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Lake Superior State University 2012 List of Banished Words
LSSU ^ | December, 2012

Posted on 12/24/2012 8:05:13 PM PST by equaviator

AMAZING

Received the most nominations. LSSU was surprised at the number of nominations this year for "amazing" and surprised to find that it hadn't been included on the list in the past. Many nominators mentioned over-use on television when they sent their entries, mentioning "reality" TV, Martha Stewart and Anderson Cooper. It seemed to bother people everywhere, as nominations were sent from around the US and Canada and some from overseas, including Israel, England and Scotland. A Facebook page – "Overuse of the Word Amazing" – threatened to change its title to "Occupy LSSU" if 'amazing' escaped banishment this year…

"It's amazing that you haven't added that word to your list over the years. Totally, absolutely, really amazing. Not quite astounding, but still amazing." Charles Attardi, Astoria, NY

"Although I am extremely happy to no longer hear the word 'awesome' used incorrectly and way too often, it appears to me it is quickly being replaced with 'amazing.' Pay attention and you will no doubt be amazingly surprised to find that I am right." Gregory Scott, Palm Springs, Calif.

"People use 'amazing' for anything that is nice or heartwarming. In other words, for things that are not amazing." Gitel Hesselberg, Haifa, Israel

"Every talk show uses this word at least two times every five minutes. Hair is not 'amazing.' Shoes are not 'amazing.' There are any number of adjectives that are far more descriptive. I saw Martha Stewart use the word 'amazing' six times in the first five minutes of her television show. Help!" Martha Waszak, Lansing, Mich.

"Banish it for blatant overuse and incorrect use…to stop my head from exploding." Paul Crutchfield, Norwich, Norfolk, UK

"The word which once aptly described the process of birth is now used to describe such trivial things as toast, or the color of a shirt." JP, Comox, British Columbia, Canada

"Anderson Cooper used it three times recently in the opening 45 seconds of his program. My teeth grate, my hackles rise and even my dog is getting annoyed at this senseless overuse. I don't even like 'Amazing Grace' anymore. Sarah Howley, Kalamazoo, Michigan

"The word has been overused to describe things only slightly better than mundane. I blame Martha Stewart because to her, EVERYTHING is amazing! It has lost its 'wow factor' and has reached 'epic' proportions of use. It's gone 'viral,' I say! 'I'm just sayin'!' Alyce-Mae Alexander, Maitland, Florida

BABY BUMP

Although nominated by many over the years, this phrase came in as a close second to "amazing" this year.

"This is a phrase we need to finally give birth to, then send on its way." Mary Sturgeon, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

"I'm tired of a pregnancy being reduced to a celebrity accessory. Or worse, when less-than-six-pack abs are suspected of being one." Afton, Portland, Oregon

I am so sick of that phrase! It makes pregnancy sound like some fun and in-style thing to do, not a serious choice made by (at the very least) the woman carrying the child." Susan, Takoma Park, Maryland

"Why can't we just use the old tried-and-true 'pregnant?' I never heard anyone complain about that description." Eric, Poca, West Virginia.

SHARED SACRIFICE

"Usually used by a politician who wants other people to share in the sacrifice so he/she doesn’t have to." Scott Urbanowski, Kentwood, Michigan

OCCUPY

"'Occupy Wall Street' grew to become Occupy 'insert name of your city here' all over the country. It should be banished because of the media overuse and now people use it all the time, i.e. 'I guess we will occupy your office and have the meeting there.' 'We are headed to Grandma's house – Occupy Thanksgiving is under way." Bill Drewes, Rochester Hills, Michigan

"It has been overused and abused even to promote Black Friday shopping." Grant Barnett, Palmdale, California

"Why couldn't they have used a more palatable kind, like pecan or peach?" Bob Forrest, Tempe, Arizona

BLOWBACK

Sometimes exchanged with "pushback" to mean resistance.

