The one that really bothers me is the current use of the verb to grow. e.g. a plant grows - that's fine; a business grows - that's fine; but I am going to grow this business - that sounds terrible to my ears.
Really? Why? "I am going to grow this business" may be overly optimistic or boastful, but it's not grammatically dodgy is it?
I can't remember a time when it wasn't used that way. The OED defines it as both an intransitive and a transitive verb. There's nothing strange about it having an object.
"
v.t. produce (plants, fruit, wool, etc) by cultivation, bring forth, let (beard etc.),
develop..." - quite appropriate to use for a business I would have thought?
