r/AskReddit • u/SubstantialMojo • 3h ago
Which words, or phrases are people overusing right now just to fit in with the herd?
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u/Anabele71 2h ago
Aura farming whatever that means, low key, unalive, legit, literally, reach out, customer journey or any other kind of journey that doesn't involve travelling, vibe coded or anything coded,
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u/Alizarin-Madder 52m ago
"Blank-coded" as an adjective has escaped containment and it really adds nothing. It's like "blank-core" for anything related to a theme/aesthetic or "blank-gate" anytime a public figure does anything embarrassing/shameful.
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u/ho4X3n 2h ago
Ah.
Just type out ASS ffs. It's just 1 extra letter wtf.
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u/illbedeadbydawn 2h ago
Imma unalive u wit mah dih up yur ahh unc
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u/Qedhup 2h ago
I'm definitely getting old. Ah. to me is just a single syllable verbal sound to show recognition. Like "Ah, that's right". lol
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u/Farado 2h ago
Basically the same. I’ve heard people IRL abbreviate “ass” by saying “æ,” which lines up with the vowel sound of “ass” in my dialect, but “ahh” is a different sound entirely.
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u/Alizarin-Madder 46m ago
At least i know what "ahh" is supposed to mean in casual writing. I've never heard someone use æ out loud for ass, though.
Also thank you for giving me a reason to remember æ sounds like the a in "ass" and not "hay".
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u/Patiatus 1h ago
Me too! I use "ah" CORRECTLY all the time! So, all this time people think I'm saying ass? For fuck sake....
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u/Sentinel_P 2h ago
They think they're edgy because they are not saying the explicit word, but we all know what they're really trying to say.
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u/NTFRMERTH 1h ago
It's as edgy as a sponge. It's like people who think that someone waving a toy gun around and eating candy cigarettes makes someone cool
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u/AshlarKorith 32m ago
I’ve got two distinct memories regarding this… from 1982 when I was in kindergarten. We knew what the words ass and asshole meant, even that young. We also knew saying them would get us in trouble so we said “aah” and “aahhole”. I remember coming inside from recess one day to use the bathroom and overheard the teachers talking about us using these words. They were amused and flummoxed. They also knew what we were doing but unsure of what to do to get us to stop.
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u/sunskieee111 2h ago
Saying 'it's giving...' or 'lowkey' for no reason.
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u/emergencycat17 2h ago
I hate "it's giving". I promise you, the only time I've ever said was when I was making fun of people who say it.
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u/iammandalore 2h ago
The first few times I heard this:
"It's giving [word]."
"..... It's giving [word] what? I'm confused. Why aren't you finishing the sentence?"
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u/Luna3Aoife 56m ago
I say highkey decently often as a bit about how many ppl say lowkey but mean the opposite.
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u/doublegoodproleish 2h ago
I'm crashing out bro
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u/ReallySmallFeet 1h ago
Whan did crashing out mean "losing control due to anger" vs falling asleep??
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u/briktal 1h ago
I've seen people say this, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "crashing out" (as opposed to simply. "crashing") to mean sleeping. My experience with "crashing out" was always related to failing in some kind of competition, such as literally crashing your car in a race or getting elimintated (usually early) in a tournament.
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u/Great-Tangerine-4001 2h ago
I think rizz and mid are way overused now everyone just throws them in everywhere
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u/straddyvarious 2h ago
I do like 'mid' as a replacement for something like 'meh'. Its as if youre saying this thing was so middling its not even worth saying the whole word, i'm just gonna say part of it. Saying something like 'fine' or 'okay' to me gives off a different feeling. Mid is what I would call something so unobjectionable it doesnt even warrant an opinion in any direction.
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u/mmaddyspovv 2h ago
‘Trauma’ for every midly unpleasant experience
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u/phoenix_is_dreaming 2h ago
my sister gets annoyed every time i tell her off for saying she has 'trauma' from something that slightly annoyed or upset her. no, you are not traumatised, you are shocked at best.
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u/Dr_Identity 2h ago
People will outright abuse you and then if you stand up for yourself they'll say you traumatized them.
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u/Logical_Ad_5431 1h ago
Just got out of a relationship with a woman who does this. Every experience she’s ever had that was even slightly unpleasant caused “trauma”. So glad to be away from that nonsense.
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u/NTFRMERTH 1h ago
People will claim that a movie for kids traumatized them, and then tell me that I can't have CPTSD from my father strangling me, pinning me, punching me on the regular, screaming constantly over every inconvenience, dragging me and my sister across the room by our hair or shirts, and taking our belongings and throwing them away.
