The 2008 Banished Words List

Lake Superior State U's annual list of words that have been so overused and abused they are officially banned for a period of one year.

I can't find any fault with their recommendations.

PERFECT STORM – "Overused by the pundits on evening TV shows to mean just about any coincidence." – Lynn Allen, Warren, Michigan.

"I read that 'Ontario is a perfect storm,' in reference to a report on pollution levels in the Great Lakes. Ontario is the name of one of the lakes and a Canadian province. This guy would have me believe it's a hurricane. It's time for 'perfect storm' to get rained out." – Bob Smith, DeWitt, Michigan.

Abolutely right. Overused, tiresome expression that so distorts the original intent, which was an unusual set of circumstances that created disaster, unlike the odd but nonetheless completely concidence of Pixy's email stalling and New Comment Thingy going tango uniform at the same time. The phrase means nothing now.

I'm sick of this one too.

IT IS WHAT IT IS – "This pointless phrase, uttered initially by athletes on the losing side of a contest, is making its way into general use. It accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant." – Jeffrey Skrenes, St. Paul, Minnesota.

And this one, while not necessarily inaccurate, has been used about eleventy-billion times in 07 alone.

WATERBOARDING – "Let's banish 'waterboarding' to the beach, where it belongs with boogie boards and surfboards." – Patrick K. Egan, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Banish it.

The list is compiled from suggestions submitted by anyone who cares to offer one up. Officially the List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness, it's been published each year since New Year's Day 1976. Past recommendations include "you know", "user friendly" and "have a nice day".

If I had remembered, I would have added a couple that are so overused in my world I see them in memos and status reports. Banish "brainstorming" and "out of the box", we'll be just fine if we never hear that crap again.

What about you morons? Got some word or expressions you could live without? Tell us what they are and why!

posted by Dave In Texas at 11:00 AM

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