Words We Don’t (Didn’t) Like

Arika Okrent:

What’s your don’t-like word? Mine is delimit.

Just as there is nothing certain in this world but death and taxes, there is nothing certain in language but that it will change, and that people will react badly. One of the changes people find most offensive is the spread of professional jargon that has been coined to replace simpler, clearer words we already have. Anyone up for some collaborative incentivizing going forward? No? Well, maybe one day your great-grandchildren will be. Here are 12 words that people once thought were horrible gobbledygook that nobody flinches at anymore.

[She lists:] contact, interview, optimism/pessimism, mortician, purist, reliable, antibody, electrocution, proposition, demote, balance, and donate.

Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/155454#ixzz2EqQ6UKmJ
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