LSSU Releases Banished Words for 2001

Lake Superior State University ^ | Dec 2001 | LSSU

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LSSU Releases Banished Words for 2001

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - Word Banishment moves into its 26th year at Lake Superior State University with the release of its annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. And what a strange trip it's been since 1976. Just when the language survived millennium hoopla and Y2K disintegration, along came the American election of 2000.

Not surprisingly, 'chad' goes over the top as this year's most-nominated word. It "connotes the effect of contemptible and condemnable chicanery: mass confusion, consternation, and collusion," remarks Lake Superior State University Provost Don McCrimmon.

Kate Rabe Forgach, an editor at the Fort Collins Coloradoan, whose father Wilmer T. Rabe originated the List a quarter-century ago, laments that political commentators in Florida noted with straight faces that, "pregnant did not count . . . only complete insertion did the trick."

"We've heard it twelve times an hour on the news," says Anchorage, Alaska native Mike Warner. "Chad has gotta go."

So be it!

Chad was among hundreds of entries garnered from all over the world by mail and through the Internet. LSSU forms a committee in December to review the year's entries and decide which of them will be included on the list. Word-watchers pull nominations from everyday speech, as well as from the news, sports reports, and from fields of education, technology, advertising, politics and more.

The complete 2001 list follows:

Politics as Usual

SPEAKS TO - At one time we discussed ideas. Nothing more than " bureaucratic bafflegab," says Brenda Skinner of North Bay, Ontario.

CELEBRATE - A one-year moratorium for this word. Pregnant with triteness. It should be "returned to the status it had before it became a vogue word," says Miriam Weiss of Astoria, New York. She adds, "By all means, celebrate holidays and events, but there's been way too much celebration of qualities, heritages, histories and diversity itself. I say, put the hats and horns away." Al Thompson of Cambridge, Massachusetts, says, "Now, every human weirdness is cause to break out the ice cream and cake."

FUZZY MATH - Gets a four-year term limit. Unleashed during a presidential debate, this sound bite could live again during upcoming tax cut and budget surplus fights. "Fuzzy math is only used by people who are masters of it," says Bob Goodsell of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

CHAD - Citizens of Chad, especially those who are pregnant or born with dimples, deserve a peaceful and prosperous new year. Need we say more?

GOING FORWARD - Let's go someplace else with this one. "Since most people travel backward in time, this is a valuable phrase," says Brian Fumo of Newport, Rhode Island.

NEGATIVE GROWTH - As opposed to positive shrinking. 'Gifted' from the world of "morons in three-piece suits trying to sugar-coat their incompetence," according to Kelly Hall of York, Pennsylvania.

MANUAL RECOUNT BY HAND - One of the many words and phrases born during the 2000 presidential election. "I heard this from many newscasters during the election brouhaha. Evidently, 'manual' no longer means 'by hand.'" Patty Peek, Petoskey, Michigan.

Mumblings from the World of Sports

ACADEMICALLY FRAGILE - Describes a student-athlete's precarious academic standing or pedigree. Dangles dangerously into other areas of the 'at risk' realm. Nominated by Dave Kudson of Minneapolis, who traces its origin to a recent basketball scandal in Minnesota.

SHAKEN UP - A dazed and confused word, usually tied into a sports injury. "As if athletes were martinis," notes Kelly Hall of York, Pennsylvania.

FOOT SPEED - Perhaps the leg muscles aren't involved. Jon Reynolds of Lansing, Michigan, nominated this with football sportscasters in mind.

FALSE START PRIOR TO THE SNAP - Redundant usage . . . 10-yard penalty. "If it is a false start, it would inherently be prior to the snap of a football, before the action starts," mentions Sue Golbiw of Royal Oak, Michigan.

Business Babble

DOT.COM nominated by many. Follows 'e-anything,' which was included on the 2000 list. "Since the Superbowl in January 2000, 'dot.com' is heard at the end of every commercial!" Loma Lee, Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Someone will mention a manufacturer's new idea and someone else will ask, 'Are they dot.comming it?' or 'We need to 'dot.com' this!'" Elizabeth Wiethoff, St. Paul, Minnesota.

"My students found it to be one of the most egregious catch-phrases of the year." Harry Coffill, E. Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

LEVERAGE An over-used and often mis-used term in the business world. "I think it is a false verbification of the noun 'leverage,' says Phil Rustage, London, UK.

"Leverage this...leverage that...It makes me want to puke. I don't really know the new definition of this word, but I've caught on (empirically) by hearing it a dozen million times from those suit-wearing marketing bozos." Todd Ryan, Knoxville, Tennessee. Todd performed an Internet search for 'leverage' and found more than 50,000 entries. He quit (and so did we) reading after the fifth entry, calling the lot of it 'gobbledygook.' We agree.

