February 02 2007
Banished Words for 2007
posted by Ana Samways at 7:59 amLake Superior State University has released its annual List of Banished Words. Over-used, misused, and generally worthless words and expressions shortlisted from more than 4,500 nominations. Here are our favourites:
AWESOME
“The kind of tennis shoes you wear, no matter how cute, don’t fit the majestic design of the word.” — Leila Hill, Damascus, Maryland.
“That a mop, a deodorant or a dating service can be called ‘awesome’ demonstrates the limited vocabularies of the country’s copywriters.” — Tom Brinkmoeller, Orlando, Florida.
“Overused and meaningless.’ My mother was hit by a car.’ Awesome. ‘I just got my college degree.’ Awesome.” — Robert Bron, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand.
COMBINED CELEBRITY NAMES
“It’s bad enough that celebrities have to be the top news stories. Now we’ve given them obnoxious names such as ‘Bragelina,’ ‘TomKat’ and ‘Bennifer.’” — M. Foster, Port Huron, Michigan.
“It’s so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it’s ‘lamethetic.’” — Ed of Centreville, Virginia.
WE’RE PREGNANT
“Were men feeling left out of the whole morning sickness/huge belly/labor experience? You may both be expecting, but only one of you is pregnant.” — Sharla Hulsey, Sac City, Iowa.
See full list of banished words here.