What's the most misused word in the English language?

AMKC · 27-09-2023 04:16PM #1

For me it is free. Nothing is free.

For instance I bought yes that's right bought a Tesco sim yesterday for €15 but I only actually paid €15 for credit so according to them the sim was free but it was not as I paid for it by buying the credit. If it was free I would not have had to buy credit either and just pick the sim up but if I did not want credit and still wanted the sim it would have cost €15 so it's not free.

MoodeRator · 27-09-2023 04:20PM

While that may be irritating, I would not consider that to even be in the same league as there,their and they're.

My irrtating phrase for an added bonus is when people say "I could care less"

BlueSkyDreams · 27-09-2023 04:21PM

SIM is free when you buy the 15 euro credit.

dxhound2005 · 27-09-2023 04:43PM

This thread will go the same way as all the ones before. The OP asks for a single word, we will get moaning about phrases, spellings, accents and pronunciations.

frag420 · 27-09-2023 04:44PM

It’s literally, literally!

banie01 · 27-09-2023 04:47PM

its literally & pacifically..... Literally, but Pacific/Pacifically being used instead of specific/specifically must surely run it close?

Westernview · 27-09-2023 04:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165397#Comment_121165397

I was just going to say 'literally'. It's very common amongst instagrammers. I don't even think that they understand what the word mean - e.g. I'm literally dying, I'm literally on fire today etc..

MoodeRator · 27-09-2023 04:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165389#Comment_121165389

Or we may even get people that read an OP then just moan about the replies rather than actually contribute to the thread. It is a strange world.

Str8outtaWuhan · 27-09-2023 04:55PM

Woman. Apparently anyone can be a woman now. Total misuse of the word .

AlanG · 27-09-2023 04:57PM

When it comes to Irish politics it is definetely Free alright. Free GP care, Free third level education etc. In Germany is is called state or tax funded care. Far more accurate.

Baseball72 · 27-09-2023 04:58PM

So.

often the first word of a sentence, when answering a question.....

nachouser · 27-09-2023 05:06PM

Honestly, ...

AMKC · 27-09-2023 05:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165455#Comment_121165455

Really? I very rearly see it misused.

There is all sorts of Women by the way 🙂 .

dxhound2005 · 27-09-2023 05:41PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165439#Comment_121165439

We are not the people to decide what is misuse of words. Meanings change over time, and dictionaries are the repositories which keep a record of that. Those who complain about "Literally" are obviously ignorant of the changes that have happened to that word over hundreds of years. Another one is Unique, which prompts complaints when someone says e.g. "fairly unique". That usage has been recognised by dictionaries, simply because of its prevalance.

The trick is to accept or ignore the changes that are happening in our own lifetimes. If they survive they will become standard in future, if they vanish from common usage that is OK as well. Language purists in the past were horrified about "misuse" of words in their time, which are now standard.

gameoverdude · 27-09-2023 05:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165416#Comment_121165416

I say that! As well as "that's unpossible".

Then again I'm a prick.

gameoverdude · 27-09-2023 05:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165389#Comment_121165389

A "d4" accent isn't actually a Dublin accent.

Happy now?

gameoverdude · 27-09-2023 05:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165419#Comment_121165419

Technically we are literally dying...if we are alive.

dxhound2005 · 27-09-2023 05:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165709#Comment_121165709

D4 is extinct. Replaced by New Dublin.

DBK1 · 27-09-2023 05:58PM

It has to be the very simple small word “of”.

As bad as it is listening to people saying “should of” etc. when they are actually using it in written text it’s just horrendous to see.

It’s hard for anyone that speaks English to even read a sentence when of is there instead of “have” or “ ‘ve” as it should be.

gameoverdude · 27-09-2023 05:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165730#Comment_121165730

And new tralee, new letterkenny, new skibereen...

dxhound2005 · 27-09-2023 06:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165770#Comment_121165770

Should of gone to Specsavers. That's a shocker. It is Should of went to Specsavers.

banie01 · 27-09-2023 06:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165697#Comment_121165697

Many of us do!

In much the same way as "irregardless" has become accepted despite its being a nonsense double negative! We can band together and make the impossible... ~~impossible.~~ Unpossible

Edit

Damned autocorrect is unpossible to deal with 😁🤦

gameoverdude · 27-09-2023 06:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165832#Comment_121165832

I'll revert back when I have processed again your message again.

dxhound2005 · 27-09-2023 06:15PM

Revert back is now standard. Just the funny way dictionary compilers operate. Another one which may catch on is "On accident", which appears to have derived from On purpose.

gameoverdude · 27-09-2023 06:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121165859#Comment_121165859

No! Say its not true!

waynescales1 · 27-09-2023 06:17PM

Not a word but "beg the question" is an almost universally misused or misunderstood phrase, which is a shame because it's original (real) meaning is helpful to know and describes something that people are very often guilty of...

"To "beg the question" (also called petitio principii) is to attempt to support a claim with a premise that itself restates or presupposes the claim. It is an attempt to prove a proposition while simultaneously taking the proposition for granted."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question