Banished Words

Posted on January 3, 2005 in Originality & Creativity

This is worth revisiting. Absolutely. Thank the professors at Lake Superior State University for the year 2005 version of their Banished Words List. Yes, some of them truly deserve to be scrubbed out of the lexicons and, more importantly, out of the media. Spell checkers should be programmed to highlight them and demand a little more creativity, a little more imagination. I second the choices. I promote them as a guide to transforming style. Except for, maybe, the word “blog”. I like that one.

Here’s the plain list:

1. blue state/red state
2. flip-flop/flip flopping/flip flopper
3. battleground state
4. and I approve this message
5. pockets of resistance
6. improvised explosive device
7. enemy combatant
8. carbs
9. You’re fired!
10. über
11. izzle speak
12. wardrobe malfunction
13. blog
14. webinar
15. zero percent APR financing
16. safe and effective
17. erectile dysfunction
18. journey
19. body wash
20. sale event
21. all new
22. and more

Now I disagree with the banning of the word “blog” because it gives us a nice, condensed term to refer to a new phenomenon. But the others made me nod vigorously in agreement.

To read the rationales for identifying these as slanguage, click here.