Ok, I know this is petty, but it drives me nuts! Misused words in posts and emails.
There is currently a post saying "I know I will take a lot of slack for this." No, you are cut some slack, you take flak. I assume the term originated from the word for bursting artillery shells, as in a lot of shit flying around.
Or people always saying they were "mortified" when they heard something that disgusted or disturbed them. The word you are looking for is "appalled". Mortified means deeply embarrassed.
I also had a friend who used to use the word paregoric as a synonym for nothing. For instance if we were playing cards and she had to throw in her hand she would say, "I had absolutely paregoric." I still haven't figured that one out.
I guess the point of this post is that if you hear a word and are not sure what it means, LOOK IT UP before using it yourself!
I'm done now, thank you.