"'Blowback' is used by corporate (types) to mean 'reaction,' when the word 'reaction' would have been more than sufficient. Example: 'If we send out the press release, how should we handle the blowback from the community?'" John, Los Angeles, California

MAN CAVE

"Overused by television home design and home buying shows, has trickled down to sitcoms, commercials, and now has to be endured during interactions with real estate people, neighbors and co-workers. Jim, Flagstaff, Arizona "It is not just over-used, it is offensive to we males who do not wish to hunker (another awful word, often misused) down in a room filled with stuffed animal heads, an unnecessarily large flat-screen TV and Hooters memorabilia. Not every man wants a recliner the size of a 1941 Packard that has a cooler in each arm and a holster for the remote. So please, assign 'man cave' to the lexicographic scrap heap where it so rightly belongs." David Hollis, Hubbardsville, New York

THE NEW NORMAL

"The phrase is often used to justify bad trends in society and to convince people that they are powerless to slow or to reverse those trends. This serves to reduce participation in the political process and to foster cynicism about the ability of government to improve people's lives. Sometimes the phrase is applied to the erosion of civil liberties. More often, it is used to describe the sorry state of the U.S. economy. Often hosts on TV news channels use the phrase shortly before introducing some self-help guru who gives glib advice to the unemployed and other people having financial difficulties. Robert Brown, Raleigh, North Carolina

PET PARENT

"Can a human being truly be a parent to a different species? Do pet 'owners' not love their pets as much pet 'parents' do? Are we equating pet ownership with slave holding? This cloyingly correct term is capable of raising my blood sugar. Lynn Ouellette, Buffalo, New York

WIN THE FUTURE

A political phrase worn wherever you look – to the left (President Obama) or the right (Newt Gingrich).

"On its very face, it's an empty, meaningless phrase. It basically says that anyone who opposes anything meant to 'win the future' must want to 'lose the future,' which is highly unlikely. But, hey, you may already be a winner." Jim Eisenmann, Madison, Wisconsin

TRICKERATION

"Why? Why? Why? This one seems to be the flavor du jour for football analysts. What's wrong with 'trick' or 'trickery?' No doubt, next year's model will be 'trickerationism.'" Gene Bering, Seminole, Texas

"A made-up word used by football analysts to describe a trick play. Sounds unintelligent. Perhaps they've had a few too many concussions in the football world to notice." Carrie Hansen, Grayling, Michigan

GINORMOUS

"No need to make a gigantic (idiot) out of yourself trying to find an enormous word for 'big.'" Coulombe, Sanford, Florida "This combination of gigantic and enormous makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck every time I hear it. Each utterance reminds me of the high school drop-out that first used this offensive word in my presence. Gina Bua, Vancouver, Washington

"This word is just a made-up combination of two words. Either word is sufficient, but the combination just sounds ridiculous. Jason, Andover, Maine

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

"Usually followed by 'for your cooperation,' this is a condescending and challenging way to say, 'Since I already thanked you, you have to do this.'" Mike Cloran, Cincinnati, Ohio


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: 2012review; language
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To: publius911

Im a single man, my whole house is a Man Cave.


21 posted on 12/24/2012 11:24:19 PM PST by Husker24
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To: equaviator

I would add “baby daddy” to “baby bump”


22 posted on 12/25/2012 2:25:15 AM PST by Cowboy Bob (Soon the "invisible hand" will press the economic "reset" button.)
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To: shove_it

I believe “At the end of the day” was on last year’s list. I know it’s already been banned.


23 posted on 12/25/2012 3:23:03 AM PST by LazloToth
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To: equaviator

This thread will be shared with our gathering today.

What happened to ABSOLUTELY?


24 posted on 12/25/2012 4:39:52 AM PST by cicero2k
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To: equaviator

At the end of the day, these people bring to the table ginormous problems for the persons of interest if they don’t stop pushing the envelope by doubling down and throwing people under the bus.


