word aversion

[aroraborealis]

Do you have any word aversions?

I have one: "pit" (but only when describing holes or hole-like areas (armpit, tree pit, etc, not, say, when describing the stones in fruit).

Comments

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

"Crotch" and "horny" come to mind.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Yes. :)

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

Oh, and my former first name.

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Only when applied to you, or all the time?

[dbang.livejournal.com]

"fart". Hate it.

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

All the time, actually. I wince whenever I hear it, even when it's applied to someone else. I don't know what I'd do if I ever had to use it regularly, like if a co-worker or friend had that name. I guess I'm fortunate that it's not all that common. ;-)

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

Oh, ugh! Yes!

[eestiplika.livejournal.com]

"Moist" and "Slacks"

I'm trying to desensitize myself to the first one, because how else do you describe the texture of a good cake in English?

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

"Sac". I can't stand it!

[dbang.livejournal.com]

Yes!!

[kcatalyst.livejournal.com]

I find the "moist" aversion fascinating, it seems like a huge percentage of English-speaking women have that one.

[dpolicar]

Hm.
I have trouble answering this question.

I mean, presumably you don't intend to count words that are generally understood to be epithets... I have trouble with "faggot" or "kike", for example, but I assume that doesn't count.

Moving towards the more idiosyncratic... hm. "Putative" always shocks me a little, presumably because of the Spanish.

I'll echo "fart", also.

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's so interesting! Conversely, I love the word "moist".

[dougo.livejournal.com]

I still hate the word "blog". I try to stick with "weblog" but sometimes I just give in.

[sweetbaboo.livejournal.com]

"catheter"

[kcatalyst.livejournal.com]

Me too! Except now I want cake and thus hate you both.

[cinnabarine.livejournal.com]

Me too!

[dbang.livejournal.com]

Oh, and my kids lately have been using the word "weenie" to refer to their penises. I hate hate hate it. Hate it referring to frankfurters, too. I guess I hate all uses of "weenie" except those that refer (pejoratively) to people.

[cinnabarine.livejournal.com]

"Crisis," "typical," and "hate."

Mostly because of hearing them get severely overused to the point of losing their meaning.

Most other words that people dislike tend to rank among my favorites. Especially dirty, gross, or overly graphic words. And combinations thereof. Such as "pussypanties."

What? Go ahead, say it out loud. Make sure you purse your lips. It'll totally brighten your day.

[sol3.livejournal.com]

the cake is a lie
(mmm, cake)

[contessagrrl.livejournal.com]

You are the person I always think of when I think of aversion words, which I realize could make you feel weird (in a bad way, and I hope doesn't!) but the truth is, I find yours (the ones I know of!) charming!

[kcatalyst.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have a lot of words that I dislike because of their history of usage, like epithets as referred to above and "weenie" here. Lots of disphemisms for sex and body parts. But it's not the words themselves I dislike so much as the whole package of history of use. Which, actually is what the word is, of course. Except when talking about word aversions, people often claim it has nothing to do with meaning so I'm trying to play by the rules. Even though I think the rules are incorrect, because, really, otherwise it would be a remarkable coincidence that so many word aversions are for objects, actions and experiences that also spark aversions. Not a lot of people have aversions to "cat" (those stops are so harsh!) and "rainbow" (I have the way those two diphthongs.. uh... diverge from each other).

Right. Back to work.

Re:

[kcatalyst.livejournal.com]

Pussypanties!! Completely awesome.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I don't mind at all! I find the whole thing hilarious, including my (very real) aversions. :)

Re:

[cinnabarine.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. I can't say it without smiling.