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Harry Frankfurt The
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Words that brand you a phoney | ||
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EXASPERATED by the poor quality of written English
he meets every day, Professor Larry Trask
has produced a list of the 20 most pretentious words and
phrases in the English language. It appears in his new book, "Mind the Gaffe: The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English." Trask, from the Centre for Research in Cognitive Science at Britain's Sussex University, rails against against the sloppy thinking, poor grammar and clumsy style manifested by teachers, journalists, politicians and other wordsmiths. He also targets "those who show off with quasi-French phrases (such as 'bon viveur' when they mean 'bon vivant' or 'nom de plume' for 'nom de guerre'). "English has curiously invented and adopted some French expressions which do not exist in French," he says. Would you qualify for inclusion in Trask's hit list? Check to see if you use any of his 20 "worst words." Aforementioned – Should be banned except in the legal profession. Albeit – "For those who prefer a pompous three-syllable word when 'but' or 'though' would do." At this moment in time – A puffed-up 'now'. Communicate – "Is often used absurdly to mean nothing more than 'say', 'talk' or 'tell'". Empowerment – "Might in principle be used to mean something, but never is." Epicentre – "Should be used only by seismologists and idiots." Exponential – "Mathematical term which does not mean 'fast'." Feedback – "The most pretentious of the |
list and simply used for no reason at all most
of the time." Fortuitous – "A classic example of using a poncy Latin word when 'lucky' would do just as well. A triumph of pretentiousness over knowledge." Hegemonic – Most commonly incorrectly used "in the most awful sort of post-modernist drivel. Never used except by pretentious people, in pretentious writing, for pretentious purposes." Input – "The soulmate of feedback and just as stupid for the same reason." Widely used, especially in bureaucratic writing, to represent anything from 'contribution' to 'comment'. Interface – "Despite everyone knowing it is pretentious, still hangs around like a bad smell." Ironically – "The label applied to every mildly engaging coincidence." Linear – "Purely a mathematical or technical term and should not be used in any other sense." Octopi – "The plural of octopus is octopuses. Octopi was a joke that got taken seriously." Paradigm – "Most often used by those who don't know what it means – which is the basic test for pretentiousness." Peruse – "Where possible use the word 'read' instead." Privileged – "Used as an insult to anyone who knows what they are talking about", rather than to refer to the landed. Synergy – "Dishonest business-speak, pretentious jargon." Utilize – "Anyone using this instead of 'use' should wear a sandwich board declaring: I am a pretentious twit." |
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