Fiscal cliff was the ‘word’ that received the most nominations for banishment from the English language in Lake Superior State University’s annual list of ‘Words to be Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness’ (see this Guardian article, and the university’s own page here).
Other words and phrases appearing on the 2013 list include: kick the can down the road, double down, job creators/ creation, bucket list, superfood, and trending.
Long-existing words such as passion, passionate and guru are on the list too. They are considered annoying by many people because of the way people are using them these days.
The word banishment list was started by the public relations director at Lake Superior State University in 1977 as a way of gaining publicity for the institution. The very first list back then included the words meaningful, input, scenario, detente and dialogue.
See some of this year’s contenders on the university’s website here.
Hi Susan:
A belated happy holidays to you, amd the best for the new year.
These lists are among the major non-events of our time on earth.
As we both know, which words stick. are decided by the elusive court of public opinion.
Journalists (I used to be one), however, are always happy to natter on about the "Word of the Year," or whatever, to fill column inches when the news is slow.
By the way, if you haven't done so lately, take a look at my blog (Marc Leavitt's Blog). There are a few posts that may interest you.
Cheers!
Posted by: Marc Leavitt | January 03, 2013 at 08:21 PM
Thanks, Marc. Happy New Year to you, too.
Your blog is interesting. Thanks. Here's the link for others
http://www.marcleavitt.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Virtual Linguist | January 06, 2013 at 12:02 PM