Now That's Useless

I just got out of a class in which I had to listen to a woman repeatedly use the word "orientate." I can't think of another word (yes, that includes "irregardless") that makes me angrier. It's a word that was backward-formed from "orientation," even though we have another, shorter word that means the same thing. Surprise! It's "orient." Amazing. I just lopped off an entire syllable from a word without changing its meaning at all. People say "orientate" when they feel stupid or inadequate and they hope the extra syllable will give them some cool points in the conversation. I've got a different strategy for those of you who feel stupid when you're talking to people: You probably are, so you should just shut up and hope someone mistakes your silence for thoughtfulness. "Better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."