Every year since 1977, Lake Superior State University, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has released a list of banished words. It’s filled overused buzzwords like, well, “buzzword” and foolish compounds like “chillax.” Remember “da bomb,” “dead meat,” and “you the man?” They’re just some famous alumni.
So, without further adieu (which would’ve made the list if it was around in the late 1800’s), here’s this year’s list of banished words. Remember, you can still use these words. They’re not actually banned. But you’ll be doing yourself—and anyone around you—a huge favor if you don’t.
1. Viral
- “This linguistic disease of a term must be quarantined.”
2. Epic
- “I’m sure that when the history books are written or updated and stories have been passed through the generations, the epic powder on the slopes during your last ski trip or your participation in last night’s epic flash mob will probably not be included. This may be the root of this epic problem, but it seems as if during the past two years, any idea that was not successful was considered an ‘epic-fail.’ This includes the PowerPoint presentation you tried to give during this morning’s meeting, but couldn’t because of technical problems. Also, the ice storm of ‘epic proportions’ that is blanketing the east coast this winter sure looks a lot like the storm that happened last winter.”
3. Fail
- “What originally may have been a term for a stockbroker’s default is now abused by today’s youth as virtually any kind of ‘failure.’ Whether it is someone tripping, a car accident, a costumed character scaring the living daylights out a kid, or just a poor choice in fashion, these people drive me crazy thinking that anything that is a mistake is a ‘fail.’ They fail proper language!”
4. Wow factor
- “Done-to-death phrase to point out something with a somewhat significantly appealing appearance.”
5. A-ha moment
- “All this means is a point at which you understand something or something becomes clearer. Why can’t you just say that?”
6. Back story
- “This should be on the list of words that don’t need to exist because a perfectly good word has been used for years. In this case, the word is ‘history,’ or, for those who must be weaned, ‘story.'”
7. B.F.F.
- “These chicks call each other B.F.F. (Best Friends Forever) and it lasts about 10 minutes. Now there’s BFFA (Best Friends For Awhile), which makes more sense.”
8. Man up
- “Another case of ‘verbing’ a noun and ending with a preposition that goes nowhere. Not only that, the phrase is insulting, especially when voiced by a female, who’d never think to say, ‘Woman up!'”
9. Refudiate
- “Adding this word to the English language simply because a part-time politician lacks a spell checker on her cell phone is an action that needs to be repudiated.”
10. Mama grizzlies
- “Unless you are referring to a scientific study of Ursus arctos horribilis , this analogy of right-wing female politicians should rest in peace.”
11. The American people
- “Aren’t all Americans people? Every political speech refers to the ‘American’ people as if simply saying ‘Americans’ (or ‘people’) is not enough.”
12. I’m just sayin’
- “And we would never have known if you hadn’t told us.”
13. Facebook/Google as verbs
- “Facebook is a great, addicting website. Google is a great search engine. However, their use as verbs causes some deep problems. As bad as they are, the trend can only get worse, i.e. ‘I’m going to Twitter a few people, then Yahoo the movie listings and maybe Amazon a book or two.”
14. Live life to the fullest
- “It’s an absurdity followed by a redundancy. First, things are full or they’re not; there is no fullest. Second, ‘live life’ is redundant. Finally, the expression is nauseatingly overused. What’s wrong with enjoying life fully or completely? The phrase makes me gag. I’m surprised it hasn’t appeared on the list before.”
—Photo gadl/Flickr
I sent this in twice but, I’m not sure that it got sent-(something happened while I was typing that, threw my comment off the page…)
I’ll make it short & sweet~the word “closure” is Sooo inappropriate when used, in reference to a murdered child Or, a loved one. What kind of “closure” could there possibly be???-THERE IS NO
CLOSURE!!! …
Closure belongs to “doors & windows”~lets leave it there! There are Plenty of other words-the dictionary is full of them!