Top Ten Annoying Words

This is my top ten words and phrases that, in my opinion, are thrown around and overused by those trying to sound impressive and/or intellectual:

1. Visceral
2. Synergy
3. Paradigm
4. Cerebral
5. Pontificate
6. Forward-thinking
7. Mission Critical
8. Discourse
9. Hegemony
10. Postmodern

Ex. - “There was a visceral synergy in the paradigm that made it very cerebral, to pontificate such a forward-thinking approach that is mission critical to successful discourse concerning hegemony in a postmodern world.”

Sounds pompously smug, does it not? Frankly, I have no idea what I just wrote. Or even what “postmodern” is supposed to connote. (How can the modern world be in a postmodern state??? That doesn’t make any sense.) And now my brain hurts.

(That said, there is a word, newly created, that should be in your vocabulary:  "awesomer," defined as the state of being more awesome. Ex. - "Iron Man, Thor and Captain America were awesome, but The Avengers preview was awesomer." Please use this term whenever appropriate.)

©2011 Steve Sagarra