COMMENTARY | Lake Superior State University recently released its annual list of banned words. It included annoyingly overused words like “amazing” and “baby bump.” In response, I wrote an article that may never see the light of day. If editors agree that those banned words shouldn’t be used, I’m screwed because I defiantly used each one of them in that piece. So as an alternative, and perhaps a more editor-friendly response to the banishment of those words, here’s my list of words and phrases that LSSU should have banned for 2012. I hope they’ll be considered for the 2013 list.
Lists of Banned Words
Enough said. Ban this, and we’ll all stop banning words.
Friend as a verb.
Think about the redundancy of “friending” your friends. Now think about the ludicrousness of “friending” people who aren’t your friends. Facebooking and Googling made LSSU’s list in 2011, but apparently it wasn’t sufficiently annoyed by this particular case of noun-verbing. Maybe next year…
“Like” us on Facebook
Dear Companies,
If I like you, I’ll buy your products. But don’t ask me to provide you with my entire list of contacts by clicking your stupid “like” button. (Readers: If you don’t know what I mean, read this article about what really happens when you click the “like” button. Or this one about what happens even if you don’t click it.)
Get Connected
We connect with people by getting together in person. We disconnect by staying online all the time. When are we going to realize this?
Tea Party
Nothing against “Tea Partiers,” but why repurpose a phrase that already represents a major event in our nation’s history? In the long term, this modern “Tea Party” is likely to be little more than “a drop in the kettle” when compared to the more historically significant Boston Tea Party.
Creative
LinkedIn reported that this is one of the most overused buzzwords of its members’ profiles in 2011. So let’s come up with a more creative way to express our creativity? (Also, let’s limit our use of the word “buzzword.” This one has high annoyance potential.)
Grow the Economy
This one appeared in suggestions for banned words on the website democraticunderground.com. As the commenter who submitted this one explained, “It’s not a plant.” I agree.
Russell Simmons tweets
I’m not sure why, but this guy’s tweets make the news far too often. I know it’s not technically a word or phrase, but let’s ban journalists from reporting on Russell Simmons’ tweeting habits. Please?
Crisis
Everything is a crisis these days. The housing crisis. The economic crisis. I know things are bad, but do we need to refer to everything that takes a downturn this way? Are we suffering from a “crisis-labeling” crisis?
I know banning words isn’t exactly the American way. But as I’ve learned from writing this– once you start, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop. Now I see why LSSU has continued the tradition since 1977. It’s amazingly addictive. I’m just sayin’…