Your most hated words

[Dar_Klink]

After I read the first part, I was going to reply that you should punch him in the face, but looks like you're already planning to. And you should. If you get in trouble, just tell the authorities what he said.

Another one that I can't believe I haven't included yet: Gamer.

Shit, when I saw that gamer was a link I just knew it was that video. I don't hate most people that use the word gamer, because it's so common now, but people like him and the way marketers use it is fucking terrible. That guy's video is like some copy of Extra Credits while trying to sound like Randall from Clerks.

 

[Vampire_Hunter_Bob]

Another one that I can't believe I haven't included yet: Gamer.

Shit, when I saw that gamer was a link I just knew it was that video. I don't hate most people that use the word gamer, because it's so common now, but people like him and the way marketers use it is fucking terrible. That guy's video is like some copy of Extra Credits while trying to sound like Randall from Clerks.

I don't know what to say after watching that video.

 

[Walter]

I don't hate most people that use the word gamer, because it's so common now,

The biggest problem I have with the word is the way it's used, as if it's some kind of unique lifestyle. It's simply a medium. I've played games for nearly my whole life as well, but I certainly don't identify myself as someone who plays games, anymore than I would someone who reads books or watches movies. I'm not a booker, or a movier.

 

[Wyrm]

The biggest problem I have with the word is the way it's used, as if it's some kind of unique lifestyle. It's simply a medium. I've played games for nearly my whole life as well, but I certainly don't identify myself as someone who plays games, anymore than I would someone who reads books or watches movies. I'm not a booker, or a movier.

It kind of depends on how you structure your life. If games, books or movies are more of an hobby than casual entertainment, if you plan your life taking into account the time you'll need to spend in your favorite hobby then it makes sense to have a word that describes what you're doing. Gamer is not suposed to be a merit badge but when someone says "i'm a gamer" usually it tells me that that person takes games seriously, appreciate the craftsmanship, regularly invests time reading about games, game design, publishers and developers and is usually involved in betas. It's the person who will think that a LAN party is a great way to spend your saturday night. It's not the same as playing Angry Birds on your IPhone.

So I like the term gamer. :)

Words and expressions I don't like:

hipster (because now it means "something or someone i don't like")
verily
liberty (one of the most violated words nowadays)
socialism (when used by people who have no clue what socialism is)
"viver acima das nossas possibilidades" (any portuguese forum member will probably agree with me on this one)

 

[SuperVegetto]

EDIT: That was a rant on some people to let my frustration out and a break of rules it seems so I'll just say it's a phrase (not word): "Get a life"

 

[Wiki]

Definitly swag....

 

[SuperVegetto]

Definitly swag....

Well, YOLO!

 

[Aazealh]

"Win", used as a noun. As in "So much win!" or "We achieved many wins over the past year."

 

[Walter]

Gamer is not suposed to be a merit badge but when someone says "i'm a gamer" usually it tells me that that person takes games seriously,

I'd just think they're a fucking loser.

 

[frankencowx]

dope and pimp as adjectives

anything ending in the suffix -izzle

 

[Walter]

I humbly submit: All memes.

 

[IncantatioN]

Gamer is not suposed to be a merit badge but when someone says "i'm a gamer" usually it tells me that that person takes games seriously

I'd just think they're a fucking loser.

Even if gaming is a passion of theirs like after work hours or whatever? Sort of like surfing or skiing or climbing, etc.? Or it's the way they project themselves that's loser~ish?

 

[Walter]

Even if gaming is a passion of theirs like after work hours or whatever? Sort of like surfing or skiing or climbing, etc.? Or it's the way they project themselves that's loser~ish?

I don't think there's anything inherently special about someone who plays games--certainly not enough to give them a separate moniker. Like I said before, it's not different from someone who enjoys movies or books. It's another medium, regardless of how into it you are.

I find it pretty gross that people who play games are actually willing to buy into this misnomer that a medium you enjoy defines you. Here's a hypothetical conversation:

"So what do you do in your spare time?"
"I don't know, I guess I enjoy watching TV shows, I go to the movies, hang out with friends, I play video gam-"
"Oh, so you're a 'Gamer'?"
"Well yes, I am a gamer! It's the same as being a surfer."

I think the kinds of people endorsing the use of such a term are coming from two hilariously opposite places. 1) Those who see it as a stigma to enjoy playing a game 2) Those who want to strictly segregate themselves from people who play games casually: "I am a hardcore gamer!"

Thing is... Society likes to create labels for people and their hobbies. It helps categorize things in an otherwise chaotic world. But that doesn't mean you have to buy into them, much less endorse them.

