heartsink
n.— «There are any number of heartsink words and phrases in the English language, and they are proliferating. Words such as “forum,” “convention” and “summit” send a signal to most people’s brains: Turn off now.» —“Beware Of Heartsinkers, Even If They Do Have One Useful Function” by Jenny Tabakoff Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Sept. 18, 1995. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...