December 31, 2008 10:16 AM
Banished words/phrases: maverick, Main Street, going green
It's that time of the year again for the annual list of words and phrases that ought to be banished from the Queen's English for misuse.
The words and phrases, compiled by the good folks at Lake Superior State University, were selected from 5,000 nominations. Among the phrases: "It's that time of the year again."
Despite the year's economic meltdown (which itself wasn't banished but don't rule it out for next year), the most entries came from the environmental category - for "green" or "going green.""If I see one more corporation declare itself 'green,' I'm going to start burning tires in my backyard," wrote Ed Hardiman of Bristow, Va., in his submission. Nominators also had their fill of "carbon footprint" - the amount of greenhouse gases an individual's lifestyle produces.
The list wasn't overrun with politics despite the national election - no "change," for instance - but one simply couldn't escape the critics' wrath.
"I'm a maverick, he's a maverick, wouldn't you like to be a maverick, too?" offered Michael Burke of Silver Spring, Md., in his entry for the label embraced by unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
What words/phrases would you add to the list?
December 31, 2008
10:49 AM
Captain Cliche writes:
Ok folks, look:
I've gathered you all together in one place to disseminate some thought processes. We need to focus on our core strengths and to examine our best practices, because at the end of the day, it is what it is. So let's go out there and be customer focused, because after all, the customer is the final arbiter and quality is job one.
December 31, 2008
11:05 AM
SASQUATCH writes:
GLOBAL WARING & NEW ENERGY ECONOMY TOP MY LIST
Both have become the object of laughter, giggles and smiles at cocktail parties all over the planet. They are long overdue joining "pet rock," "leisure suit," and "hoola hoop" as part of our language. Let's hope that they are vanquished to Jurassic Park in 2009.
December 31, 2008
11:37 AM
Tree writes:
My favorite word is Maverick and this word has to be put on the Acme rocket and blasted to the moon to vanish forever.
It was best used by Tina Fey on SNL when she said something to the tune of " and for those of you involved in a drinking game, Maverick "
Shaggy, you HAVE to name your next dog Maverick, b/c that's the law.
December 31, 2008
11:49 AM
anderson writes:
"impacted"
"exactly"
December 31, 2008
12:16 PM
doubled writes:
Two words. Bailout. Seriously.
December 31, 2008
12:46 PM
KingFishWatch writes:
"CHANGE"...CHANGE GOTTA GO!
I prerdict that "CHANGE" will morph into MORE OF THE SAME in 2009--"CHANGE" will prove to be very short lived, void, vacant and empty. The political B.S. will get exposed as it always is, "CHANGE" is a loser.
BAILOUT, STIMULUS, VICTIM, PROGRESSIVE, ACTIVIST, FORECLOSED and AFFIRMATIVE ACTION are also too often abused and need to be lost into our language dumper JUST like "cabbage patch doll" and "harmonic convergence". And HEALTH FOOD too. What's healthy today is tomorrow's heart-attack!
December 31, 2008
12:53 PM
Shaggy writes:
Tree,
In my neck of the woods dogs are Lion snacks.
December 31, 2008
1:03 PM
gr8fuldude writes:
I'm fine with the language, but can we ban sasquatch?
December 31, 2008
1:07 PM
history buff writes:
Geez, Tree. I had an old girl friend who wanted to name our first born son Maverick.
It looks like most of the words people want to banish represent problems that they don't want to admit exist. Very primitive. That sounds like an old Soviet solution. We don't have poverty because the word poverty doesn't exist in the lexicon.
We don't have global warming because the phrase global warming does not exist.
I guess if I had to chose a phrase, it would be "worst movie ever." That way no one could say that about any one of mine.
December 31, 2008
1:27 PM
Holier Than Thou writes:
Thanks to Captain Cliche for the laugh.
I have been tasked to make a continuing resolution on this subject area. I'm trying to be politically correct but this may require a diplomatic offensive instead. I hope to deploy such weapons of peace that the peacekeeping force will not find it necessary to make a defensive preemptive strike applying shock and awe to produce a significant but not newsworthy amount of collateral damage.
Naturally, there are those who biases strongly object to my opinions which come from the radical center. They would gladly see me locked up in a state-sponsored correctional institution rather than the penitentiary. Maybe I would be misunderestimating Bush if I assume that his goons would never come knocking to take me via extraordinary rendition, which is just a polite way of saying someone has been abducted.
I hope that if I go on like this that I might enjoy some form of executive compensation rather than merely collecting a huge bonus based on projected income as opposed to temporarily lost revenue. But I plan on using my golden parachute before the auditors show up and find the missing money that I stole.