HEADS-UPOver-used in business settings. "...As in, 'I want to give you a heads-up on this,'" says Hugh D. Hyatt, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. "What's wrong with, 'I want to warn you,' or 'I want to give you advanced notice?'"

Media Mayhem

HERO - "The word 'hero' has no meaning anymore. Today's society has applied it many people not deserving of the appellation. Nowadays anyone who would normally be referred to as a role model is called a 'hero.'" Henry Sibley, Natchitoches, Louisiana.

FACTOID - Straight out of some sci-fi thriller. "Some of the news and sports networks have adopted this as a cute come-on for trivia. 'Have you fed your factoid today?'" asks Charles E. Schermerhorn, Lompoc, California.

DUDE - Made even more popular by recent Hollywood creations. "I can't believe you haven't banished it already!" said Adam Santi, of Sioux City, Iowa, after noticing that it isn't on our compiled list.

"One of the more glaring examples of adolescent lingo," said Tim Campbell, father of six teenagers in Victoria, British Columbia.

DIVA - Narrowly escaped the list in 1999 and 2000. "Now being applied to all women singers even though it once applied only to opera singers." says Art Bergeron, Chester, Virginia.

"I thought it was bad when I heard Madonna described as a 'diva.' Since then, I've seen promotions for shows on 'male divas' and 'transvestite divas.'" Jennifer McGraw, Brevort, Michigan.

"Elton John is NOT a diva. He's a GUY!" Lisa Sanderson, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

FINAL DESTINATION - "Aren't all destinations final? (I can't take credit for this. I heard it from George Carlin!)" Justin Meilstrup, Marquette, Michigan.

Just Plain Sloppy

ONE OF THE ONLY - "Either it is the only one or it is one of the few." Zack Soderberg, Las Vegas, Nevada.

BEGS THE QUESTION - "'To beg the question' means to take for granted, without proof, the point at issue, but many people say it when they really mean 'to raise the question,'" says Catherine Lauzon, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Also nominated by listeners of David Newman's show on WJR, Detroit.

SWIPE - "This word means 'to strike with a long or wide sweeping blow,' or 'to steal or pilfer.' It is being used increasingly on credit-card readers in stores. From whom do the merchants want me to steal the card? And I can't see where beating the card will do any good." Laura Brestovansky, Dryden, Michigan.

HAVE A GOOD ONE! - A modification of the 1970s' 'Have a nice day!' "I went into a store to buy some feminine hygiene products... As I paid, the young clerk bid me farewell by saying 'Have a good one!'... Have a good what?" Deb Captain, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Dale Hugo of Arlington Heights, Illinois, sent in a late nomination along with a poem entitled "Language Losses." He sums up the frustration felt by many of those who send nominations to LSSU:

"I guess language changes with the times,
From culture or usage, and that's no crime.
So use your words, and stay up to date,
But when you talk to me, please translate."

Lake Superior State University is Michigan's smallest public university with an enrollment of just over 3000 students. It is known for its academic programs such as fisheries and wildlife management, engineering, teacher education, geology, business management, and criminal justice. For admissions information, go to LSSU's web site: http://www.lssu.edu. LSSU accepts nominations for the Word Banishment list throughout the year, and a committee sifts through the submissions in December. This year's committee included LSSU Public Relations staffers Tom Pink and John Shibley, as well as Lance Rivers, Ph.D., assistant professor of English. To submit your nomination, go to http://www.lssu.edu/banished.

[mommybain]

I heard this one at work in a computer systems discussion:

Architect (v.) as in 'to architect a system solution' or some such nonsense.....

[untenured]

ONE OF THE ONLY - "Either it is the only one or it is one of the few."

File that with "one of the most unique."

[Proud Canadian]

How about:

Legally Accurate and/or "...the definition of is..."

Synergy

In the post September 11th environment....

And of course the double negative "irregardless"

[CaptBlack]

How could we ignore:

• The bottom line is...
  
• Win-win
  And my personal most-hated:
  

• Bi-partisan
  
  I feel much better now...

[subterfuge]

I nominate DISINGENUOUS--

I might be showing my ignorance, but I never heard this word until the election fiasco and now everybody says it. I used it in jest one day at lunch and the bozo next to me says "hey, I'll have to use that word at my next Toastmasters meeting." Barf.

While I'm at it, throw in FIASCO too.

[Otis Mukinfus]

How about; Leverage your knowledge to architect a new system.

[Otis Mukinfus]

Add definitize, definitized and definitization, three buz words used heavily in conferences at the Fort Worth TX Division of Lockheed Martin.

"Please definitize the requirements for this project."

"We haven't definitized the requirements yet, but as soon as we finish the definitization process we will let you know."