Banned

There's an annual list of words put out by Lake Superior State University in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, fashionable buzzwords and phrases that should be banned from the language.

Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, had a similar list in his dearly departed Life in Hell comic strip. (That's his character Binky at left, perhaps fretting over words du jour.)

I love these lists. I only wish they had the force of law.

The Lake Superior State University list ("Unicorn Hunters") usually comes out around the first of the year.  The 2013 edition included "trending" and "bucket list."

I've got my own list of words and phrases I love to hate. They should be banished for offenses to good taste; for offenses to proper theology and geometry – as Ignatius J. Reilly might put it.

My list includes, but is not limited to: re-purpose, back in the day, my bad, it's all good, you rock, and no worries.

Don't use 'em. Lake Superior State University will grant you a license.