One Month Remains to Submit Words and Terms to Banish for 2022 to Lake Superior State University
Last year, people across the U.S. and around the world wearied of hearing and reading about COVID-19. What words and terms rate bad or excessive this year? One month remains to submit entries for Lake Superior State Universityโs annual tongue-in-cheek Banished Words List.
The deadline to submit entries for consideration for banishment for 2022 is 8 AM Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 30, 2021, at lssu.edu/banishedwords.
LSSU will announce results on Dec. 31, 2021, to start the New Year on the right foot, er, tongue.
Lake State has compiled its yearly mock-serious Banished Words List since 1976 to uphold, protect, and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are hackneyed, redundant, oxymoronic, clichรฉd, illogical, nonsensicalโand otherwise ineffective, baffling, or irritating.
COVID-19 terminology monopolized submissions last year. Out of 1,450-plus nominations, upwards of 250 of the words and terms suggested for banishment for overuse, misuse, or uselessness pertained to the coronavirus pandemic. Seven of the 10 words and terms that LSSU banished for 2021 were about it. Ranked No. 1 to get rid of was what started the global crisis: โCOVID-19โ itself. Others included โsocial distancing,โ โin an abundance of caution,โ and โWeโre all in this together.โ
Over the decades, LSSU has received tens of thousands of nominations for the list, which now totals more than 1,000 entries. Examples of the winners (or should that be losers?) to make the yearly compilation: โdetente,โ โsurely,โ โclassic,โ and โbromance,โ plus โwrap my head around,โ โuser friendly,โ โat this point in time,โ and โviable alternative.โ The Banished Words List has become such a cultural phenomenon that comedian George Carlin submitted an entry that made the annals in 1994: โbaddaboom, baddabing.โ

Comedian George Carlin signs a poster of Lake Superior State Universityโs 1994 Banished Words List, which included an entry from him, โbaddaboom, baddabing,โ at an appearance on campus.
โYouโd better believe that every year we look forward to what sets off grammarians, philosophers, pundits, lovers of language, and haters of miscommunication in the public interest, if you will,โ said LSSU President Dr. Rodney S. Hanley. โBy the way, โYouโd better believeโ made the list in 1978, โin the public interestโ in 1980, and โif you willโ in both 1984 and 1991, to be โperfectly candidโโchosen in 1977. โSo,โ a dual entry from 1999 and 2016, Iโd better stop talking.โ