So far, I've convinced my former employees that they "lost" their jobs. They seem to be taking this well as they have not come back here looking for them. I guess that I get to pocket the earnings I made by downsizing them after all.
December 31, 2008
1:34 PM
KingFishWatch writes:
"CHANGE"...CHANGE GOTTA GO!
I prerdict that "CHANGE" will morph into MORE OF THE SAME in 2009--"CHANGE" will prove to be very short lived, void, vacant and empty. The political B.S. will get exposed as it always is, "CHANGE" is a loser.
Organic, all-natural, range-fed and progressive need to be retired as well.
December 31, 2008
1:46 PM
Captain Cliche writes:
Holier -
I can visualize your situational challenges, and I think that conceptualization of parademic analysis will yield opportunitic efficiencies on an unforeseen scale. Leverage those, and focus on delivering market-driven quality to your target audience, and you will see customer-focused success.
(I've been through a few too many reorgs in my time)
January 1, 2009
8:59 AM
Tbone writes:
how about any references to socalism?
January 1, 2009
10:28 AM
Honus Wager writes:
don't get rid of joe the plumber
Im having too much fun with it
January 1, 2009
1:08 PM
incognitoboy writes:
"W" should be banned for life from ever saying 'in other words' again.
that only confirms that when he speaks, he doesn't have a clue what's coming out of his mouth in the first place.
i also nominate the words 'shaggy', 'sasquatch', 'ben', and 'hogar'
January 1, 2009
2:15 PM
ML writes:
nukular
January 1, 2009
3:44 PM
Ben -Indegenous writes:
"undocumented immigrant"
"white priviledge"
"homo phobia"
"gay marriage"
"celebrate diversity"
"liberal" ( a true oxymoron)
"fundi" - (truly stupid)
"Affirmative Action"
"Native American"
"African American"
any abbreviation in front of American
January 1, 2009
6:30 PM
wrtr83 writes:
Change. Hope. Future.
Hope is for losers. I think we need a plan, not hope, not change, not some unplanned future. Then we need to work to the plan. If we do not reach our goals, fix the plan. Plan. Work. Evaluate. Plan. Work. Evaluate. Then we may get somewhere. Hope may have lots of fans, but there's not a winner among 'em.
January 2, 2009
2:19 AM
Roni writes:
sustainable
global
green
environmental
eco
global warming
politically correct
you know
uh, uh, uh.....
January 2, 2009
8:55 AM
Shaggy writes:
One sentence I don't think the left nutters will ever retire is "it's Bush's fault".
Me bets the media will let Barry get away blaming him for quite some time because Barry will not be able to fulfill his many campaign promises.
But then again the Media was able to spray the Teflon phony with enough man love that nothing sticks to him.
2008 was the year unbiased journalism died and now we have the least qualified, least experienced and most Liberal in charge at one of the most challenging times in American History.
Hell we still don't even know if Barry is Kenyan or American....Unbelievable.
January 2, 2009
9:03 AM
Hogar De Vuelta (العودة) Redistributing income is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. writes:
Government Speak
"Phrase"
Translation
"Increase revenue"
Steal more money
"Budget Cuts"
Entitlement free ride grows a little slower
"Bail out"
Steal from the succesful to help the unsuccesful
"Economic Stimulus"
Give back some of the money we stole, but not proportionaly. Just another cover for economic redistribution.
"Fair"
If you are successful, we will impose enough roadblocks to make you perform below your level.
If you are rich, we will make you poor.
January 2, 2009
9:16 AM
Kurt Hildebrand writes:
"Socialism" can't be ignored at all. Let's keep it around. I'm seeing the connection with all the bailouts but there's more. States in financial trouble are not heeding to the danger warnings about extravagent spending and keep up their excesses. I could be wrong but I sense an conspired ruin of their finances by liberal reps and governors to get their own bailout, and hence, a spiral to a bigger, more central, socialized government structure. Being from Wisconsin, I see no drop in state spending, but things in the private sector contract. Perhaps the socialists are saying, "Well, at least we will have our way."
A word that seems to have withered by itself is "outperform," as in "Our mutual fund dropped only 35%, and thus our superior management produced results that outperformed other funds in its peer group by 25%. Mutual fund companies don't seem to use the work "outperform" any more because, it would seem, you have to at least have to perform in the positive to have the right to say that word.
January 2, 2009
9:42 AM
Holier Than Thou writes:
Make no mistake. I love freedom fries, so don't hate us for our freedom to eat'em, period.
