I can`t be the only one who fills with despair every time the word PROUD is thrown out! It is used now so much by all and sundry that it has long since lost any sensible meaning. People are proud of their suntan, proud that they only drank six pints last night, proud that they have no hair in their ears, proud that they are skinnier than Posh, proud that they finished school, proud that they didn`t forget to put the rubbish out on time, proud that they got married, proud that they got divorced, proud that they have 2 kids, proud that they haven`t got any kids, and all and sundry seem to be proud of their relatives for one reason or another. (That`s a point, can you be proud for someone else?)
Many times the word proud that you hear is bordering on arrogance or conceit. And, boy, I really feel proud if I can get through the day without hearing the word PROUD!
The word that drives me mad is "Absolutely"....
Almost every TV presenter uses it far too often, especially Bradey Walsh.
What's wrong with a simple "Yes".......
Well, haven`t come across the word legend but hero does irk me some. Lots of people seem to be heroes just for doing their jobs. Absolutely`s a good one, too. And I would say that I`m a fan of AnswerBank, too and quite happy about it.
It falls into a long list of words so over-used - usually without correct context - that they lose all meaning.
My pet hate is 'battling' - as in 'he is currently battling cancer ...'.
You don't 'battle' cancer, or any other diease! You have it, you endure it, hopefully you are cured, and if not, you succomb, but the idea that you have any 'battle' with it is a total nonsense.
Well, firstly,I don't think you can be proud 'for'someone else. But you can be proud 'of'' someone else. I am extremely proud of my eldest grandson, who has gained a place at Cambridge University.
Passionate is my pet hate, it crops up everywhere, passionate about this, passionate about that!!!! I agree with you, andy-hughes, about battling too.Can't say I have particularly noticed 'proud' but bet I do from now on :o(
It's 'Hero' that annoys me. A hero to me is a person who fights and dies for his country, or who wades in and saves somebody from certain death without a thought for their own safety, but newspapers are guilty of this using the term for sports men, the hero of the match - he scored that final goal - our hero aaaaaaarrgggggh!
Hey, thanks for all the `fantastic` answers! It`s seems that we`re all in agreement about certain words which are over-used and we`re now going to be noticing them as we`ve never done before.
Not so much the despair of a word but the *hatred* of a missing one:
The missing "the" when a radio presenter announces a date these days.
eg. "The Hives live at the Brixton Academy, January (?) 26th"
Stop trying to Americanise our language you tosspieces !!!