Words and Expressions That Ticked Off William Cullen Bryant

Over the past year, readers have been contributing in earnest to our sizable collection of annoying words and expressions. Recent additions include "automagically," "conversate," "manbag," "hubby," "basically," "no problem," "not for nothing," "at the end of the day," and "blah blah blah."

Such lists of linguistic pet peeves are nothing new. In 1877, during his long tenure as part owner and editor in chief of the New York Evening Post, William Cullen Bryant compiled his own inventory of irritating words--an Index Expurgatorius, he called it.

A few words on Bryant's list--"poetess," "authoress," "darky"--are now almost universally perceived as offensive. Others sound quaint and obscure--"humbug," "secesh," "cotemporary," and "tapis." But it appears that most of Bryant's forbidden words have quietly gained acceptance over the years. Surely no contemporary editor would object to "compete," "taboo," or "talented," or insist on writing "pantaloons" instead of "pants."

So take small comfort: many of the words and expressions that we now find so annoying will eventually be replaced by others. Here's the Index Expurgatorius of William Cullen Bryant.

• above and over (for "more than")
• artiste (for "artist")
• aspirant
• authoress
• beat (for "defeat")
• bagging (for "capturing")
• balance (for "remainder")
• banquet (for "dinner" or "supper")
• bogus
• casket (for "coffin")
• claimed (for "asserted")
• collided
• commence (for "begin")
• compete
• cortege (for "procession")
• cotemporary ( for "contemporary")
• couple (for "two")
• darky (for "negro")
• day before yesterday (for "the day before yesterday")
• debut
• decrease (as a verb)
• democracy (applied to a political party)
• develop (for "expose")
• devouring element (for "fire")
• donate
• employé
• enacted (for "acted")
• endorse (for "approve")
• en route
• esq.
• gents (for "gentlemen")
• graduate (for "is graduated")
• Hon.
• House (for "House of Representatives")
• humbug
• inaugurate (for "begin")
• in our midst
• is being done (and all passives of this form)
• item ( for "particle," "extract" or "paragraph")
• jeopardize
• jubilant (for "rejoicing")
• juvenile (for "boy")
• lady (for "wife")
• last (for "latest")
• lengthy (for "long")
• leniency (for "lenity")
• loafer
• loan or loaned (for "lend" or "lent")
• located
• majority (relating to places or circumstances, for "most")
• Mrs. President, Mrs. Governor, Mrs. General, and all similar titles
• mutual (for "common")
• official (for "officer")
• ovation
• on yesterday
• over his signature
• pants (for "pantaloons")
• parties (for "persons")
• partially (for "partly")
• past two weeks (for "last two weeks" and all similar expressions relating to a definite time)
• poetess
• portion (for "part")
• posted (for "informed")
• progress (for "advance")
• reliable (for "trustworthy")
• rendition (for "performance")
• repudiate (for "reject" or "disown").
• retire (as an active verb)
• Rev. (for "the Rev.")
• rôle (for "part")
• roughs
• rowdies
• secesh
• sensation (for "noteworthy event")
• standpoint (for "point of view")
• start (in the sense of "setting out")
• state (for "say")
• taboo
• talent (for "talents" or "ability")
• talented
• tapis
• the deceased
• war (for "dispute" or "disagreement")

Back here in our own time, please click on the "comments" button below to tell us what words and expressions tick you off.

More Words About Annoying Words:

• 200 Words and Expressions That Tick You Off
• What Expressions Tick You Off?
• 200 Expressions That Really Tick You Off

Image: William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)