At some point during every season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, I find myself feeling the strong urge to chuck a thesaurus at the screen.The Bachelor franchise universe is not one of, shall we say, linguistic richness. The contestants seem to latch on to a few key words or phrases and use them over. And over. And over again. And it drives me freaking insane. On Monday night's episode of The Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay's men took that unfortunate tendency to unfortunate new heights when they all decided to start saying the same nonexistent word. And I can't even.
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The made-up word is "disingenuine." I heard it at least four times last night, and it pierced my ears each time. Wrestler-teddy bear Kenny used it to describe villain Lee. Bryce said it to talk about his fears about the rose ceremony. At another point, fan favorite Peter also described Lee that way. The word these boys were looking for is actually "disingenuous," which means lacking in candor and sincerity. (Despite his general shittiness as a human, Lee actually said it correctly when talking about Kenny.)
I was glad to find out this morning, via Twitter, that I was not the only one bothered by this disturbing trend. One flabbergasted viewer tweeted, "Peter - disingenuine? Eliminated! No tolerance for bad grammar." Another joked, "take a shot every time one of the Bachelorette guys says the word 'disingenuine,'" which sounds like a great way to get alcohol poisoning on a Monday night. Someone else wrote, "Why do I keep hearing people say 'disingenuine' on the #bachelorette? It's not a word."
While we're on the topic, can we also briefly revisit the men's conversation about quirks vs. quarks vs. corks? In the first few minutes of the episode, Brady dismissed Lee's asshole-ness as being one of his "corks," prompting an in-depth discussion that included this nugget of brilliance from Jack Stone: "Corks, they go in a wine bottle."
Let's also appreciate the beautiful irony of the men's linguistic gaffes taking place on the same episode where they have to compete in a spelling bee. (To be fair, the dudes do seem to know where their faults lie: did you see the looks on their faces after they found out what they were doing instead of pushups or rapping?) Cruel, but hilarious timing.
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Anyhow, I have a recommendation to the series producers: I know books aren't allowed in the mansion and everything, but leaving a Merriam Webster's volume laying around couldn't hurt, could it?
P.S. I'm not being disingenuine, I swear.
Yo @ every bachelorette contestant: "disingenuine" is not a word, the word you're looking for is "disingenuous"
— Matthew Mullen (@MisterMullen) June 20, 2017
take a shot every time one of the Bachelorette guys says the word "disingenuine"
— Eric (@ericboberic) June 20, 2017
Peter - disingenuine?
— Jeremy Bradley (@JeremyDBradley) June 20, 2017
Eliminated!
No tolerance for bad grammar. #thebachelorette #bachelorette #bachelornation
First time I'm actually questioning the use of disingenuous, disingenuine (not a word), and ingenuous. #bachelorette
— Holli Kitching (@hollikitch) June 20, 2017
Why do I keep hearing people say "disingenuine" on the #bachelorette? It's not a word ?
— xtinamox (@xtinamox) June 20, 2017
Ahhhh! It's disingenuous!!! There is no disingenuion!!! #Bachelorette @BacheloretteABC
— Nikki Medoro (@NikkiMedoro) June 20, 2017
The secret code word of tonight's Bachelorette: Disingenuous
— Haley Kretz (@Hay_Kretzel) June 20, 2017