Annoyingly misused words/phrases

[Echobelly]

I saw a listicle about 'Nepo babies' of famous people who looked just like their parents, when what they meant is 'child of a famous parent'. Not all of them were in the public eye or attempting to break into the entertainment or sports industry. Nepo baby specifically means someone using their parents' clout or connections to get a career, it doesn't mean 'child of a famous parent' and that kind of annoyed me.

Have you seen any misuses of a word or phrase that has irritated you?

Using ‘them’ instead of ‘those’. Eg ‘I like them ones’. Irritates me immensely. It’s used so frequently now I am left wondering if it should be ‘them’ 😂😂

Women who don't know the difference between their vulva and vagina on MN.
It's basic biology.🙄

This has made my day 😂

Myself, yourself etc. There are times when they are the correct words but those times are far fewer than they are used.

Also less when it should be fewer.

"Do you think I suit this dress?"

No, the dress suits YOU.

Well...Yes. if I thought it was cheap at £50 I'm unlikely to think the same thing would be expensive at £25, am I!?

I think "cheap at half the price" means it's expensive but "cheap at twice the price" would be expensive but they've been muddled.

My boss does it all the time and I find it creeping into my vocabulary, maybe I should work from home more...

Also Americans who use "sense" in place of the word since.

"Have you changed the baby's bum?"

No, you weirdo.

I just changed her nappy 😳

I have heard some autistic people say they prefer to be described as "autistic" rather than "a person with autism". They feel their autism is actually a defining trait rather than something they have/carry around/can put down etc. It makes them who they are.

I think this is a personal preference thing.

Although I agree that "is ADHD" and "is SEN" doesn't make sense.

No, should be cheap at twice the price

Am annoyed at some replies that I don't think understand what OP asked for, does that count? 😉

I think mansplaining is used wrong all the time. It means that a man explains something to a woman that she knows more about - either because she is a bona fide expert on the subject or because she has necessary experience (for example: how painful is child birth). It doesn't mean "a man spoke to me and was annoying or overbearing".

I've always heard "cheap at half the price". Used as as an expression of hope cheap something is. I've also always thought it doesnt make sense.

My current bugbear is apart. No you aren't apart of something. Apart and a part mean different things. And I always think they mean the opposite of what you'd expect.

One that I have seen quite often on MN: “wet blanket” when the person means “wet lettuce” (or simply “wet”). A wet blanket is someone who spoils other people’s fun, a wet lettuce is weak or feeble. They are not synonyms.

Also “diffuse” instead of “defuse.” No, you do not want to diffuse a tense situation, you want to defuse it.

That literally makes zero sense. Its 'cheap at twice the price'.

My high functioning son tells people he's autistic as he prefers that term. He actually told someone off who 'corrected' him and had said "You are a person with autism."
"I HAVE autism, I will always have autism."

I dislike (intensely) the addition of ‘ - gate’ to words or names…e.g. Camillagate.

Presumably formed from Watergate, the original incident when something scandalous was covered up and exposed later.

I find it annoying. But why? Language changes and is endlessly inventive. Why do the changes bother us?

'I got given.'

'I got given a hairdryer for Christmas.'

I was given or I got. Got given sounds ugly and is repetitive.

But I almost prefer 'got given' to 'I was gifted with'.

(Even autocorrect doesn't like got given. It keeps altering It to got Biden.)

Done instead of did - so many people “I done that!” 🔥🔥

'Asked' instead of 'arsed' ... as in 'i cant be asked'. Just why? How?

And also agree with 'I could care less'... complete nonsense ...

Alot, aswell and also loose in place of lose. I also can't stand noone in place of nobody.

I really don’t understand the ‘think’ argument. Surely in that context it would be ‘you will have another thought coming’?

”Another thing coming” makes sense. As in “If you do that, there will be consequences” - you’ll have another thing coming to you - a consequence of your action. That’s how I’ve always taken it anyway.

what? this is completely illogical. Why "even" if it was half the price would it still be considered cheap - of course it would! The "even" and "still" are completely redundant. If it's cheap at full price then it would be impossible for it to not be cheap at half price.

When the first poster suggested this I actually thought 'What? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it, how stupid, surely nobody actually says cheap at half the price, it doesn't make any sense.!' But clearly I was wrong.

Anyway the one that annoys me is 'mortified.' It means embarrassed, humiliated, not shocked.

And of course "you've got another thing coming." Mainly because the wrong version is now more widespread and seen as right, even though it MAKES NO SENSE! You can't have another thing when you've never had a first thing. It's 'You've got another think coming.'

Oh, and I raised this one a while ago and got some very interesting answers.

In my vocabulary, if one is very thirsty, one is 'spitting feathers' (ie, has a very dry mouth). If one is angry, one is 'spitting nails' (ie, firing metal objects from their mouth).

Many many many people use 'spitting feathers' to mean really angry. And I was told this was entirely correct. So is this regional? Do I live on the moon?

You don't hear it mow but I've never understood the meaning of, "She's no better than she ought to be"... Does it mean she's no better than you'd expect?