Most Abused Words - Page 6

Basically. Whenever I hear this word, I expect the speaker to grossly oversimplify something. Especially when the speaker draws out the first a: "Well baaaasically, a valid argument is one that is true."

"Whilst" and "amongst". They were obscure, even obsolete words until a few years ago, and suddenly they're everywhere.

Not to my generation. But then as a boy we found our modern slang in the KJV.

^ I knew you have a few years on me, but I had no idea you were 500 years old!

It only feels like it sometime.

"Alas", particularly when it is used by some douche (usually a chick, but sometimes a dude) on Yelp who wants to make it sound like they're a real writer/food critic.

-Lovely looking veal chops - but alas, I could not afford them that day.
-Alas, my thighs, I ate the carbs!
-Alas, I handle all of my correspondence via...
-Alas, even though I'm fine with the idea of seeing a movie by myself, a little bit of self-loathing sets in when I buy just one (1) ticket, the cashier surely sitting in silent judgment of my solitary visage shambling into the theater.
-About 10 years ago I had the Best cheese steak of my life in this area, but alas I can't remember where the spot was.
-The breakfast menu is lovely, for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike (alas, I'm of the latter persuasion).
-I really wish I could go to Concepcion more often, but, alas, I only need my hair cut every 6-8 weeks.
-But, alas, thanks to Coco Chanel in the 80's and the increasing pressure we are receiving from the media to look like Anna Nicole Smith

The above are actual examples - these are the top 8 uses of "alas" when I do a search for the word in my work zip.

fuck is most use in movies

"Obtuse" instead of "abstruse".

The ubiquitous: Their, they're, there Your, you're Effect, affect

Christ, I've been doing this for years

I don't know, I think in these examples "alas" adds a cutesy ironic wrist-against-the-forehead faux-dramatic woe-is-me touch to the statements. Maybe you don't like cutesy ironic touches, but I don't really think the word is misused/abused.

That/which
Since/because

This always trips me up.

Not when they are in every other review (slight exaggeration). I like it even less when preceded by "but" - the "but" is unnecessary.

If Prince Valiant fucked a hipster chick, the offspring would probably use "alas" a lot. At least that's the impression I get; I've never actually read a Prince Valiant strip.

Um.