A while back, I made a list of all the words I really like and so many of you shared your favorites with me, too. Now it’s time to talk about words we hate and why. Pretty please share yours with me so we can rant together.

Words I hate:

Pamphlet (too many consonants together—mphl. Yuck)

Moist (all humans are required to hate this word)

Phlegm (just looking at that word makes me want to barf)

Klatch (it sounds so aggressively ugly)

Redonkulous (hated it when it was popular, super hate it now)

Impactful (it’s annoyingly jargony. Find another word)

Artisanal (seems to only be used by the insufferably insufferable)

Whimsical (I had a boss who used this incessantly and ruined it forever)

Harambe (if you hang around tweens enough, you will hear it ALL THE TIME)

Rock star (okay, it’s more than just one word, but I HATE people calling other people rock stars)

Just saying (again, more than one word. Of course you are JUST SAYING. That is language. It does not excuse you to say any dumbass thing you like if you add this. It’s like “no offense.”)

These ones (almost nothing grates like this. Say “those” or “these.” You don’t need to say “these ones.”)