the best list of the year 2006 edition
Here it is, the Lake Superior State University 2006 List of Banished Words. With abbreviated descriptions; read the whole thing in Sault Ste. Marie.
SURREAL – One part opiate of the masses, 13 parts overuse.
HUNKER DOWN – To brace oneself, in anticipation of media onslaught.
PERSON OF INTEREST – Found within the context of legal commentary, but seldom encountered at cocktail parties.
COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS – A five-dollar phrase on a nickel-errand. Not to be confused with ‘school.’
UP OR DOWN VOTE – A casualty of today’s partisanship.
BREAKING NEWS – Once it stopped presses. Now it’s a lower-intestinal condition brought about by eating dinner during newscasts.
DESIGNER BREED – “When you mate a miniature schnauzer to a toy poodle, it’s not a ‘Schnoodle,’ it’s a mongrel.”
FEMA – Dedicated to the memory of a great federal agency consigned to the ash heap of parody.
FIRST-TIME CALLER – “I am serious in asking: who in any universe gives a care?”
PASS THE SAVINGS ON TO YOU! – Marketing catch phrase that became a lost-leader long ago.
97% FAT FREE – Adventures in delusion.
AN ACCIDENT THAT DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN – Best-laid mayhem.
JUNK SCIENCE – Banished from the Marketplace of Ideas.
GIT-ER-DONE – (Any of its variations) It’s overdone. [I never heard this one. Ever. Can’t say that I’m sorry.]
DAWG – No designer breed here.
TALKING POINTS – Created after PR staffers stopped attending seminars on how to put a positive ‘spin’ on their press releases.
HOLIDAY TREE – a silly name for what most folks hold as a Christmas tree, no matter your preference of religion.
They’re now accepting submissions for the 2007 list!
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