How many of these hated words do YOU use?

Pedantic semantics! People share their linguistic pet peeves and words they hate to hear – but how many are YOU guilty of using?

  • A UK Reddit user asked others to vote on words they hate to hear
  • READ MORE: American woman living in London for the last eight years is astounded by Brits obsession with panel shows and the shape of the Easter treats

Britons have been sharing the filler words creeping into every day vocabulary which they cannot bear to hear.

In a thread posted on Reddit, a UK-based user asked others to share their linguistic pet peeves – and many were keen to air their grievances over words they don’t like to hear.

Posing a poll to readers, the person asked which filler words annoyed them the most: ‘Like’, ‘basically’, totally’, ‘actually’ or ‘even’. words annoyed them more: ‘Like’ or ‘basically’. 

As the semantic pedants debated the phrases and words they hated hearing, things got a little heated – and some people even bashfully admitted they used the hated phrases frequently.

Britons have been debating their least favourite filler words to hear in sentences, in what they describe as ‘Americanisms’ creeping into language in the UK

British users answered a Reddit poll on ‘the most annoying words’ prompting tons of discussion in the comments

As the original poster asked other people for their opinions on their most hated words, they asked others to vote for their least favourite phrases.

Although polling was tight, more than half of voters decided ‘like’ was their least favourite word to hear in sentences.

One person wrote: ‘Americans don’t even realise how much they use that f****** word.’

However, another person, believed to be from the US, admitted: ‘I use like in nearly all my sentences, like one time I said it five times in one sentence and the guy like got really mad at me.  

‘But it’s like when you don’t quite have the word yet and you kind of say like instead of erm or eh while you like pause for the word you’re like trying to think of’.

 They added it helped them to organise their thoughts.

In response, another user who hated the word scathingly said: ‘[It] makes you sound moronic’.

As people debated which of the two filler words they disliked the most, they also pitched their own, most hated phrases and words.

One user joked: ”Literally’ is up there for me. People say it in literally every sentence nowadays.’   

Another Redditor reinforced this sentiment: ‘Literally and obviously are my additions to this discussion. Both badly used by people who like the sound of their own voice too much.’

As people discussed the overuse of ‘literally’, ‘like’, ‘basically’, and ‘obviously’, one person noted that the particular lexicon fits with the ‘Valley Girl’ trend, which mocks women from LA for the way in which they speak by using lots of filler words.

The debate comes after Americans took to Reddit to share the things they think are considered ‘a luxury’ in the US, but are practically essential across the pond.

Meryse took to the No Stupid Questions subreddit to ask: ‘What do Europeans have in everyday life that you consider a luxury in America?’

One of the first major differences people pointed out was the quality and cost of foods, with a Reddit user saying: ‘Chocolate that doesn’t taste like Splenda-infused vomit’.

Meanwhile another lamented the woeful variety and availability of good bread stateside.

‘Fresh baked bread for reasonable prices that you can get in walking distance of your home, and aren’t full of preservatives,’ they said. 

 

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