This abuse of English is unprecedented! I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard that word in the past year - I could buy Manhattan.
Used too often: • transition • robust Used incorrectly: • freedom • Christian • literally • hypothetically I confess part of me still argues back and forth about whether certain problematic words are the result of ignorance or neurotic complex; that is, does the meaning bend because we do not know how to use a word, or because our usage requires the reshaping potentially to utter transformation?
Just a little supporting evidence: Hatch said during the brief hearing. “Yesterday, my colleagues took the unprecedented step of boycotting a finance committee vote on nominations. Long story short, we took some unprecedented actions today due to the unprecedented obstruction on the part of our colleagues.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mnuchin-price_us_5891f428e4b0c90eff01300a? Really people?
I'm going to invent a drinking game where you must drink every time some sports star says "basically". I'm going to invent a Russian Roulette game where you pull the trigger anytime anyone, anywhere says "we're going to take it to the next level".
for some reason i cringe when i hear the phrase 'for the better' even if it makes sense. it sounds dumb to me.
I'm not annoyed by anything. Because I myself do not know English well and admit grammatical mistakes.