The 35th Annual Lake Superior State Banished Words List
Andrew Norton
Last week Lake Superior State unveiled their annual list of banished words. After reading the list as well as the additional comments I have to say that I don't have any argument against any of the words included on the list. In fact, I would be glad to see them go :).
- Shovel-Ready - I had not even heard of this one, but apparently it is in reference to when a project is ready to be implemented. And here I thought it was a term used by the funeral home industry.
- Transparent/Transparency - As in "transparency in government" which is really an oxymoron.
- Czar - I have never understood the use of this term with various higher office positions. I'm always reminded of the Russian Czarists whenever this is used.
- Tweet - No, it is not because of the use of this word in "Rockin' Robin" by Bobby Day. This is because of the Twitter phenomenon which I think has more to do with the media's obsession with talking about "tweet this" or talking about who is tweeting. I think Twitter is a useful method to connect with customers - follow me at Twitter.com/nortman.
- APP - There's an APP for that. Blah, blah, blah.
- Sexting - Once again, overkill by the media is reason enough for the demise of this word.
- Friend as a Verb - "Friending", "Unfriending", etc. on Facebook.
- Teachable Moment - A clever phrase that is another way of saying, "he/she just learned a life lesson."
- In these economic times . . . - You could even get more specific and ban any story referencing Michigan/Detroit in these economic times. I'm just a fed up Michigander when it comes to talking about all of the problems we have in this state. Lets focus on some positives in 2010.
- Stimulus - I'm weary of hearing about the "stimulus" this or that and especially any advertisements that companies label a "stimulus package."
- Toxic Assets - Call them what they are - bad investments/bad stocks.
- Too big to fail - I had a prof in college who said that the one "sure thing" stock segment to invest in was the auto industry as it had been around for so long and was "too big to fail." I'd like to chat with him about that one now.
- Bromance - Seriously? Two guys can't just say they're friends with someone? You have to call it a bromance?
- Chillaxin' - Do we really need to invent more terms for relaxing?
- Obama prefix or roots - For example "Obamanomics" or other such rubbish.