Words/Phrases to Retire (2025 Edition)

[Zoofan15]

Sigma sigma on the wall, who's the skibidiest of them all?

What words/phrases would you like the world to leave behind as we head into 2025?

For me:

“Understood the assignment”
“Not all heroes wear capes”
“Hard/soft launch”
“This” (used as a one word reply to indicate you agree)
“Protect at all costs”
“Today years old”
“Let’s normalise”
“Asking for a friend”

 

[birdsandbats]

Yes, let's get rid of a crucial word like "this" from the English language, I'm sure everything will go fine.

 

[StoppableSan]

Sigma sigma on the wall, who's the skibidiest of them all?

What words/phrases would you like the world to leave behind as we head into 2025?

For me:

“Understood the assignment”
“Not all heroes wear capes”
“Hard/soft launch”
“This”
“Protect at all costs”
“Today years old”
“Let’s normalise”
“Asking for a friend”

#untileverycageisempty for me personally - sheer reductivism, the people who espouse this mindset care more about their own egos than they do the animals they're supposedly fighting for. Especially on social media, when the goal is to get likes rather than foster genuine discussion.

 

[Nile Hippo Expert]

One two-word phrase.

Taylor Swift.

The world is way, way, way, way too fixated on Taylor Swift and everything she does from her opinions on the upcoming election that influences people's decisions, to her relationship with Travis Kelce and showing her on TV at games constantly, and everything else that just makes top-story news headlines on every broadcast corporation around the world, like they really need to at least partially forget about her! She is a very good singer all and all but she is so overrated and 1,000,000% should not be getting the fame she gets today! I really hope this stops in 2025!

 

[StoppableSan]

One two-word phrase.

Taylor Swift.

The world is way, way, way, way too fixated on Taylor Swift and everything she does from her opinions on the upcoming election that influences people's decisions, to her relationship with Travis Kelce and showing her on TV at games constantly, and everything else that just makes top-story news headlines on every broadcast corporation around the world, like they really need to at least partially forget about her! She is a very good singer all and all but she is so overrated and 1,000,000% should not be getting the fame she gets today! I really hope this stops in 2025!

Honestly I just kinda roll with it - I'm not Taylor Swift's target audience, I don't actively seek out her music, but whenever I do listen to her songs I actually quite enjoy them. I don't vibe with songs like Shake it Off (*way* too repetitive), but I do like her older country songs and especially Safe and Sound... unironically one of her finest songs. If you have a music taste that includes a wide variety of artists like BB King, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Yasuha, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Tenacious D, Gorillaz, Fleetwood Mac, Arati Mukherjee, Kishore Kumar, etc., you'd tend to roll with Taylor Swift in the mix as well.

I get the overexposure, but that being said, I usually just change the radio channel, switch apps or put in my earbuds.

 

[Lori Patton]

A few words and phrases that annoy me:

"Full stop" -- used frequently by California's current Governor
"No joke" -- often said by America's current and outgoing President
"unalived" -- super annoying word I've been reading lately in YouTube comments
"in the weeds" -- not as bad as the others above, but I still don't like the imagery

 

[MonkeyBat]

"unalived" -- super annoying word I've been reading lately in YouTube comments

That word is a way for people to talk about that subject without getting demonetized or having their video taken down. I don't think it's going anywhere.

 

[Zoofan15]

That word is a way for people to talk about that subject without getting demonetized or having their video taken down. I don't think it's going anywhere.

That’s correct, but I agree the word is annoying; as are other by-pass words commonly used on socials and in the comments such as acoustic and restarted. I’ve primarily seen these two (especially the latter) used as insults and if people are using them to by-pass detection, they clearly know the context they’re using them in is inappropriate.

 

[MonkeyBat]

That’s correct, but I agree the word is annoying; as are other by-pass words commonly used on socials and in the comments such as acoustic and restarted. I’ve primarily seen these two (especially the latter) used as insults and if people are using them to by-pass detection, they clearly know the context they’re using them in is inappropriate.

Good point I didn't consider!

 

[Lori Patton]

That word is a way for people to talk about that subject without getting demonetized or having their video taken down. I don't think it's going anywhere.

