My coworker dropped 'gaslighting' in a meeting yesterday - used it totally wrong

We're in a budget review. Bob says 'they're gaslighting us about the Q3 numbers.' No Bob. They just gave bad estimates. That's not gaslighting. It's annoying but not manipulation. Had to bite my tongue. Am I being too picky about this word?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.linda2mo ago

Read an article saying this word gets misused all the time now.

wilson.kelly2mo ago

Yeah that "misused all the time" part got me. My friend Jen was telling me how she used "literally" in a work email last week and her boss laughed at her. She meant it figuratively but didn't realize until after.

brown.gavin1mo agoMost Upvoted

So did Jen's boss actually explain what she did wrong, or did he just laugh and leave her hanging? Because that's the kind of thing that can make someone paranoid about using any common word at work. I've seen people get so scared of misusing "literally" that they just avoid it entirely, which seems like a bigger loss than using it wrong once in a while. Was the email to a client or just internal? That changes how much it matters.