 

[Wyrm]

Well, I'm not a "fucking loser" and I'm not in either of the groups you mention.

But that doesn't mean you have to buy into them, much less endorse them.

It also doesn't mean you have to insult people who do.

 

[Walter]

Well, I'm not a "fucking loser" and I'm not in either of the groups you mention.

Are you in the same group as this guy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4pXWiG2B4zk

 

[Wyrm]

that person takes games seriously, appreciate the craftsmanship, regularly invests time reading about games, game design, publishers and developers and is usually involved in betas. It's the person who will think that a LAN party is a great way to spend your saturday night.

I'm in this group. I only saw the video until the guy said he doesn't need a degree because he's shepperd or something... No further comments from my part.

 

[IncantatioN]

Very annoying to hear my colleagues (3 sisters) say 'conversate' or 'this hurted' a lot.

 

[Walter]

Very annoying to hear my colleagues (3 sisters) say 'conversate' or 'this hurted' a lot.

Are those real phrases people are using these days, or are they just bad at English?

 

[IncantatioN]

Haha yeah, I've heard a few other people outside my workplace say it like that. I humor my colleagues and correct them if they say something grammatically incorrect, but only because we fool around and they don't kill me for it. Another thing I hear from them all the time is the use of the word 'mad' as an adverb, meaning to say 'very'. I thought it was a Brooklyn thing but I see it being used on some reality TV shows too! Bad English, totally.

 

[Walter]

I thought it was a Brooklyn thing but I see it being used on some reality TV shows too! Bad English, totally.

I totally understand what you mean. But I think we're beginning to sound like old men at this point of the thread

 

[Griffith]

I don't think there's anything inherently special about someone who plays games--certainly not enough to give them a separate moniker. Like I said before, it's not different from someone who enjoys movies or books. It's another medium, regardless of how into it you are.

Spoken like a true gamer, the man doth protest too much methinks! Also, they do have terms for those mediums, bookworms (nobody looks down on reading though), film geeks (different story for that subset =), etc. They're just not used as prevalently, but then those are older and more generally established mediums, the same will and is happening with games, yet people will also still rightly identify that way for shorthand rather than trying to explain their interest in so many words. I think you're just annoyed by some of the more embarrassing associations and stereotypes that come with the term, because otherwise you're a pretty good example of someone with an obviously well-informed and highly evolved passion for the medium, and don't want the stink of that other stuff all over you.

 

[Walter]

you're a pretty good example of someone with an obviously well-informed and highly evolved passion for the medium, and don't want the stink of that other stuff all over you.

Yet I don't need a word to define who I am because of my interests.

 

[Griffith]

Yet I don't need a word to define who I am because of my interests.

Sure, that's fair, but you also clearly define this particular word extremely negatively ("a fucking loser"). I just think it's a more broad, neutral and less absolute term than it's worst usage. Like a "big reader" or a "movie lover," similar designations I don't think you'd have quite the same response to; though, they equally fail to define who one is with any nuance. I find it more problematic and troubling that it isn't seen the same way by these self-described "gamers" and the masses alike than I'm bothered by the word itself. Like you said, it's just another medium, and hopefully the connotation of the word will shift away from some sort of misguided sense of idenity or subculture and more toward a purely clinical usage, which is largely how I've always seen the word ("one who plays games").
BTW, how we're talking about this makes me think more of the confessions on My Strange Addiction (the reaction shots in this video are glorious =) than anything to do with video games. Puts things in perspective.


Anyway, on the main topic, the word "supposably" when someone really means supposedly bugs me. I wouldn't say I hate it, but I notice.

 

[Grail]

Anyway, on the main topic, the word "supposably" when someone really means supposedly bugs me. I wouldn't say I hate it, but I notice.

You know, that reminds me of this made-up word one of my old bosses used to use, "legist." I think he somehow got the words logistics and gist confused, and said it in place of the latter. It always bothered me, but I secretly liked the idea of him embarrassing himself in front of other people all the time with it.

Coincidentally, that's also one of my most hated words, even though it's only used by one person... as far as I know.

 

[Wyrm]

shift away from some sort of misguided sense of idenity or subculture and more toward a purely clinical usage, which is largely how I've always seen the word ("one who plays games").

Which is the way I used the expression. Not as a "merit badge" as I said but simply to denote the degree to wich one dedicates to a given hobby. It doesn't mean that the person using either "gamer", "bookworm", "cinephile" or whatever is trying to define him/herself by their favorite activity.