Frothy

Today's Word I Hate To Say is Frothy.

Merriman-Websters Dictionary

Frothy:  full of or consisting of froth
a :  gaily frivolous or light in content or treatment :  insubstantial <a frothy comedy>
b :  made of light thin material

Can also mean foamy, bubbly, or sudsy.

No offense to all the coffee drinkers who love their foam, but the word Frothy sounds like the time when someone decided to share when they had a bad bowel movement; they described it as frothy!  I apologize, but now I can't think of a way to describe the word!  If you type the word Frothy into a google search, if you do not push enter, it will suggest the phrase - frothy urine...  Gross!  Also, it reminds me of someone who thinks they are being cool by talking like they are... Frothaaay!

PLEASE, just ask for extra foam, don't describe your BM, and find another way to descibe your need for tiny bubbles!  ;)

Reference
Frothy. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frothy

Loh, P. (image) (December 18, 2010). My Johor Stories. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://ppunlimited.blogspot.com/2010/12/jaw-gathon-to-batu-pahat.html

Circa

Today's Word I Hate To Say is Circa!

Merriam-Webster Dictionary - Circa
Circa : about or around:  at, in, or of approximately —used especially with dates<born circa 1600>  Circa is abbreviated as "c." or "ca."

Circa is a word that I have begun to hear more and more in reference to time periods.  Whether in an episode of the Antique Roadshow or a documentary on the History Channel, Circa is being overused!

In and of itself, the word Circa is not the problem for me; it is the way that it is used that irritates me so.  i.e. - "This copper pot is Circa 1820's"   or   "Circa 1597 a.d., some explorer set sail for some important place."

Seriously, why can't we just say what we mean...  approximately or about!  Hearing or saying "circa" reminds me of a bad Spongebob episode - "it's fancy talk."  My conclusion is that people who simply want to sound intelligent to others use the word Circa!

Reference
Circa. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circa

Johnson, E. (image) (October 15, 2012). Breaking News Is Broken and Circa Wants to Fix It. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://allthingsd.com/20121015/breaking-news-is-broken-and-circa-wants-to-fix-it/

The Purpose For This Blog...

It may seem petty, ridiculous, and even stupid, but there are certain words and phrases in the English language that just irritate me to hear or to say.

The reason for this blog is a place to simply express my frustrations with certain words as I encounter them.  Simply put, a place where I can rant about these words whereby my family, especially my wife, will not have to heard about how much a dislike the words.

According to Mark Liberman at Language Log, there are "words that make you feel nauseous." It is just "something idiosyncratic, something about the way the word feels in your mouth as you say it."  This sums my feeling up very well.  Sometimes there just are not any good reason; but certain words just sound, feel, and invoke feelings that are wrong.

Since I do not want this to be a negative blog, but more for fun, I will attempt to provide a degree of education to my rants by offering the word and definition as a word of the day.  This should offset my negativity about a word with the positivity of the education found in that word.

As silly as this is...  here it is!  "Words I Hate To Say!" #wordsihatetosay

Reference

Liberman, M. (July 12, 2009). Word Rage Wins Again. Retrieved November 27, 2013 from, http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1573