Lake Superior State is a small university in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on the Canadian border. One annual mission of the school is compiling a list of words that are so overused they almost hurt.
Every year since 1976, the school has released the "List of Words Banished From the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness." (I would banish a couple of those hyphens.)
They solicit opinions from people around the world. The words are ones that became popular and then wouldn't go away. Of course, no penalties, fines or legal actions stand behind the list.
The list for New Year's Day 2017 includes historic, on fleek, dadbod, guesstimate, Frankenfruit and manicured. If you want to read more about this year's list, go to lssu.edu/banished.
I thought I'd look up some of the words from the early years of the list to see how much people heeded it.
• 1976
At this point in time. Sadly, this one has lingered and lingered. Saying "now" is a lot easier.
• 1980
Pre-board. How can you board before you board, anyhow?
• 1983
State-of-the-art. Often this is joined by "sleek," I think. But "modern" works OK by itself.
• 1987
Foreign imports. Hmm, where else would imports come from? Rhode Island?
• 1989
Enclosed please find. I love this one. If you're mailing something to a person who can't find something inside an envelope, you might have larger problems.
• 1991
Creative differences. Such an innocent way of saying people couldn't stand to be in the same room.
• 1995
Information superhighway. I don't hear this often these days. Internet seems to work fine.
• 1997
Down time. Computers have down time. People just aren't busy, or they relax.
• 2000
Issues. No, you can't say it's a problem. The less direct, squishier term "issues" will make everyone feel better.
• 2001
Negative growth. I'm no economist, but as far as I can tell, this means "loss."
• 2003
Untimely death. I think a survey of people who had died would yield that death rarely comes at an opportune time.
• 2012
Thank you in advance.
A presumptuous way of saying, I know you're going to do this.
If you have a word or phrase you want to submit to the list for next year, go to lssu.edu/banished and click on "Submit A Word."
GEEK HISTORY
What a difference a century or so makes. The word "geek" in the 19th century meant a fool or a dupe.
By the early 20th century, the word had a specific use in the United States, the land of opportunity. A geek was a carnival performer who did over-the-top things on stage, such as eating the head off a live chicken. The 1947 movie Nightmare Alley, with Tyrone Power, featured a couple of these fellows.
In the 1950s, beat writer Jack Kerouac used the word as a slightly disparaging way to describe an industrious student. But, we would all have to admit, being a little nerdy at school is probably a lot better than chomping on animate creatures.
By the '80s, "geek" became a person who was adept at computers. If you have ever had to depend on a geek to fix a computer, you love a geek.
Sources: wordorigins.org, Lake Superior State University, m-w.com
Reach Bernadette at
bkwordmonger@gmail.com
ActiveStyle on 01/16/2017