What's the most misused word in the English language?

While that may be irritating, I would not consider that to even be in the same league as there,their and they're.

My irrtating phrase for an added bonus is when people say "I could care less"

This thread will go the same way as all the ones before. The OP asks for a single word, we will get moaning about phrases, spellings, accents and pronunciations.

its literally & pacifically..... Literally, but Pacific/Pacifically being used instead of specific/specifically must surely run it close?

Or we may even get people that read an OP then just moan about the replies rather than actually contribute to the thread. It is a strange world.

When it comes to Irish politics it is definetely Free alright. Free GP care, Free third level education etc. In Germany is is called state or tax funded care. Far more accurate.

Honestly, ...

We are not the people to decide what is misuse of words. Meanings change over time, and dictionaries are the repositories which keep a record of that. Those who complain about "Literally" are obviously ignorant of the changes that have happened to that word over hundreds of years. Another one is Unique, which prompts complaints when someone says e.g. "fairly unique". That usage has been recognised by dictionaries, simply because of its prevalance.

The trick is to accept or ignore the changes that are happening in our own lifetimes. If they survive they will become standard in future, if they vanish from common usage that is OK as well. Language purists in the past were horrified about "misuse" of words in their time, which are now standard.

A "d4" accent isn't actually a Dublin accent.

Happy now?

D4 is extinct. Replaced by New Dublin.

And new tralee, new letterkenny, new skibereen...

Many of us do!

In much the same way as "irregardless" has become accepted despite its being a nonsense double negative! We can band together and make the impossible... impossible. Unpossible

Edit

Damned autocorrect is unpossible to deal with 😁🤦

Revert back is now standard. Just the funny way dictionary compilers operate. Another one which may catch on is "On accident", which appears to have derived from On purpose.

Not a word but "beg the question" is an almost universally misused or misunderstood phrase, which is a shame because it's original (real) meaning is helpful to know and describes something that people are very often guilty of...

"To "beg the question" (also called petitio principii) is to attempt to support a claim with a premise that itself restates or presupposes the claim. It is an attempt to prove a proposition while simultaneously taking the proposition for granted."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

We have a winner.

And eyes like a hurley.

Good point. Perhaps I should have said 'literally actively dying' which I understand is the final stage defined by certain medical symptoms.

Totally!

bias

cringe

Empathy. Everyone claims to have it but 99.9% mean sympathy.

There, their , they’re.

You are literally the only one in a rage.

Is Word Rage a thing now?

Never heard the term "Word Rage", but I'm liking it. One word to a woman might encapulate it (no idea why)..."moist".

Seems to drive them nuts.