Banished Words List graphic

One Month Remains to Submit Words and Terms to Banish for 2022 to Lake Superior State University

Banished Words List graphic

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 Universityโ€™s 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, nonsensicalโ€”and 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: โ€œCOVID-19โ€ itself. Others included โ€œsocial distancing,โ€ โ€œin an abundance of caution,โ€ and โ€œWeโ€™re 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: โ€œdetente,โ€ โ€œsurely,โ€ โ€œclassic,โ€ and โ€œbromance,โ€ plus โ€œwrap my head around,โ€ โ€œuser friendly,โ€ โ€œat this point in time,โ€ and โ€œviable 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: โ€œbaddaboom, baddabing.โ€

 

Comedian George Carlin signs a 1994 Banished Words List poster that includes an entry from him

Comedian George Carlin signs a poster of Lake Superior State Universityโ€™s 1994 Banished Words List, which included an entry from him, โ€œbaddaboom, baddabing,โ€ at an appearance on campus.

 

โ€œYouโ€™d 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. โ€œBy the way, โ€˜Youโ€™d better believeโ€™ made the list in 1978, โ€˜in the public interestโ€™ in 1980, and โ€˜if you willโ€™ in both 1984 and 1991, to be โ€˜perfectly candidโ€™โ€”chosen in 1977. โ€˜So,โ€™ a dual entry from 1999 and 2016, Iโ€™d better stop talking.โ€