Huckleberries Online

Banned Words

Posted by Cindy

Dec. 31, 2009 11:45 a.m. • 31 comments

KANSAS CITY (Reuters) – If you recently tweeted about how you were chillaxin for the holiday, take note: Fifteen particularly over- or mis-used words and phrases have been declared “shovel-ready” to be “unfriended” by a U.S. university’s annual list of terms that deserve to be banned.

After thousands of nominations of words and phrases commonly used in marketing, media, technology and elsewhere, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University on Thursday issued their 35th annual list of words that they believe should be banned.

Tops on the Michigan university’s list of useless phrases was “shovel-ready.” The term refers to infrastructure projects that are ready to break ground and was popularly used to describe road, bridge and other construction projects fueled by stimulus funds from the Obama administration.

And speaking of stimulus, that word — which was applied to government spending aimed at boosting the economy — made the over-used category as well, along with an odd assortment of Obama-related constructions such as Obamacare and Obamanomics.

“We say Obamanough already,” the LSSU committee said. More here.

Sexting, bromance, and teachable moment made the list. Any words you’d like to see included?

31 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

hmoffsuite on December 31 at 11:50 a.m.
Curious that many of the words and phrases they suggest banning are often used by Obama. They seem to think those words are worthless. Me too. Shovel ready anyone? Teaching moment? Transparency?
scootermom on December 31 at 12:21 p.m.
How about maverick and rogue. Overused and void of meaning.
Smacky on December 31 at 12:28 p.m.
Wow hmoff. Can you read anything and not think of some way to link it to Obama? It’s starting to look like a fetish.

My nomination: “it is what it is”, a complete waste of words.
poolman on December 31 at 12:31 p.m.
Gookined
hmoffsuite on December 31 at 12:33 p.m.
Smacky. Read the full article and the list and tell me it doesn’t sound like Obama. That isn’t what I was looking for when I opened the link to read it.
moscow_minidoka on December 31 at 12:34 p.m.
Hmoff’s obsession with Obama is as strong as Gollum’s obsession with the One Ring.
hmoffsuite on December 31 at 12:36 p.m.
Btw. If I were to offer a word to be possibly banned, it might be ‘unprecedented’ and I would want to make that ‘perfectly clear’. .
spokelooneh on December 31 at 12:45 p.m.
If you follow this project by LSSU over the years, you’ll realize it’s more tongue in cheek than analytical.

Actually, one line pretty much sums up their merry-making:

“We say Obamanough already,”
Kage_Mann on December 31 at 12:49 p.m.
Happy Holidays ought to be banned. It’s a cheap substitute for: “Merry Christmas”.
poolman on December 31 at 12:56 p.m.
Banned? - I thought it was Added…

Here is my vote - Ya Betcha ; (wink)
Smacky on December 31 at 12:57 p.m.
Cheap substitute? So wishing someone Happy Holy days is second rate?
Kage_Mann on December 31 at 1:05 p.m.
Smacky on December 31 at 12:57 p.m.

Cheap substitute? So wishing someone Happy Holy days is second rate?

It’s a term used by the politically correct crowd, because they didn’t want to offend anybody. Yet, 99.9% of the populace in America come from christians backgrounds. Lets not cave to the tiny minority.
joebu on December 31 at 1:10 p.m.
My perennial favorite want-to-throw-up words/phrases
Anything with synergy, ever.
Overuse of the word obviously. If you need to say something is obvious, it obviously isn’t.
Brangelina (oldie but goodie)
Vocalizing text phrases — actually saying “LOL” or “OMG.” Exceptions allowed for WTF/WTH which are politer forms of cursing,
At the end of the day
Don’t get me started on misuse of political phrases/ideologies, like when people accuse others of being socialists, Nazis and Communists in the same breath. Sorry — they may frighten and confuse you but they can’t be all of the above simultaneously.
Finally I surprisingly like the phrase “it is what it is.” It’s very Zen.
For my next year resolution I want to work in the phrase, “Now you’re barking up the RIGHT tree.”
Cindy_H on December 31 at 2:02 p.m.
OMG Joe!
Someone just said “LOL” to me yesterday. I just looked at him quietly. He then said, “You know J/K!”
I just stared.
I can’t stand it.
Personally, I’ve found myself saying “it is what is,” too much lately. It says a lot.
spokelooneh on December 31 at 2:07 p.m.
“Yet, 99.9% of the populace in America come from christians backgrounds. Lets not cave to the tiny minority.”
-Kage.

Patently false.

78% of Americans self-identify as Christian.
The next biggest category is Secular Unaffiliated (with any religion) at 6.3%, then Religious Unaffiliated at 5.8%.

Other religions make up 4.7% Agnostics and Atheists make up 4%.

