Lake Superior State's 32nd annual banished words list
Andrew Norton
Each year Lake Superior State processes thousands of words that the public recommends should be banished from "the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness." The list is whittled down by a committee in December and released in January. Here is this year's list in no particular order.
- GITMO - shorthand for U.S. military base in Cuba
- Combined celebrity names (i.e. Bragelina)
- Awesome - Rats, that's a favorite of mine. Probably due to watching Napoleon Dynamite too many times.
- Gone/Went missing - Is that in Nebraska? Can you get me directions to Missing?
- PWN or PWND - popular phrase online gamers use instead of "own" or "owned"
- Now Playing in Theaters
- We're Pregnant - Oh yeah big boy? I thought you were just gaining a little weight.
- Undocumented Alien - no documents = Illegal
- Armed Robbery/Drug Deal Gone Bad
- Truthiness - Hmm, sounds like a bad tasting granola bar. Maybe it is - they say that sometimes the truth is hard to swallow ;)
- Ask Your Doctor - and make the pharmaceutical companies some cash!
- Chipotle
- i-ANYTHING
- Search - as in the internet
- Healthy Food
- Boasts - as in our motel boasts king-sized beds and a jacuzzi.
View the list with additional comments at www.lssu.edu/banished/.