Lake Superior State University, for the past 35 years, has put out its List of Words Banished From the Queen's English for Misuse, Over-use, and General Uselessness. Even with 'banishment,' though, the words don't always fall out of favor. The list for 1993 included 'state of the art' and 'happy camper.' Banished in 2000 was '24/7.' 2004 found 'LOL' on the list and 2008 had 'it is what it is.' Unfortunately, all of these words/phrases are STILL being overused. Hopefully, this year will find some of these words falling out of favor:
--transparent/transparency
--czar
--sexting
--tweet
--app
The rest of the list for this year is here. have fun trying NOT to use any of these words in the next few days! ;)
Banished!
