Words Americans Overuse - Weekly Words with Alisha

Today's video is on words Americans overuse. I haven't seen these words yet, but

apparently it's gonna be a series of words that we, as Americans, I'm American, um…

we over-use. We use too often. So let's start.

Uh, oh, the first word is "definitely." "Definitely" is definitely a word that Americans overuse.

We use it to, ah, put emphasis at the end of a phrase, to put emphasis at the end of a sentence, as in,

"Oh, that party last week was so great. Yeah, definitely!" or to agree

with somebody like that.

Oh, god! "Literally." Uh... Just in the last few days I've seen the word "literally" so

many times on the internet and used it in just such stupid ways. The word "literally"

means "actually" or "truly something." "This is literally the best hamburger I have ever

eaten!" So, "literally," meaning "truly" or "actually," would mean that, in that person's

entire life, that is the best hamburger they've ever eaten.

However, it gets misused a lot in sentences like, "George Bush was literally supporting

the war in Iraq," or something like that. Taking a phrase like that literally would

have to mean that, you know, the president, the former president would be, you know, physically

supporting a war with his body.

Onward. Onward. "Hilarious." "Hilarious" is the next word. I like to use the word "hilarious"

when something is actually funny. Um.. "hilarious" of course means "something that is really

funny, super funny" It's a step above funny.. maybe two step, three steps. I don't know.

However, people like to use this word in place of laughter. So, for example, friends are

talking… instead of just laughing, the friend will say, "That's hilarious." Well if it's

so hilarious, just laugh.

Oh, this must be the last one because this is the worst one. This word is "like." Um,

I've probably said it several times already today. For that for the purposes of this video,

the word "like" is used as a filler word, so it's the same as something such as "um"

or "uh" or "hmm," for example. We use "like," um, as a filler word when we're trying to

think about something. It's not uncommon to hear the word repeated like three, four, five

times in a row when someone is thinking. They'll say, "Oh, you know that party that I went

to like, like ah.. like uh... like uh... do you know who was there?" It just invades your

speech sometimes when you're trying to think of something and no other filler words come

out but the word "like" does.

Ah, this wasn't the last word. There is another one. "Seriously." "Seriously" is used.. oh,

it's good for anytime you receive bad news. Well, not from your boss. It's a really casual

word. But if you hear something, um, like your friend lost their job, and you can sympathize

with them or maybe empathize with them by saying "Seriously? Oh, that's too bad." or

"Oh, tell me, like, all your problems." Oh my god, I just used "like." Oh.. God. Oh,

I hate myself. Is that the end? It's the end.

Alright, I hope you enjoyed learning about a few, um, words that Americans overuse. I'm

sure that there are more words that Americans overuse, but perhaps you'll find those out

on your own. Thanks very much for watching and we'll see you again next time.

Bye, bye.