A Pain in the Ears

Do you ever hear (or read) things that make you wince? Gee, I hate to sound picky, but hey, this is a blog, and I figure I get to say what I want:). I hope I'm not as curmudgeonly as I fear this is going to sound, but here it goes...

My list of things I'd rather not hear:

Data The word data is plural (Its singular is datum). Data (the word) requires a plural verb form. I.e., "The data indicate x" is correct (not "The data indicates x"). Even most newspapers get this wrong, but I still wince when I hear it. Data and datum work the same as media and medium.

Gender Here is another one I'm losing.

Gender is a word about language that describes the form of a noun or adjective (depending on which language you are using because gender isn't used much in English). The words for bridge, le pont (French), el puente (Spanish) and il ponte (Italian), are all masculine, and require masculine articles and adjectives.

Sex is the characteristic that differentiates people biologically - men from women.

People now use gender to avoid the word sex, which has other meanings, and to convey the idea that gender leaves more room for people who don't fit neatly into the male-female dichotomy. However, when used in check-off forms, there are usually only two choices listed under gender, which means they want to know which sex you are.

I'm left with sex is correct when referring to people, and gender is correct when referring to language, but it is rather unclear what usage of gender is wrong. I'm sticking with the traditional.

Grant writing I know everyone uses this term, and I have lost this battle, but people are writing (grant) proposals or applications. They don't usually know if they will get the grant or not. It is hard to see how one can write a grant unless one is awarding it, and that doesn't make much sense. And it is so much more powerful, independent and daring to write a proposal. Oh, well.

Impact This word is not a verb. There is always a better word, for example: to improve, to reduce, to influence, to enhance, to damage, to shatter, etc.

Preventative Is this a stutter? I know it is in the dictionary, but preventive just sounds so much better.

Reimbursement This four-syllable word is misused in health care in the US; the proper word is payment. Reimbursement means that you spent money doing something, and then someone pays you back for what you spent. This is very rare in health care these days. At one time, Medicare reimbursed hospitals for care based on the hospital's costs, but those days are long gone. Mostly, providers get a payment from a payer based on a negotiated or provider-published rate. The payer is not concerned with whether it covers the costs or not - that is the provider's problem. Unfortunately, many people seem to think that reimbursement describes any payment for medical services, as if it is a special kind of money or health care needs its own word for payments.

Service (verb) When used as a verb, this word should never be used so that the action is done to human beings. A stallion services a mare, and a mechanic may service a machine, but people are served. For people, always use serve. Please.

Train (verb) This is also inelegant when applied to people. People are educated. Dogs and horses are trained.

Utilize Why use this word when the powerful, compact, and easy-to-type word use will do?

Maybe my problem is that I hear what I read. Or maybe you just have to write me off as a nutcase. What (besides people like me) drives you crazy?

Please feel free to add your own pain-in-the-ear items in your responses.