by Elisabeth Cook

Created on: April 22, 2008

It is worth pointing out, before embarking on the mission of tracking down the most misused word in the English language, that usage is an evolving trait of any language and that the "misuse" of certain words today will likely be an essential element of the language tomorrow. This is part of what makes learning a foreign language difficult and part of the reason why, despite their best efforts, language academics remain largely unable to control what words and expressions come to signify to the general public.

Upon being asked what the most misused word in English is as of right now, most peoples' first instinct is to blurt out the most overused word they can think of, i.e. "like," "really," "actually," etc. While these words are definitely used in a way not accepted by most people as being "correct" (especially in the case of "like"), and while an easy argument could be made for them being the most frequently botched words in the language, these are not what come to mind when I think of the "most misused."

The word "misuse" itself is generally defined as either improper use or abuse of some kind. Without doubt the vast majority of us improperly use the language every day, including those of us who actually know what we are doing when it comes to putting together a sentence. We simply can't be bothered, and perhaps shouldn't be, to consider how we sound when the important thing is getting our meaning across. The corporate world has also destroyed much of our need for specificity as we strive to create a language friendly enough to accommodate everyone without delay, to make us all feel as though we are on the same page. Such an observation leads us much closer to the doorstep of the worst kind of language misuse, but does not quite get us inside.

To me "misuse," regardless of its various possible meanings, connotes, at its peak (which is what we are, I presume, talking about here), blatant improper usage. I also feel that we must be talking about a word that has snuck into misuse so cunningly that most people don't even realize it and therefore don't think to correct themselves. This is not to say that peoples' ignorance is a direct factor in the word being misused, as misuse can occur just as thoroughly if someone is entirely aware of it, but that for a word to be misused on the kind of scale which we seem to be considering, I suspect ignorance must be key.

That said, the most misused word I can think of is "freedom," and by proxy the word "liberty." Along with

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