DON'T EVER SAY THIS AGAIN
What do "so, "break the Internet" and "secret sauce" have in common? They should all be banned! So say the guardians of the English language, whose day jobs are at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. This group annually takes on the role of word police by collecting a list of words and phrases that we have used so much they have become annoying. The solution? Banish them. Here are 10 of the banned words and phrases on the 2016 list that were winnowed down from hundreds of entries:
1. So
So what can you do but banish it forever when "so" is used this way? Fun fact: "So" was banished in 1999 but for a different usage: "I am SO down with this list!"
So what can you do but banish it forever when "so" is used this way? Fun fact: "So" was banished in 1999 but for a different usage: "I am SO down with this list!"
2. Conversation
The pundits all want us to "join the conversation," which is more of a scream-fest than an intellectual discussion. Has "debate" become too harsh for our delicate sensibilities?
The pundits all want us to "join the conversation," which is more of a scream-fest than an intellectual discussion. Has "debate" become too harsh for our delicate sensibilities?
3. Problematic
It has become a trendy replacement for "that is a problem" and is used to describe anything that is in the least bit inconvenient or undesirable -- from opposing political beliefs to bad traffic. Urban Dictionary describes "problematic" as "a corporate-academic weasel word."
It has become a trendy replacement for "that is a problem" and is used to describe anything that is in the least bit inconvenient or undesirable -- from opposing political beliefs to bad traffic. Urban Dictionary describes "problematic" as "a corporate-academic weasel word."
4. Stakeholder
This has evolved from describing someone who may actually have a stake in a situation or problem to being (way) over-used in business to describe customers and others.
This has evolved from describing someone who may actually have a stake in a situation or problem to being (way) over-used in business to describe customers and others.
5. Price Point
This is yet another example of using two words when one will do. What is the matter with just saying "price"?
This is yet another example of using two words when one will do. What is the matter with just saying "price"?
6. Secret Sauce
This is a metaphor for business success borrowed from the fast food industry. Mmmm, tasty.
This is a metaphor for business success borrowed from the fast food industry. Mmmm, tasty.
7. Break The Internet
Kim Kardashian tried to do it. The idea is that sizzling hot photos of nearly naked celebrities will cause such a logjam on computer servers worldwide, that the Internet will shatter.
Kim Kardashian tried to do it. The idea is that sizzling hot photos of nearly naked celebrities will cause such a logjam on computer servers worldwide, that the Internet will shatter.
8. Walk It Back
Politicians who say the wrong thing are experts at "walking it back" to try to explain (usually in laborious, boring detail) what it was they really meant.
Politicians who say the wrong thing are experts at "walking it back" to try to explain (usually in laborious, boring detail) what it was they really meant.
9. Presser
This is a shortened form of "press release" and "press conference." It was once an industry buzzword, but it has now slipped into everyday usage in news reporting.
This is a shortened form of "press release" and "press conference." It was once an industry buzzword, but it has now slipped into everyday usage in news reporting.
10. Manspreading
There is a problem in this country: Men are taking up more than their fair share of the seats on the nation's buses and subways. They are "manspreading"--in public!
There is a problem in this country: Men are taking up more than their fair share of the seats on the nation's buses and subways. They are "manspreading"--in public!
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