Use of Language

I just finished reading a very entertaining post on Ars Technica on "The ten most hated words on the Internet." Though I'm in the field of information security, my undergraduate and graduate days in college were spent in the field of English Literature¹, so I always appreciate posts like the one from Ars Technica. After reading the post, I got to thinking about the various uses (and misuses) of the English language that drive me nuts, so I thought I'd post them here just for fun. I'd enjoy hearing about the words or phrases that drive you nuts. My feeling is that while it isn't necessary for a person to be a superlative writer/speaker, one should at least have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of their own language. Is that too much to ask? So without further ado...

Words and Phrases That Should Be Banned²

• ping - As in "I need to ping Bob about that meeting tomorrow." Grrrrrr.
• irregardless - This one makes my skin crawl. The word is "regardless."
• the misuse of "me" and "I" - Sadly, this one is so common, most people probably aren't even aware of the fact that it is often used incorrectly. Here's an example of misuse I just heard earlier today: "If you have any questions, give John or I a call." **shudder** Here's the trick I learned from my 6th grade teacher. If you aren't sure whether to use "me" or "I," drop the other part (in the above example we would drop "John or") and the answer becomes obvious. You woudn't say "If you have any questions, give I a call," so the correct word in this context is "me."
• iAnything - Personally, I thought this got old after iMac.
• moot vs. mute - As in "that's a mute point." Fortunately, I don't hear this one as often as I used to, but I still here it with some regularity. The word is "moot." A moot point is a point that needn't be decided as the result of a change in circumstances.
• incentivize - There are lots of words like this, where people tack on an "ize" ending and try to make a verb out of a noun. Don't do it. As soon as I hear someone use one of these made up *ize words, my first thought is "Oh, you're one of those."
• "blog" as a verb - I don't really care for this word at all, but I can deal with it as a noun, as in "Have you read my blog?" What I can't abide, though, is its use as a verb. "I'll have to blog about this," or "I blogged about that yesterday."

¹Specifically, Medieval English Literature, with secondary foci on Shakespeare and Classical Greek Drama. Not the most useful of skills by today's standards, but if you ever need to conjugate a verb or decline a noun in Middle English, I'm your guy.

²If not outright banned, at a minimum there should be penalty of a heavy fine and 20 hours of community service for each infraction.