Bastardization of words

"Try and" instead of "try to" and "walkoff homer."

 

Using "while" in place of and or though or whatever.

While means it happens at the same time. So Podunk Pete couldn't throw three touchdowns Friday night while Legless Larry ran for three on Saturday.

 

"different"
Joe Shmoe hit a home run on seven different occasions.

 

Diffuse, used when the writer really means defuse -- as in, "to defuse a volatile situation."

Mano a mano. It really means hand-to-hand in Latin, not man-to-man.

Where, as in "a game where three touchdowns were scored in the last minute." Should be ``in which."

I'm very much on board the hating ``basically" train. And it drives me nuts when ``literally'' is used incorrectly.

And as a former college Physics major, the ``light years'' thing bothers me as well.

 

"Untracked" is a word. Kind of a stupid one, but it's a word.

untracked |ˌənˈtrakt|
adjective
(of land) not previously explored or traversed; without a path or tracks : the Saxons usually hid in the untracked marshlands.
• (of snow or a snowy slope) not marked by skis, vehicles, people, or animals : experts can go heli-skiing in untracked powder.
not found after attempts at detection, esp. by means of radar or satellite : the previously untracked object.
PHRASES
get untracked get into one's stride or find good form, esp. in sporting contexts.

 

Hopefully.

 

Combine.
I'll never get used to it.
A combine is a farm machine. It is not a gathering of football players in their shorts.

 

I second the "very" choice. I hate that fricking meaningless, jackshit word.
Also, Team A will play host to Team B. They'll host, dammit.
And, finally, "disrespect." ... I lose all respect for anyone who says the chip on their shoulder is because they have been disrespected. I even hate it when they say they don't get any respect.

While we're on the subject, can someone tell me what an "upside" is? I once had a student who used it, but couldn't tell me what it was.

 

You're wrong.
People understand what they're saying.
Why can't anyone on the other side of this argument understand that "I could care less" is meant as an ironic statement?

 

Kinda like "I could give a shit."

 

And because you're wrong. There's never been anyone where when I say "Don't you mean you COULDN'T care less?" that they'd respond "No, it was an ironic statement."

They all say "Oh, oops. Yeah. That."

 

Wrong. "Host" is not a verb. In fact, THAT's the way "host" has been bastardized, because I think Webster's recently changed it to include as an intransitive verb: "to act as host," is what my 2004 edition says.

Can't define a verb as the act of being ... itself. That's a bastard definition.