Is there an overused word or phrase that, at the end of the day, simply rubs you the wrong way?
No worries!
You’ve still got a month to git-er-done and submit a nomination to the annual Lake Superior State University Banished Words List for 2023.
Wait, what? A month?
In fact, last year fans of communication good and bad across the U.S., Canada and internationally determined that, at the end of the day, “Wait, what?” served no feasible purpose.
Steer clear of it above all other problematic phrasings, nominators insisted in playful — and sometimes outraged — language, the Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.-based university said in a news release.
Lake State has compiled its annual mock-serious Banished Words List since 1976, encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are hackneyed and irritating.
Conversational-based terms dominated the 1,250-plus submissions last year.
Of the Top 10, judges ranked “Wait, what?” No. 1. Second-most questionable: “No worries.” The third in thorniness: “At the end of the day.”
Over the decades, LSSU has received tens of thousands of nominations for the list, which now totals more than 1,000 entries.
The Banished Words List has become such a cultural phenomenon that comedian George Carlin submitted an entry that made the annals in 1994: “baddaboom, baddabing.”
“We can’t wait each year to take a deep dive into miscommunication, thanks to the many grammarians, philosophers, pundits, lovers of lingo, and haters of impropriety who circle back to us with equal parts humor and anger,” said LSSU president Dr. Rodney S. Hanley. “That being said, no worries that, at the end of the day, much of what I’ve just conveyed made our Banished Words List for 2022. So I’d better check my supply chain.”
What has caught your eyes and ears this year?
Do a deep dive into the words and phrases that irritate you, then circle back and submit a nomination by 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 30 online.
LSSU will announce results on Dec. 31, to start the New Year on the right foot, er, tongue.
