Banished Words

Posted by Bruce Kahl on January 26, 2002

In Reply to: Banished Words posted by R. Berg on January 26, 2002

: : : : : : Lake Superior State University released its 27th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.The compilation draws from hundreds of nominations received from all over the world by mail and through the Internet.

: : : : : : LSSU forms a committee in December to review the year's entries and decide which of them will be included on the list. Word-watchers pull nominations from everyday speech, as well as from the news, fields of education, technology, advertising, politics, and more.

: : : : : : See link below.

: : : : : Bruce,

: : : : : Lovely stuff. I'll be there with some nominations next year. Getting in early with my own pet hates - 'hot temperatures', 'cheap prices' etc. I winch to even type them.

: : : : : Gratifying to this old Brit that Lake Superior State University advocates the Queen's English.

: : : : : Gary

: : : : As a medical doctor, 'skin rash' and 'dead body' spring to my mind!

: : : Continuing along the medical theme, how about the overused journalistic phrase: "...lost his brave battle with cancer." The Onion, a satirical newspaper, had a headline saying someone, "...Lost His Cowardly Battle with Cancer." Another journalistic cliche, "grim task," referring to cleanup/body recovery after a disaster.

: :
: : From my time in an Internet design firm I would like to add the following:

: : 1) "Transition" used as a verb. "We are going to transition you to the green team."
: : 2) "Reactionary" used in bizarre ways. "Jenny was like really reactionary when I told her I was leaving."
: : 3) "Speak to" instead of "respond to" or "address". "Josh can speak to that point"

: : We could also like, banish "like", you know?

: Why is it so often reported that some celebrity or other gave birth to a baby girl or a baby boy? Any boy or girl who has just been born is a baby.

"Going forward, the reports are now due by the 3rd Monday of the first month of every quarter."
Going forward?
Is this just NY trendzoid speak or has this infected other parts of the planet?

• Banished Words Chris 01/27/02
  • Banished Words James Briggs 01/27/02