I find...

[GiqueCee]

... bad grammar from people who should know better, especially professional writers, to be exasperating. I've seen journalists, novelists, and screenwriters succumb to this repeatedly. What, you may ask, has your bloomers in a bunch? It's this: The use of the non-word, ORIENTATE.
The word is a perversion of "orient", as in orienting one's self with a compass. "ATION" is a suffix, as in presentation. When you make a presentation, do you presentate it? God, I hope not. When you converse with someone, do you conversate? Please...
So if you were dropped on your head, you may very well suffer concussion, and when you stood up, you might be momentarily disoriented, but you would NOT be disorientated. It is worth noting that the algorithm that tried to correct me when I wrote "presentate" and "conversate" did not correct "ORIENTATE", or "disorientated". BAD algorithm.
I've found that the English seem to have a fetish for this grammatical irregularity. I read it in British novels, and hear it on British TV shows and movies with disturbing regularity. I mean, the English should be better than most, especially their colonial cousins, at speaking English, wouldn't you think?
Sigh... I guess it's just another sign of the inexorable decline of civilization. Or is that "civilizate"?
Oh, never mind.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

1. Self-pub has escalated this problem...

I read. A LOT—like almost a book a day.

Since self-pub became a thing, we’re flooded with barely-literate offerings by “writers” who think it’s sufficient to have their friends and family read and declare something a “great read." The result is that silly affectations like punctuation, spelling, using the right damned homonym, formatting, and everything else go out the window.

My biggest pet peeve is crap like “she RACKED her brain,” “he REIGNED in his thoughts,” and OMFG, the sentence fragments and weird punctuation that would have had my fifth-grade English teacher tearing his hair out.

No proper proofreaders, editors, or any pretense of a professional involved. Anyone—ANYONE—can publish a book nowadays, and JFC, I’ve had to throw my compulsive “I need to finish what I’ve started” approach to reading out the window because life is just too short to stick with a book that has me making notes every other page to correct a ninny who has no business wasting our time with such amateurish drivel.

The Dumbing Down of America has more far-reaching implications than politics. We are definitely at the Idiocracy stage of our decline.

*sigh*

[LoisB]

2. Even worse: "conversate".

[True Dough]

6. I have heard that one quite often lately

Hope it doesn't become a "thing."

[LoisB]

9. So do I.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. That might've come from Fonzie

on Happy Days. He was known to say "Yo, Cunningham! Conversate with me!" And nothing influences language like pop culture.

[LoisB]

16. I did not know that. I thought this was a new entry into our language and I don't like it one bit.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. I complained about this awhile back ... apparently some dictionaries consider the two words equivalent ....

.... but I think there's some difference between US and UK English there as well.

Is “Orientate” a Real Word?

Now let’s get to the bottom of it—is orientate a real word? Yes, it is. Both Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary define the word orientate. It is a variant of and synonymous with the word orient. Although it’s slightly younger compared to the word orient, according to Merriam-Webster, it’s been around since the 18th Century.

It is more common to find orientate being used in British English, but orient is still more popular, too.

Remember, orientate is only a real word when used as a verb. Orientate cannot take the place of the noun orient.

So, Is It “Orient” or “Orientate”?

At the end of the day, both words are acceptable, and therefore you could use either in your writing. Just be warned that orientate can seem “wrong” or unfamiliar to some audiences, especially American English readers. It’s worth noting that this word is not nearly as controversial as irregardless—a word that is considered nonstandard and will be detected by LanguageTool, an intelligent text editor. Additionally, this writing assistant will also correct all types of spelling and grammar errors and suggest stylistic improvements.

[GiqueCee]

5. Very informative, thank you...

... but "orientate" still mortally offends my delicate sensibilities. So there.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. I would never use 'orientate' in my own writing. I just wasn't brought up that way. nt

[GiqueCee]

11. Nor I...

... have delightful holiday!

[Intractable]

4. People love to complain about AI slop in writing ...

without mentioning that most human writing is slop!

Actually, you violate numerous grammatic rules in your post. I see sentence fragments, terrible misuse of commas, and generally poor style.

Who are you to criticize others?

[True Dough]

7. Orientate is annoying

On another note, a word that has been "morphing" recently is "reticent." I've always used that word based on the primary definition found in Merriam-Webster: inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech

However, many talking heads are now using it in place of reluctant. There's definitely a distinction, IMO, but it's rapidly going by the wayside.

[Wounded Bear]

8. Well, the British say "al-yu-minium" too...

[GiqueCee]

14. I rest my case...

... they also pronounce "Schedule" as shedule, but not "school" as shool. Go figure.

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. Tee vee 'journalists,' particularly in local news,

are notorious for their use of words such as "impact" as a verb and the horrid "impactful," and other such words that sound like they originated in sales meetings. (PBS is also a big violator with "impact," and Rachel uses it pretty often.)

[Grim Chieftain]

15. Poor grammar drives me nuts

Mispronunciations are another pet peeve, but it's a holiday and I won't get into it - other than to say if I ever get arrested at a protest, I'd rather be represented by a LAW-yer than a LOY-er.

Sorry. I know it's colloquial.