Most overused/meaningless words/phrases in contemporary language

[vandermolen]

The Republican Party has been known as the GOP since the 1870's.

Interesting I've only been aware of the term in recent years.

[DavidW]

Interesting I've only been aware of the term in recent years.

No problem.

[vandermolen]

No problem.

HAHA I just got the joke!
 

[vandermolen]

When a person passes away and someone says that he/she 'died on me', as if it was a deliberate act designed to cause the maximum inconvenience.

[VonStupp]

And "cap" is a new one too.

I will have to try that one this week to see if anyone understands. Not being on the East or West coasts, our fads can be a mite slower to take hold.
VS

[Wanderer]

Says the modern Greek who pronounces almost everything as "ee" where there was a range of 5 or more different sounds from oi to ei only 2000 years ago

"Only" 2000 years ago?  Actually, the pronunciation that Greeks use today is even older; it's been around since before Alexander the Great. And even if it weren't, it would still be irrelevant to the fact that a foreigner should make an effort to speak the language correctly today. 

Disclaimer: Greek pronunciation tips, those not interested avert your eyes!
Barring the digraph «αι», Αlpha is always pronounced a (as in "a"pple), never ei.
And since they were mentioned above: «οι» and «ει» are pronounced like "ea"t, «oϊ» and "όι» are pronounced like oi (ointment) (notice the umlauts/accent) and «εϊ» and «έι» are pronounced like ei. Of course, when in doubt, asking a native speaker always helps! 

[Florestan]

"Only" 2000 years ago? Actually, the pronunciation that Greeks use today is even older; it's been around since before Alexander the Great. And even if it weren't, it would still be irrelevant to the fact that a foreigner should make an effort to speak the language correctly today.

Disclaimer: Greek pronunciation tips, those not interested avert your eyes!
Barring the digraph «αι», Αlpha is always pronounced a (as in "a"pple), never ei.
And since they were mentioned above: «οι» and «ει» are pronounced like "ea"t, «oϊ» and "όι» are pronounced like oi (ointment) (notice the umlauts/accent) and «εϊ» and «έι» are pronounced like ei. Of course, when in doubt, asking a native speaker always helps! 

Most helpful tips, evharisto!

[Wanderer]

This is almost a done deal of language change in English. It was preceded by "data" and might be followed by "millenia" being used as singular.

Really? I hope that's not the case; I still see the correct singular "phenomenon" quite often.

I don't think data is in the same category, though. Has "datum" ever been used as the singular of data in English? I'm under the impression that data in its current meaning was introduced into English as a technical term and has been a collective noun from the beginning. Maybe I'm wrong.

And "millenia" being accepted as singular, as if "millenium" is such an unknown word? Bizarre! And a sad reflection of the subsiding general level of education around us.

[Wanderer]

Most helpful tips, evharisto!

No worrie...

You're most welcome!

[Florestan]

No worrie...

You're most welcome!

Hah!

How do you say that in Greek?

[Karl Henning]

Woke is like a term I mentioned earlier in this thread, in that it had a very specific, clear, useful meaning but was hijacked by political people who now use it to mean "anything they dislike"

Yep.

[Karl Henning]

FWIW, I typically use "no worries" (when I do use the expression, in response to "excuse me."

[Wanderer]

Hah!

How do you say that in Greek?

The standard answer to "thank you" is παρακαλώ (parakaló - remember the alpha pronunciation tip above).
In English, that would be closer to (but not the same as) "much obliged"; it's analogous to the French "Je vous en prie".

[Florestan]

The standard answer to "thank you" is παρακαλώ (parakaló - remember the alpha pronunciation tip above).
In English, that would be closer to (but not the same as) "much obliged"; it's analogous to the French "Je vous en prie".

Yes to the French analogy, because afaik parakalo is also used as "please". And now that I think of it, it's also analogous to the German "Bitte".

[Florestan]

FWIW, I typically use "no worries" (when I do use the expression, in response to "excuse me."

That use makes sense.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I like to read reviews and imagine that everyone has been conked on the head and is wandering around truly stunned 
Journalists get tired of using the same words over and over and try to find new ones to mix things up. But often this makes their language worse rather than better!

As a food writer I have examples of that too. Particularly the word "restaurant". The "GOP" equivalent there is to try to invent new words for restaurants, like "eatery," "kitchen," or even "spot" or "joint." It is all a bit silly but nobody ever says "eatery" in real life.

Cafe, bistro, tavern and inn are good ones too.    And, yes, I've never asked a friend "So would you like to check out the new eatery?"

Each new school year (in the US), I am suddenly introduced to a handful of new slang terms from my students. The last few years, I have taken exception to many new slang terms, as young people are reappropriating words that already have meanings.

Off the top of my head, the last year or so it has been - bussing/bussin, fire, sussy, drippy, slay, extra, zesty, swag, and I hear them all the time.

In return, my students are required to use random words such as hoosegow, defenestration, gallimaufry, peregrinate, antidisestablimentarianism, pyriform, for example, in return for wasting my time acquiring their vapid slang terms.

VS

So they are bussing tables?! 

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I don't know where it has come from, the right wing press call left wing activists in high places religious leaders, civil servants and such like The Blob.

I have not heard that term before.  Is it something particularly English?

PD

[Holden]

I recently learned that there is a blues song from the 1920s with the lyrics "stay woke" - in the original meaning, which was that other people out there are threatening (particularly the kind of racists who would threaten a 1920s blues musician) and that the song's listener should keep one eye open to avoid being ambushed. It was very literal!

Woke is like a term I mentioned earlier in this thread, in that it had a very specific, clear, useful meaning but was hijacked by political people who now use it to mean "anything they dislike":

This from Wikipedia - don't know how accurate it is but as it attributes quotes directly to known song lyrics I'll accept as basically true

Black American folk singer-songwriter Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, used the phrase "stay woke" as part of a spoken afterword to a 1938 recording of his song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the story of nine black teenagers and young men falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. In the recording, Lead Belly says he met with the defendant's lawyer and the young men themselves, and "I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there (Scottsboro) – best stay woke, keep their eyes open."

The Republican Party has been known as the GOP since the 1870's.

Now that I've found out what GOP means it's even sillier to use. Might just as well say 'good ol boys'.

[Irons]

I have not heard that term before.  Is it something particularly English?

PD

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/the-blob-jonty-bloom/

[Pohjolas Daughter]

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/the-blob-jonty-bloom/

Thanks!

And I had forgotten that Steve McQueen was in that movie; however, it's been decades since I've watched it. 

PD