One of the little things that drives me up a wall is people who abuse words* – robbing them of their proper meaning.
For example, you ask?
Take the word “desperately”. It seems like every few days I run into somebody who wants to castrate all of the meaning from desperately. They’ll say things like:
“I desperately need to get my hair cut.”
or
“I need a night out, desperately.”
Look – the only things you need “desperately” are oxygen and water – and you can go a while without water.
So knock it off.
*Obligatory disclaimer – If you are guilty of abusing this (or any other word that I may choose to write about later), please take no offense. But seriously, stop it.