’s not good
* that to the degree that we are packaging damaging stereotypes (women be shoppin, women be dieting, women are small and childlike) in new clothes.
It’s depressing I guess.

I guess this is doubling as “language that makes you feel like shit” thread for me

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/03/workers-who-love-synergizing-paradigms-might-be-bad-their-jobs

Totally totally. I would never dismiss the convictions of anyone who finds "girl" related language stuff belittling and infantilizing and all of that. Yes everything is that deep. No it's not "just a joke" and I will not "calm down."

And also at the same time "girl dinner" and "girl math" and related uses don't bother me but maybe bc I only experience them in a positive and supportive online universe of women affirming that their perspectives are valid and other women supporting/agreeing with them. Like girl dinner is low executive function eating when you want to take care of your body & enjoy delicious food but you do not assume responsibility for planning/cooking/cleaning up after a structured meal. Great! Sure it could be called something else. I experiencing the naming "girl dinner" as encompassing "You think girl things are dumb but our experiences are valid and I can be a girl if I want to, and I'm still not cooking dinner. Kick rocks."

This is not an argument for why anyone else should feel more positively about "girl" uhhhh terminology adoption? We can be different!

I guess I just find anything that frames 'girls are people who do X' as needlessly divisive, alienating and isolating. I've just never identified with any of it - the in-group message content may change, but it has been repeated in various forms throughout the decades I've been alive.

But I'm not in a big grump about it, and I can see why people find validation in it.

(I admit I'm not too sure what girl dinner is if it's healthy, delicious, and you don't have to plan/cook/clean - is it just a takeaway? Cold stuff out of the fridge that someone else put there? cos that sounds more like 'student dinner'...)

Or simply “dinner”

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/03/workers-who-love-synergizing-paradigms-might-be-bad-their-jobs

― trm (tombotomod), Monday, March 23, 2026 2:46 PM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

why is useless corporate speak so popular then? because many jobs are not actually useful.

the term "girl dinner" was apparently originally shared by Olivia Maher during a hot girl walk and then shared with the world via TikTok, hot girl walk being subsequently trademarked by its creator Mia Lind for her wellness business.

I was under the impression "girl dinner" meant eating a bunch of apps and snacks for dinner.

Basically? Things you don't have to prepare, that are good cold, or are easy. My former roommate used to have first dinner, second diner, third dinner...which was just eating unrelated things in sequence like 15 minutes apart.

Or like some cut up fruit, olives, cheese, garlic bread. Just normal foods. While you watch tv. It's just normal food except in contrast to the norm of women be making dinner, which is what it is not.