The 21 Most Misused Words in the English Language Modern English is an interesting language and is always changing and evolving. Words are altered and definitions are updated accordingly. We cant all be linguists, but we should know how to correctly use the words we choose. 1. Compelled What they think it means: To do something voluntarily by choice. What it actually means: To be forced or obligated to doing something. To be compelled is to be forced to do something, regardless of whether you actually want to do it or not. 2. Bemused What they think it means: Amused. What it actually means: Confused. While it sounds similar to Amused, its meaning is completely different. It originally comes from the middle-English words Be, which is an intensifier, and Muse, which is to contemplate. 3. Irony What they think it means: Something that is funny. What it actually means: Contrary to what you are expecting. From the Greek word eirōneia - meaning to simulate ignorance. There are different kinds of irony but they generally are the expression of ones meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. 4. Redundant What they think it means:Repetitive. What it actually means:Unnecessarily excessive. Not all repetition is redundant. Only when theres too much of something - it becomes redundant. 5. Effect What you may think it means: To cause something to change. What it actually means: An event that causes a change. If an individual wants to change anothers opinion, the individual will need to affect it somehow. The action taken was the effect that caused the change of opinion. 6. Travesty What they think it means: A tragedy or something unfortunate. What it actually means: A mockery or parody. The death of Robin Williams was atragedy.When some individuals made jokes about it - it was atravesty. 7. i.e. What they think it means: For example. What it actually means: In other words. From the Latin Id Est (meaning: in that), i.e. is used when you want repeat something in a different manner - i.e. to say something again in another way. 8. Plethora What they think it means: A lot of something. What it actually means: More than is needed. From the Greek plēthōrē, meaning Be full. 10,000 people in a stadium are not a plethora of people, but put them in a small house and they suddenly become a plethora. 9. Disinterested What they think it means: Bored. What it actually means: Neutral. If you are bored - you are uninterested (it doesnt interest you). But if you are disinterested - you simply dont care either way. 10. Obsolete What they think it means: Old, out of date. What it actually means: Not produced, used, or needed. You might think that your old cellphone is obsolete, but cellphones are still produced, used and needed. A good example of something that is obsolete will be a steam engine - theyre so inefficient compared to todays combustion & electric engines, that no one produces it, uses it or needs it. 11. Chronic What they think it means: Severe. What it actually means: Over the course of a long time. A person with chronic pain is not necessarily in severe pain, but have been experiencing the pain for a long time. 12. Nauseous What they think it means: To feel ill. What it actually means: To cause feelings of illness. If you say that you are nauseous - youre actually saying that you cause nausea in others. Instead, the word you should be using is nauseated. 13. Peruse What they think it means: To skim or browse. What it actually means: To observe in depth. From the 15th century English Per - meaning thoroughly, and Use. If you peruse a book, you read it through and through, possibly several times. 14. Defective What they think it means: That something is broken or missing pieces. What it actually means: Simply that its broken. Imagine you buy two new smartphones. One cannot be turned on, and the others screen is in pieces. The first is not defective, but rather deficient. The latter is indeed defective, as its literally broken. 15. Enormity What they think it means: Huge, enormous. What it actually means: Profoundly immoral or evil. From the Latin enormitas, meaning deviation from legal or moral rectitude, enormity can only be used to describe size or quantity in regards to something that is perceived as bad (or worse). 16. Fortuitous What they think it means: Lucky. What it actually means: By chance. A fortuitous event differs from an event of luck by being neutral. If you find winning lottery ticket on the street - that is lucky. If you then slip and fall, losing the ticket - that is fortuitous. 17. Can What they think it means: What is permissible. What it actually means: What is possible. If you were to ask me: Can I have a drink? - Youre not asking me if you are allowed to have a drink, but rather, if you are actually capable of drinking. 18. Literally What they think it means:Figuratively. What it actually means: Actually. What you use Literally, youre saying that something happened in the literal sense of the word and not as a figure of speech. If you were to say There were literally a million cars on the road then it means that the number of cars on the road was exactly one million, no more, no less. 19. Total Total means exactly what people think it means but it is used unnecessarily on a frequent basis. When there is a total of 50 people, the total is 50 whether or not you use the word total. You might hear someone say that they were totally surprised. Surprise is not a conditional emotion - You were either surprised or not. The use of total didnt add anything of value to the sentence. 20. Conversate What they think it means: To have a conversation. What it actually means: Nothing. It comes from a mix of Converse and Conversation, but simply not a real word and has no meaning. 21. Irregardless What they think it means: Without regard. What it actually means: Nothing. Like conversate above, irregardless isnt actually a word. When people say irregardless, they actually mean to say regardless. :) :) :) this post is not to show the enormity of my defective knowledge of English, i.e., quite literally the total travesty of my fortuitous conversate with you guys irregardless of the chronic nature of my ignorance which compelled and bemused you to tolerate the plethora of my idiocracy which in effect is the irony of all when you can peruse carefully though you may be disinterested and feel nauseous !
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:28:42 +0000