Omission Impossible

Words have a personality and, like personalities, we either like them or we don’t. There has been an uproar over Merriam-Webster’s recent decision to acknowledge irregardless as a word and so, whether we personally accept it or not, it is now worth 11 points in a game of Scrabble.

Riding on the tsunami of strong feelings against this new dictionary entry, we put our heads together at Manila Bulletin Lifestyle to decide which words we love to hate. What’s yours?

Honestly

Honestly? Because it sounds like you’re lying, preparing to tell a lie, have lied the rest of the time, except for when you used it as a qualifier, or you’re just sassing me, trying to pick a fight, going to tell me bad news. Or maybe you’re trying to sound like an ‘80s-era Valley girl. There has never been a good outcome after the word honestly.—Krizette Chu

Totally

We can use a stronger word to mean the greatness of something. So instead of adding this adverb, why not be more direct and concrete? If you’re going for tone, be careful because some might not appreciate it. As in, totally.—Rey Robes Ilagan

Remove

I would like to remove the word remove from the dictionary. First and foremost, remove defies it own intent“to get rid of (something or someone)” because the prefix re means “again” or “anew.” —Noel B. Pabalate

Sorry