Stupid words I hate
Whoa there! Can I really mean that? So notorious a logophile as I am? Yes. Yes, I can.
I realised today how thoroughly I detest the word guesstimate, for example, as either a noun or a verb. I have no concrete evidence of its genesis, but I surmise it went something like this: people were producing estimates which were being taken as hard facts, which can obviously have difficult consequences in a business context. So instead of arrogating such interpretations, they created this special new type of figure called a guesstimate, which is like an estimate, but based on one's gut instincts, past experience, best available data and educated guesswork, rather than OH WAIT THEY'RE EXACTLY THE SAME. Only now that the business world has this wiffling, hand-wringing new term, nobody says 'estimate' anymore.
In the spirit of such heartening endeavour, I propose a new word, bureaucriocy, which is like bureaucracy, only when the results are pointless, nonsensical or just plain absurd.
OH WAIT, etc.
Gentle readers! What stupid words do you love to hate?