25 posted on 12/25/2012 4:52:09 AM PST by driftless2
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To: equaviator

It irks me to hear a man say, “we are pregnant”, meaning he and his wife.

Why didn’t, “unexpected” make the list? All economic bad news is “unexpected by liberals everywhere.


26 posted on 12/25/2012 4:54:30 AM PST by Graybeard58 ("Civil rights” leader and MSNB-Hee Haw host Al Sharpton - Larry Elder)
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To: equaviator

——Can a human being truly be a parent to a different species?———

Yes

As I was recently leaving the breakfast room of a hotel I was following a woman leading a small dog. I almost bumped in to her as she suddenly stopped right in the door way.

She said, presumably to the dog, “Tell them all good Bye”


27 posted on 12/25/2012 4:59:48 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....The fairest Deduction to be reduced is the Standard Deduction)
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To: equaviator

Basically...


28 posted on 12/25/2012 5:07:57 AM PST by FES0844
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To: equaviator

FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA


29 posted on 12/25/2012 5:29:38 AM PST by relictele
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To: equaviator
MAN CAVE

My “man cave” is my garage. It contains a reloading bench, a bike lift, a desk with my computer, tool chest(s), usually 2-4 motorcycles (mine & others) and pictures of my heroes. You know the usual, Dick Klamforth, Gary Nixon Dick Mann etc. No recliner, no TV

30 posted on 12/25/2012 5:36:38 AM PST by Tupelo (I'm an old man and most people hate me, but I don't like them either so that makes it all even.)
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To: equaviator

If you ever hear (or read) the word AMAZING in a commercial or upon the packaging of the product it means that it is a piece of crap.

There are no exceptions.


31 posted on 12/25/2012 6:24:45 AM PST by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: Husker24

Add “writing your in place of the contraction for ‘you are’ (you’re)”


32 posted on 12/25/2012 6:56:26 AM PST by sbMKE
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To: equaviator

AMAZING has got to go. I watch Parks and Recreation and lose count how many times it’s used in one sentence.

I also can’t stand ‘Nothing is worse than....’


33 posted on 12/25/2012 7:03:40 AM PST by Mountain Bike Vomit Carnage ("Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.")
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To: rlmorel

Awesome!


34 posted on 12/25/2012 9:28:28 AM PST by Zuse
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To: Zuse

Heh, glad you liked it. To be truthful, I don’t have anything against “amazing”, what I have something against is people who use it to season every description of everything.

All the other ones do irritate me, though I admit to never having heard of “trickeration”. That just sounds stupid...


35 posted on 12/25/2012 11:35:13 AM PST by rlmorel (1793 French Jacobins and 2012 American Liberals have a lot in common.)
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To: Zuse; Tupelo
I actually don't have anything against "man cave" either, as it was foisted on my consciousness by my wife. I don't have a television in mine either, but dang it, no reloader, either...

This is a segment of what I have on top of all the cabinets that go around the room...:)

36 posted on 12/25/2012 11:48:17 AM PST by rlmorel (1793 French Jacobins and 2012 American Liberals have a lot in common.)
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To: Dr. Pritchett

That’s right up there with the hostile rhetorical “OKAY?” intended to forestall any further discussion when it is obvious that listener will not accept what the speaker just offered, and the speaker knows it.


37 posted on 12/25/2012 1:27:34 PM PST by Erasmus (Zwischen des Teufels und des tiefen, blauen Meers)
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To: Husker24

Well, the two words could be taken as synonyms.


38 posted on 12/25/2012 1:30:48 PM PST by Erasmus (Zwischen des Teufels und des tiefen, blauen Meers)
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To: Dr. Pritchett

“Are you SERIOUS?...”


39 posted on 12/26/2012 5:22:20 PM PST by equaviator
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To: shove_it

“Think outside the box” drives me absolutely nuts.

.


40 posted on 12/26/2012 5:26:16 PM PST by Mears
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