Like any top-level executive, I'm entitled to my corporate welfare. Just don't call it socialism. I'm not socialist. I'm merely tapping the public treasury by applying capitalistic legalisms to leverage this revenue enhancing opportunity.
As a staunch conservative, I'm adamantly opposed big government while also getting in the fight against those bleeding-heart liberals at the ACLU. They don't realize that we need total information awareness to fight terrorism when they say that we're illegally spying on US citizens, which may arguably be in violation of the 4th Amendment. However, it is necessary to sacrifice civil liberty to protect freedom.
January 2, 2009
11:02 AM
Bill writes:
Is there a word I would like to see banned? ABSOLUTELY!
ABSOLUTELY banned. Banned ABSOLUTELY!
Oh, ABSOLUTELY!
I gag every time I hear someone use that freakin' word and
it is used in so many putrid ways.
January 2, 2009
1:24 PM
Truth writes:
"Plastic Messiah"
"Fundie"
"bbbbbbbut Clinton"
January 2, 2009
5:18 PM
incognitoboy writes:
'neo-con' - can be replaced by 'regressive'
'limbaugh' - can be replaced by 'blowhard lardass'
'coulter' - just shut UP
'bush' - can be replaced by anything at all.
'maverick' - unless used in a drinking game
'roni' - (above) should simply be replaced .....
January 3, 2009
11:45 PM
Tommy writes:
How about banning all that absurd annoying ignorant text-speak?
wtf r u saying? omg get keyboard and learn to type WORDS on it.
January 5, 2009
10:35 AM
prima facie writes:
I once entertained some folks in the checkout line at the grocery by declaring to my wife that I will be a parent, I will perform the duties of a parent but I will not, under any circumstances, "parent," as a verb.
Similarly, I will not "partner" but I'll be your partner for a $10 Nassau at Saddle Rock; I will not "impact" your project, but my effort will have an impact on it; and (with all due love to an old buddy and politician from back home, Leonard Poletti) under no circumstances, should anything be "agendized;" just add it to the agenda.
How about a ban on the improper use of the word "so"? As in, "I am so not going to eat at Pizza Hut," or "You are so busted." I think we've had enough bubbleheaded twit-speak for one decade, hmm?
And can we criminalize (ouch, is that even a word?) improper conjugation of verbs, especially "to be." As in, "I be driving home now;" "we was having lunch;" and "I doesn't be wanting another drink." This affliction is rampant among certain demographics, primarily professional athletes.
January 5, 2009
11:30 AM
prima facie writes:
We must stop turning nouns into verbs. As I told my wife 20 years ago, I will be a parent, I will perform the duties of a parent, but I will not "parent." Similarly, I will be your partner in $10 rabbits at Saddle Rock, but we will not "partner," and I'm not likely to "impact" your project but I'll gladly see what impact I can have.
Over-use of the modifier "so" has made too many of us sound like bubbleheaded twits, as in "I'm so not eating more Thanksgiving turkey" or "You are so busted."
And can we do anything about incorrect conjugation of verbs, especially "do" and "to be." One more "I be driving to work now," or "You doesn't get no more of my money" and I'll be forced to scream. This afflication is rampant among some demographics, especially professional athletes.
Speaking of which, please remind all television and radio football announcers that they needn't remind us every other phrase that it is a football game they are calling. "He's a great football player who just made a good football play while carrying the football against those other football players down there on the football field."
And the next time ESPN's Chris Berman speaks of the "New York football Giants," kindly remind him that the baseball Giants left New York 50 years ago. Unless there is a volleyball Giants team or a lacrosse Giants, there are maybe five people alive today who are likely to be confused.
January 5, 2009
12:29 PM
prima facie writes:
And, no, "afflication" isn't a word. My bad.
January 5, 2009
2:49 PM
Ben writes:
Prima,
It is now.
January 5, 2009
5:40 PM
incognitoboy writes:
prima -
could you have been looking for the word 'affectation'? my preference for typing in all lower case is an affectation, and in no way indicative of my intelligence or ability to punctuate and capitalize properly.
i suppose 'affliction' could have equal merit in that context, as many folks are 'afflicted' with minimal intelligence.
often, they simply 'inflict' their ignorance on the populace.
i'm surprised more folks didn't include your closing phase in this list.....'my bad'
you are 'so' busted.......
January 6, 2009
8:26 AM
prima facie writes:
No, affliction is the correct usage. Poor speech is an affliction that must be treated and eradicated.
And, good one, my bad" should also join the list. My bad.
January 6, 2009
9:18 AM
prima facie writes:
No, affliction is the correct usage. Poor speech is an affliction that must be treated and eradicated.
And, good one, my bad" should also join the list. My bad.