I still don't get why using the word "unalived" is necessary for a video not to be taken down. I started seeing it recently when I was watching videos on the anniversary of the tragic JonBenet Ramsey case. If someone is giving a statement of fact about the death of a person, why would they need to create a ridiculous euphemism like "unalived?" It just seems really disrespectful and immature to me. A professional newscaster would never use such a word.

 

[Jambo]

I still don't get why using the word "unalived" is necessary for a video not to be taken down. I started seeing it recently when I was watching videos on the anniversary of the tragic JonBenet Ramsey case. If someone is giving a statement of fact about the death of a person, why would they need to create a ridiculous euphemism like "unalived?" It just seems really disrespectful and immature to me. A professional newscaster would never use such a word.

I feel like at times it's the way they say the word in the context you refer to that contributes to it presumably coming off as disrespectful. It certainly annoys me at times as well when watching the likes of Tiktok, Youtube ect.

 

[Zoofan15]

I still don't get why using the word "unalived" is necessary for a video not to be taken down. I started seeing it recently when I was watching videos on the anniversary of the tragic JonBenet Ramsey case. If someone is giving a statement of fact about the death of a person, why would they need to create a ridiculous euphemism like "unalived?" It just seems really disrespectful and immature to me. A professional newscaster would never use such a word.

I feel like at times it's the way they say the word in the context you refer to that contributes to it presumably coming off as disrespectful. It certainly annoys me at times as well when watching the likes of Tiktok, Youtube ect.

In many cases, the actual word/s for unalive would be used without intention to cause harm. Examples include people discussing a real life event involving a fatality; somebody commenting on a nature video that male lions kill cubs when they take over a pride; or kids/teens giving a blow by blow account of their latest game of Fornite. The words flag up for the sake of the small minority that may use them for harmful purposes e.g. to incite violence, encourage self-harm or to make threats.

Language detection is clearly advanced enough to ban/quarantine content using these words on platforms like TikTok etc; but not advanced enough to differentiate between harmless and harmful use of them (or alternatively platforms are unwilling to have their software make that call), so the result is a blanket ban. Like @MonkeyBat mentioned, content creators etc. then use by-pass words like unalive to circumnavigate the ban.

 

[Zoofan15]

New additions to my list of phrases I would like to see retired indefinitely:

1. “(Insert unexpected event) was not on my bingo card for 2025.”

2. “Maturing is realising (insert obvious thing most people had figured out in primary school).”

 

[gentle lemur]

The word that currently annoys me the most is 'iconic' - which nowadays seems to mean 'special, in some way that I'm too lazy to explain'. I think it should only be used to describe pictures painted to be venerated in Orthodox churches and cathedrals.

 

[Zoofan15]

The word that currently annoys me the most is 'iconic' - which nowadays seems to mean 'special, in some way that I'm too lazy to explain'. I think it should only be used to describe pictures painted to be venerated in Orthodox churches and cathedrals.

The media also chronically overuse the word ‘icon’ and ‘legend’ to describe actors in a movie or TV series that even those who’ve watched it wouldn’t recognise the name of.

It’s ultimately just sensationalism for clicks. If the actor is well known, they’d use their name and everyone would click the article to read it. If nobody recognises the name, nobody’s gonna click it, so title it ‘icon’ or ‘legend’ and hey presto, we all…click the link? No, we go to the comments to find the true legend who commented who it was to save us the bother of clicking the clickbait article.

 

[Lori Patton]

I'm a stickler for grammar and it bugs me that the word "disappear" is now being used as a transitive verb. This recently became popular on the news here in Los Angeles to describe people being seized during ICE raids. Even the governor has bought into this incorrect grammar, which I think sets a bad example for young people. Instead of saying that "people were disappeared during a raid," the report should say that "people were seized by government officials without due process."

 

[Lafone]

I'm a stickler for grammar and it bugs me that the word "disappear" is now being used as a transitive verb. This recently became popular on the news here in Los Angeles to describe people being seized during ICE raids. Even the governor has bought into this incorrect grammar, which I think sets a bad example for young people. Instead of saying that "people were disappeared during a raid," the report should say that "people were seized by government officials without due process."

