2006 Banished Words

Lake Superior State University in Michigan has released its annual list of banned words and phrases. This year chose 17 of the more than 2000 nominations they received. Phew, none of them seem to form a part of my regular vernacular. Here’s the list:

  • Surreal
  • Hunker down
  • Person of interest
  • Community of learners
  • Up-or-down vote (I’m not sure I even know what this means)
  • Breaking news
  • Designer breed
  • FEMA (notable quote: “If they don’t do anything, we don’t need their acronym.”
  • First-time caller (notable quote: “I am serious in asking: who in any universe gives a care?”)
  • Pass the savings on to you!
  • 97 per cent fat-free
  • An accident that didn’t have to happen
  • Junk science
  • Git-r-done (again, I think I missed something on this one)
  • Dawg
  • Talking points (I may be out of a job if this one gets banned)
  • Holiday tree (I say a big ‘hallellujah’ to this one!)

It’s fun (in the geekiest definition of the word) to flip through their archives and see the banished words of years past (they’ve been at this since 1976). 1990’s list included fax and messenger as verbs (“Could you fax me that?”), so I don’t think the banishment ‘took’!

What words or phrases would you banish? I’m thinking “whatever” has definitely had more than its 15 minutes of fame, and we’ve had more than our share of “(insert trend here) is the new black”. I’m sure there are more, but I have two preschoolers crawling on me and I haven’t had my first coffee yet. I’m amazed I can still type in sentences!

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

16 thoughts on “2006 Banished Words”

  1. OMG how DARE you threaten to add my cherished “W-H-A-T-E-V-E-R-!” to the list!!! I’ll think of some others, but I’ll have to get back to you.
    Whatever.

  2. I am an employee of big government here in the US, and I definitely agree with you that “talking points” is widely used in the workplace.
    I work in the information technology field, and we always have a ton of overused terms (just listen to the news radio station here in DC and half of the commercials use them). “Next generation data architectures” “demonstrating return on investment” etc. I have no sense of how these translate broadly outside this region/community, but any statement that’s full of these buzzwords immediately turns me off.

  3. Dani,
    I’m sorry to say I can’t live without ‘Whatever’ in my vocabulary. We’ll have to leave that one in.
    I’m voting to take ‘wrap your head around it’ out. It’s very Dr. Phil and I’m tired of hearing it.

  4. Well, I’ve always hated “impact” as a transitive verb.
    But I’d have to say I never need to hear celebrity couples’ names combined – such as Bennifer, TomKat, or Spederline. That alone is almost enough to put me off reading celebrity snark blogs. Almost.

  5. Ooh! Ooh! I hate it when people talk about wanting to “be on the same page.” Or wanting to “think outside the box.” And our HR manager at work was always trying to clarify what someone had just said by starting off sentences with, “So what I hear you saying is…” Used to drive me nuts!

  6. Ha! Sugarmama, your comments reminded me of the boss in the movie “Office Space.” Have you seen that movie? If not, I highly recommend it – I think you’d find it funny!

  7. “What not”
    I can’t stand that saying/use of words.
    “blah…blah…blah…and what not”
    WTF is what not????

  8. I’m just glad to see “touch base” is on the list. Man, I hate when people use that one with me.

  9. I have to agree with some of the others on the “whatever” – I vote we keep that in.
    Whats wrong with “community of learners”?
    Words/phrases that I’d like to see gone:
    ping
    at the end of the day
    war on terror
    baby boomers

  10. I hate “my bad,” too. One time, my friend sent out an email with a glaring typo. Then she sent another email saying “sorry, my bad,” and I was like, what a fool, she sent another typo to apologize for her typo! I didn’t even realize “my bad” was a saying. I still hate it.
    Also “bandwith.” As in, “I don’t have the bandwith to handle that project right now.” Ugh.

  11. I need “boasts.” I’m keeping it.
    I’ve only ever heard “my bad” said by idiots. I vote we keep it as an idiot screening tool.

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