The most irritating words and phrases of 2010

From a fecund field ripe with vexation, 200 words have been plucked for your aggravation here.

Some samples:

empower and empowered
for all intensive purposes (instead of “for all intents and purposes”)
get our arms around (a project)
if you will
innovative
lay (instead of “lie”)
It’s all good.
mission critical
partner (as a verb)
sustainable
transparency
win-win for everyone
stakeholder (when not killing vampires)
mind-blowing

A few of my own:

rhetoric
disrespect (as a verb)
trajectory (when used to describe anything other than the progress of a missile)
generous pastoral response (when used to excuse a person doing something he shouldn’t)
Holy Spirit (when used to excuse a church doing something it shouldn’t)
mission shaped
missional
prophetic social justice making
continuous culture of innovation
generous culture of stewardship
pursue excellence
Emergent Village
distinctives (as a plural noun)
telling our stories
advocacy work
strive to make a difference
raise awareness
faith communities
people of faith
activist

Annoying words

Leaving aside the obvious “diversity”, “inclusion”, “listening”  and “conversation”:

“birth” as a verb. We are constantly “birthing” things in church: I wish we wouldn’t.

“disrespect” as a verb. It may be in the OED, but it shouldn’t be.

“empower” – usually we “empower” women. Let’s not, they already have enough power. As James Thurber noted: “Women are wiser than men because they know less and understand more.”

“passion” – a vague itch somewhere.

“holistic” – used by doctors when they have no idea what’s wrong with you.

“glass ceiling”, the breaking of which has become an excuse for lady bishops.

“stay at the table” – I insist you stay here and let me talk until you die of boredom.

“intentional” – not the opposite of accidental, rather the art of deception while creating the illusion of agreement.

“holy spirit” – the feeling of certainty a person experiences when he simply must have his own way.

“discernment” – ignoring everyone else’s opinion.

“openness” – ignoring everyone else’s opinion.

“vulnerability” – ignoring everyone else’s opinion while crying.

“deep sadness” – ignoring everyone else’s opinion while pretending to cry.

“transparency” – ignoring everyone else’s opinion while seated comfortably above the glass ceiling.

“missional” – no such word. When used by a church it means communist subversion.