It’s not really a recent use of the term and indeed I’d argue it’s deliberate to make reference to its historical context which emphasises lack of accountability and illegitimacy of action.

Enforced disappearance is a phrase that dates back years to the Juntas / dictatorships in South America take the Pinochet regime for example. ‘The disappeared’ follows logically from that (see direct references in Northern Ireland).

I don’t think this is either careless grammar or new; it’s use of a historical term a lot of people would recognise in context. And a deliberate one.

 

[Strathmorezoo]

It’s not really a recent use of the term and indeed I’d argue it’s deliberate to make reference to its historical context which emphasises lack of accountability and illegitimacy of action.

Enforced disappearance is a phrase that dates back years to the Juntas / dictatorships in South America take the Pinochet regime for example. ‘The disappeared’ follows logically from that (see direct references in Northern Ireland).

I don’t think this is either careless grammar or new; it’s use of a historical term a lot of people would recognise in context. And a deliberate one.

I agree, and sadly, used for too often.

 

[Lori Patton]

It’s not really a recent use of the term and indeed I’d argue it’s deliberate to make reference to its historical context which emphasises lack of accountability and illegitimacy of action.

Enforced disappearance is a phrase that dates back years to the Juntas / dictatorships in South America take the Pinochet regime for example. ‘The disappeared’ follows logically from that (see direct references in Northern Ireland).

I don’t think this is either careless grammar or new; it’s use of a historical term a lot of people would recognise in context. And a deliberate one.

From what I've found looking up this topic online, the word "disappeared" has been used in this context in some other countries historically as you describe. However, I maintain that it's not correct usage in American English and if the news media wants to start using it this way, there should be an effort to educate the public.

I base my comments on the fact that I went to K-12 schools in Los Angeles, as well as earning a B.A. degree and attending graduate schools across three states, and I have never once heard "disappear" used in passive form until these raids started a few months ago. I'm also an avid news listener and have watched it daily for the past 24 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. When stories have been reported of similar events happening in other countries (usually third world), the reporter would say, "People were taken off the streets by a hostile regime."

Using the term "disappear" for people who are unfamiliar with this context creates confusion and actually seems to minimize what has happened to these people by making it sound like some sort of magic trick. The fact is that these people have not "disappeared" -- they are being held in detention centers against their will under dubious pretenses.

 

[Lafone]

From what I've found looking up this topic online, the word "disappeared" has been used in this context in some other countries historically as you describe. However, I maintain that it's not correct usage in American English and if the news media wants to start using it this way, there should be an effort to educate the public.

I base my comments on the fact that I went to K-12 schools in Los Angeles, as well as earning a B.A. degree and attending graduate schools across three states, and I have never once heard "disappear" used in passive form until these raids started a few months ago. I'm also an avid news listener and have watched it daily for the past 24 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. When stories have been reported of similar events happening in other countries (usually third world), the reporter would say, "People were taken off the streets by a hostile regime."

Using the term "disappear" for people who are unfamiliar with this context creates confusion and actually seems to minimize what has happened to these people by making it sound like some sort of magic trick. The fact is that these people have not "disappeared" -- they are being held in detention centers against their will under dubious pretenses.

I’d suggest you might want to take another look at your searches if you concluded from them that PIRA was a regime. Or indeed that the fate of people who were disappeared in Northern Ireland was in any way described as if it was a ‘magic trick’. Obviously that happened before 9/11 but there were things going on and reported on widely internationally before that date as well as since. The Pinochet regime was really not just something that happened in isolation in the third world.

I’m not surprised you’ve not heard the term given it originates outside the USA.

But I expect anyway that if you asked the people who are using the term they would say they haven’t made a grammatical error but have been perfectly conscious of their use of language to draw a comparison for those who would either understand it or seek to.

In terms of educating the public about that I’d suggest most places in the world might be better if the public took on more accountability for educating themselves. In any case what’s happening in the US in this case appears more alarming in practice than the simple issue of the words being used to describe it.