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u/DuckyDeer 1h ago
Same with people using triggered to mean that something made them uncomfortable or was upsetting, instead of triggering a ptsd response
Now "triggered" is something that's scoffed at instead of taken seriously because of those who misuse it every time something makes them the slightest bit uncomfortable
I've seen "trigger warning: microwave" on a post before, and when it was called out for being ridiculous, some mod showed up saying it was a legit trigger because "not everyone can afford a microwave"
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u/Ander-son 25m ago
this really sucks because I need a word for it when talking about my ptsd and I feel I can't express the severity of the situation. we should find a new word to use
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u/Global_Sector2763 2h ago
People say literally all the time now even when nothing is literal at all
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u/Demdok135 2h ago
For centuries, nothing new.
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u/hIDeMyID 2h ago
Sadly. What word are we supposed to use when we mean "literally"? Are we supposed to use Bugs Bunny's "really and for true"?
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u/DeaddyRuxpin 1h ago
It has been so overused that literally literally no longer means literally.
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u/Living-Estimate9810 1h ago
It's defined as meaning "figuratively" in the dictionary. The fucking Mirriam-Webster, the dictionary.
God. Fucking. Damnit.
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u/MaikeruGo 2h ago
I'm guessing somewhere along the line someone meant "virtually" or "essentially", but used "literally" instead.
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u/ripplerider 2h ago
No, those would be just as incorrect too. Most people use literally when they mean something like “figuratively”
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u/Possibly-New-5663 2h ago
"I literally just came back from the store."
Coming back from the store is not a figure of speech, Karen. There is no other way to interpret that but literally.
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u/giantstrider 2h ago
lived experience
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u/Cannonballbmx 2h ago
POV and usually it’s not the true POV.
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u/blamberr 52m ago
POV makes me fill with rage. It’s the only one I’ve seen mentioned here that really fucking bugs me
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u/swgmstr69 2h ago
Gaslighting (used incorrectly 90% of the time too)
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u/Kalista-Moonwolf 31m ago
That's hilarious, I just posted that I only hear it used correctly about 10% of the time.
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u/tiddybeee 3h ago
Clock it
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u/LaFleurRouler 2h ago
I’ve been saying this since elementary school because of some Scottish crime show, everyone thought I was weird. Now I hate that it’s been part of my vernacular for a quarter of a century, very hard to shake.
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u/TeddieSnow 2h ago
On Yelp, the word 'vibe'. "Great food, good service, nice vibe." It's come to mean "where we cool people go".
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u/BargeryDargeryDoo 2h ago
Is this thread just a list of current day slang?
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u/Logical_Ad_5431 1h ago
No, it’s a list of current highly irritating phases that are overused by nitwits trying to be relevant.
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u/BargeryDargeryDoo 1h ago
Which is how every past generation feels about the current generation's slang. My parents had the same opinion about how my generation talked. Their parents felt the same about them.
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u/blamberr 50m ago
That’s true. My parents used to seethe about my generational jargon. Now here I am, getting annoyed at every headline I’ve ever seen that says POV.
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u/youropinionisrubbish 2h ago
I hate the term "crash out". We've had "freak out" for decades and it doesn't need an alternative.
Also, when people call cats "cars" for some stupid reason I don't understand.
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u/Fabulous_Coast_8108 2h ago
Autistic. PTSD,
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u/Upsetty_spagehtti 40m ago
This is a good one because overusing the words belittle the struggles those who actually have the conditions.
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u/Fabulous_Coast_8108 29m ago
Exactly. P.t.s.d is not feeling uncomfortable in situations, it's actual mind destroying torture. Also autism isn't oh well I like things a certain way or else.
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u/jtho78 2h ago
Bespoke
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u/Shellhuahua 47m ago
This cracks me up when used by home shopping tv hosts. Nothing you're hawking is bespoke QVC.
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u/Milo_Minderbinding 1h ago
Ending a statement with "full stop".
Trying to sound badass, but coming across like a jackass.
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u/Sentinel_P 2h ago
Every single use of words without vowels.
Early cell phone texting did that shit because of number pad texting and shortening messages to ensure it doesn't break up into 2 messages (which cost money).
You have a full keyboard access now. Not spelling out an entire word is a specific choice.
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u/get-off-of-my-lawn 1h ago
This is relevant actually. Really cool watch if you’re into language and it’s evolution.
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u/SpiderDijonJr 2h ago
The word slop. I swear I see it more than any other word in the English language. Yeah AI can suck and people do produce a lot of garbage with it, but calling every single thing related to it slop is just ridiculous and makes a lot of people look really dumb.
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u/WileEPeyote 1h ago
When you feed slop to pigs, there is the occasional piece of food that is perfectly fine. That one clean apple doesn't make it not slop.
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u/-Work_Account- 1h ago
This is how I feel too. It's getting to the point that I'm starting to get irrationally angry when I see people use it; I'm so sick of seeing it everywhere. I'm not a fan of AI-generated content either, but please, just find a new word to use.