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

Something larger than 78% may have come from “christians backgrounds” (sic), but many of them left the faith due to a bad experience with some Christian faith traditions, particularly fundamentalism.
Phaedrus on December 31 at 2:10 p.m.
Curious that many of the words and phrases they suggest banning are often used by Obama—hmoffsuite

Obama Derangement Syndrome epitomized.
spokelooneh on December 31 at 2:11 p.m.
I’ve used it plenty in the past, but I believe the phrase “just sayin…” and derivatives thereof has jumped the shark.

Interestingly, “jumped the shark” itself jumped the shark probably a decade or so ago.

And RIP William Safire.
hmoffsuite on December 31 at 2:18 p.m.
Not ODS Phaedrus. You read the words and tell me that Obama isn’t associated with many of them. Face reality. Those words found me, I didn’t go looking for them on this list.
Phaedrus on December 31 at 2:22 p.m.
“Not ODS” —

The first signs is the inbability to recognize it.

“Those words found me” —

The second sign, paranoia.
Phaedrus on December 31 at 2:24 p.m.
hmoffsuite, you have made 2310 comments on this site since last December, want to venture a guess how many have concerned Obama?

;-)
hmoffsuite on December 31 at 2:34 p.m.
Phaedrus. Coincidentally, you have made 2263 posts. Want to venture a guess how many were attacking me for having made a comment about Obama? :~)
Cabbage Boy on December 31 at 2:42 p.m.
Careful HMO, Phaed probably has that cataloged and triple indexed already.

I’ll second Joe’s synergy and raise him and empowering verb. Never could get into the buzz words.

And yes, Cindy, when someone LOLs me out loud, yah gotta wonder if they have a clue what it means.
Cindy_H on December 31 at 2:47 p.m.
I’ll add buzz words :-)

Actually we got the game Buzz Words for Christmas. It’s a hoot!
Smacky on December 31 at 3:08 p.m.
Wrong Kage, “Holidays” is an old english form of Holy Days before the Roman Catholic Church came up with Christ-Mass. Holidays was used for centuries by Christians to greet one another, without anyone browbeating them for not being Christian enough. But carry on with your war against the so-called war on Xmas….someday maybe WII will put to use in a game.
OrangeTV on December 31 at 6:32 p.m.
Let’s make a drinking game. Every time hmo bitches about Obama, take a shot. On a typical day around here, we’d be totally on our lips by noon. We could switch it around to take a shot every time he posts something without mentioning Obama, but we wouldn’t even be able to catch a little buzz. Either way, his relentless obsession drives me to the bottle…
OrangeTV on December 31 at 6:39 p.m.
Seasons greetings, Kage. Hope you enjoy the last day of Kwanzaa tomorrow.
keithincda on December 31 at 6:41 p.m.
I dunno OTV, between you and Pheadrus, Sys and Spoke railing on him all the time, you guys aren’t any better.
And I for one, having been around here for awhile can tell you, the complaints about Obama have not come even close to outpacing the complaining that was done about Bush in the last few years.

So…drink up or move on.
OrangeTV on December 31 at 6:58 p.m.
Sorry, Keith. As long as hmo keeps doing it, we’re going to keep on making fun of him. It’s just part of the HBO magic. We like to amaze at how he can pull a negative Obama comment out of thin air, appropriate of nothing, and then drive it all the way to the ground. He is the master.

Like I’ve said, it’s basically nothing to do with the actual politics, it’s the repetitive, stuck-in-an-endless-loop aspect of it that drives us insane. The Bush bashing was equally as annoying at times, though usually much more deserved.

Imagine if I started making multiple posts complaining about the price of bananas or something on virtually every thread, even when the subject of the thread has nothing at all to do with bananas, just to get in a nasty dig at the horrible, awful banana industry. Imagine this went on daily for months and months to the point of obsession. Tiresome and a little bizarre, no?

We have as much control over the actions of the sitting president as we do over the price of bananas: none, so why carry on about it?

Anyway, I’ll have a sloe gin fizz, thankyouverymuch.
spokelooneh on December 31 at 7:24 p.m.
“OrangeTV on December 31 at 6:39 p.m.

Seasons greetings, Kage. Hope you enjoy the last day of Kwanzaa tomorrow.”

Laugh Out Loud!
spokelooneh on December 31 at 7:27 p.m.
Perhaps it’s time for a new paradigm.

At 10:30 EST, the New Year hits the North American Continent, in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Odd that.

And Rio’s been partying in the New Year for almost an hour and a half, however I think they pretty much party 24x7x365 down there.
Phaedrus on December 31 at 9:08 p.m.
between you and Pheadrus, Sys and Spoke railing on him all the time, you guys aren’t any better.

Personally I just don’ t think that kind of ignorance should be allowed to go unchallenged, it lowers the IQ of all who come into contact with it, so unless suite decides to seek treatment for his ODS don’t expect me to stop administering the antidote.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.