Languages are some of human being's greatest creations. These sophisticated systems of communications that were developed over thousands of years in thousands of different communities around the world are a testament to the ability of the Homo sapiens' brain. So why, with all of our linguistic prowess and vocabulary variety, do we have to use words far more than they were intended? The English language is full of these, and much to our chagrin they’re prevalent and not going anywhere.

So, here is a list of today’s 10 most overused words that make your ears burn every time you hear them.

No.10 - Love/Hate
Is there a garden around? Because these words have been watered down to the point of no return. And it’s all because people have been slowly accepting them as reasonable alternatives to describe fondness (or lack thereof). Love and hate both involved descriptions of serious passion or emotion at one time; now they’re just used as slang-fodder for anything to make a poetic statement. Let’s restore the prestige of these once-great expressions and lay off their usage, say, 95% of the time. That ought to help.

No.9 - Literally
Literally is another word that has been misconstrued into a bastardized form. When the exact reason to use the word is to express a non-exaggeration or a realistic degree of accuracy, why do people do the exact opposite? Literally is now used as a general intensive, and its very meaning has become lost and meaningless. Literally is meant to only be used when describing something verbatim, or for a correct technical explanation. It is not a synonym for figuratively or virtually. Let’s keep it as such.

No.8 - Ridiculous
The only thing ridiculous about this overused word is the number of times it’s used in everyday speak. Ridiculous means laughable, deserving of ridicule or something just downright preposterous. Now, while people tend to get the meaning (vaguely) correct for this one, four-syllable words like this are best saved for situations where things truly are absurd -- if your dog ate your homework, that’s ridiculous because it’s almost worthy of a laugh. There are better words to use than this tongue twister and no, “ri-donk-ulous” is not one of them.

No.7 - Awesome
Are we stuck in the '80s? Can someone please explain why this expression is so commonly used as slang rather than as a proper adjective? Awesome can be lumped into the same cheese club with other un-cool terms such as radical, cowabunga and gnarly.

Awesome is supposed to be used to express a show of force or majesty. When your friend comes back with a six-pack of beer, responding with this reprehensible utterance just doesn’t match up to the awe of a powerful tornado or when viewing one of the top 10 American landmarks. Nice try, though.

No.6 - Whatever
Here’s the problem with the word whatever -- depending on the tone you use, it’s used by a variety of hipsters looking to disagree. Guys use it to downplay a video game defeat or a sports loss. Girlfriends use it angrily to stone their boyfriend’s opinion. And, when combined with a preamble such as like (which is also on this list of most overused words), it’s used by pink-purse-toting glamour girls to display surprise or enjoyment. Whatever the context (and that’s a proper use of the term), it is overused and ruining otherwise meaningful conversation.