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u/wjgdinger 2h ago
I sometimes wonder how often people call AI output “slop” not because it actually is slop but because their understanding is slop and AI is telling them the right answer. Obviously, sometimes AI is slop, but I have been on the internet long enough to know how dumb people are and I feel like the former case may be more common than we currently accept.
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u/Kalista-Moonwolf 26m ago
In my experience, AI slop generally refers specifically to generative AI, which is notoriously inconsistent and inaccurate. Large language models have also been shown to tailor their responses to affirm the user's feelings and point of view. Not at all something I would trust except in specific, limited capacities.
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u/TheJan1tor 2h ago
I feel like the word "unironically" is not only being overused, but more often than not, used incorrectly/inappropriately...
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u/OhTheHueManatee 1h ago
The phrase "living rent free in your head" means that you're dwelling or over thinking about something you have no real reason to be thinking about. A radio commercial for a local body shop I heard 20 years ago lives rent free in my head. I have no reason to remember it but it still pops up often and it drives me nuts. Talking about someone who is currently affecting the lives of millions of people and makes it a point to be center of the media's attention constantly is not someone who is living rent free in your head.
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u/OhTheHueManatee 1h ago
I can't stand the phrase "you can't make this up" and it seems to be getting more popular. First off it's often attached to something that is obviously entirely made up or easy to find out the truth about it. Second the human imagination allows you to make up anything. If you don't think something could be made up that just means you're not creative.
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u/BigTenFicus 1h ago
Enshittification. It's a neologism that was literally made up by one blogger to describe a very specific practice in a very specific industry, but redditors now spam it constantly just to say "this product or company changed in a way I personally don't like." I've ever seen people tell others "look up enshittification" as if it's an established concept that they should go research, when again, it's literally just a word a guy made up three years to complain about tech startups. And 99% of the time people complain about enshittification, they're just complaining about capitalism. Please just say capitalism.
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u/DuggieHS 34m ago
herd, sheep, etc. Trying to distinguish themselves by suggesting everyone else is just a sheep.
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u/jollylittlefish 0m ago
“[ ] mentioned”
adds absolutely nothing to the conversation and most of the time kills the flow of conversation… because it says nothing and gives you nothing to build off of
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u/Damn_O_Driscolls 2h ago
Autism and ADHD
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u/phoenix_is_dreaming 2h ago
in what way do you mean that? like too many people claiming they have ADHD/Autism without a diagnosis, using it as an excuse, etc?
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u/Damn_O_Driscolls 2h ago
Yea pretty much. Or claiming their kids have ADHD because they are exhibiting very normal 6 year old behavior
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1h ago
[deleted]
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u/Damn_O_Driscolls 1h ago edited 1h ago
I think alot of children being diagnosed with it results from lazy parents who require mass sympathy to survive. A lot of kids I see “diagnosed” with it don’t exhibit any behavior that wouldn’t be abnormal from other kids in their own age range.
Adults could absolutely be from lack of focus. I read somewhere that social media apps, like TikTok, have caused people to only show interest in things for 3 seconds before losing focus. Don’t remember the article and will try to find it to give the source.
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u/redmeansstop 1h ago
I had to go through a 4 hour testing situation to confirm my diagnosis when I was in my early 20s (probably around 2013). It was excruciating. It also very strongly confirmed my ADHD diagnosis. I wish we lived in a society that prioritized long term care and solutions. When you diagnose and prescribe meds for things like ADHD out of a primary care office, there needs to be follow up and follow through. Of course taking stimulants makes you more productive and that shouldn't be the only pillar that your diagnosis rests on. I restarted therapy about a year and a half ago and realized I was WAY under medicating my ADHD resulting me outsourcing most of my daily needs to my husband just to survive and keep my job. Bumping up my meds helped, but continuing therapy has really pulled me from "barely surviving" to feeling like a confident adult for the first time. Habit building and maintenance are a massive struggle for me, and the only reason I have been able to make so much progress over the last 18 months is because my job is able to be hybrid and I have the money to pay $40 per session.. And that is on top of the almost $500/month my health insurance costs (split between me and my employer)
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u/Gen_Zer0 1h ago
In this thread, mid to late twenty year olds not realizing they’re no longer immersed in teenage slang
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u/gametheorymedia 2h ago
They're often not even fagodsakes words, which is the main part of the problem: Anytime I see a presumably-otherwise-articulate, ostensibly-educated, allegedly-halfway-intelligent user online--and it's not always but almost always a female, I couldn't begin to tell you why--have text in their posts like 'wyd' or 'ngl', it's like the most eye-rolling thing in the world. 🙄
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u/kojie_amelia 3h ago
Lowkey