Incredible issue !

[FredPuli43]

When did 'incredible' become the popular intensifier that it now is ? It seems that everyone (apart from me!) now uses it, whether they are academics in TV documentaries, politicians or footballers, it is the favoured word for 'extremely' ,'very' and the rest.

And, similarly, when did the word 'issue' become the favoured word for 'question' and the like? Formerly, it was only common in the courts,where we spoke of 'pleading to the issue' and 'a triable issue'.

[jno]

and as for "misused" quotation marks...

http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/quoteabuse/pool/

[seadogg]

I love you all! Stand up for English use and not its mis-use.

[seadogg]

hyphen for effect only, lol.

[petal54]

nature is what I would call 'incredible'

[Playbill]

And people are constantly 'looking' at things instead of 'thinking of', 'considering' or 'hoping to'.

"I'm looking to go on holiday in June"
"I'm looking to buy a car"
"I'm looking to get a new phone"

It always sounds like the wrong verb when used in this context.

[Bert]

It's bad enough when people use 'Absolutely' instead of 'Yes', but when they say that something is 'Absolutely beautiful' it sets my teeth on edge [what on earth does that mean?]
Back to the original moan, what about 'amazing'? - that's used just about as frequently as 'incredible'.
I just love it when people say "I'm speechless!" - how do they say that if they're speechless? I close follower is "Words cannot describe [whatever is the subject of the interview]" You hear that a lot. What it really means is that the speaker is too ignorant or too lazy to formulate a response.

[FredPuli43]

Ah, Bert, but 'amazing' is, or maybe was, the preferred word of the young. 'Maybe was' because they change their preferred adjective quite quickly. By now, it may be as outdated as 'ripping' . That, at least, offers some hope of a change soon, if only to another annoyingly overused word !

[Quizmonster]

As you suggest, Fred, language - like most other things - has fashions, fads and fancies. Whether these survive or not depends entirely on how 'handy' people find them over time...ie whether they deserve a continued existence or not.
As I pointed out here earlier, absolutely = emphatically yes has been in continual use for a hundred years. There is clearly nothing whatsoever 'wrong' with it, whatever some may think. You may find the same with incredible/incredibly.

[FredPuli43]

Not only do words go out of fashion, they come back in, QM. My daughter, aged 24, just used 'frightfully'. Now, that's a word that I associate with my aunts' generation; ' M'dear,he was a such a frightful bore', 'It was frightfully dull''; not with hers. Perhaps it never really went away but is like some genetically transmitted condition that reappears every third generation! I await the return of 'ghastly': favoured by Prince Philip and Stephen Fry: to more general use.

[paulthewall]

I don NOT have and "issue" with the word INCREDIBLE. I find it very annoying how frequently people, particularly media people, use the word ISSUE. Have you looked up this word in a dictionary?
It mentions firstly something which is produced, and then progeny. In my dictionary, it does not mention it meaning problem, disagreement,difficulty or anything like that. It is one of the most overused words of this century, so far.

[jno]

an issue is a topic that needs discussing (says my OED); the current usage isn't far removed from that.

[Billersand]

Modern b*lls**t
1) An issue used to be a copy of a magazine, now it is a problem
2) If something is "almost unique" then it isn't unique
3) When did the word "parent" become a verb? Parenting - I despair
4) How can anything be "almost infinite"?
5) "and I was like yeah and he was like no way"
It rubbish innit

[boxtops]

What gets on my wick is "I'm loving looking at this magazine" - where did that come from? - what's the matter with "I love this magazien"? "I'm loving this breakfast" - really?

[gaysy1st]

People make a habit of dramatising everything these days. The one I cannot stand, is when everything that goes wrong is 'a nightmare'. IE: I had a nightmare journey home...The kids were a nightmare today...etc etc. No, no, no. Most people have no idea what a nightmare situation is. Being involved in a Tsunami would be a nightmare, not getting caught in a little bit of rain when you miss your bus.