Every year since 1975, Lake Superior State University presents its misused, overused or useless "List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English." Of course, placing the words on the list of abominations hasn't stopped people from using them repeatedly (and sometimes inappropriately).
Over the years some of my favorite words were supplied by the late Edwin Newman, the NBC news reporter and anchorman. He wrote a book in 1974 gently scolding the hoi polloi and the well-read alike about their abuse of the English language.
One of Newman's pet peeves was the word "authored" when describing a writer of books. Would someone say a person "paintered" a picture?
This year's list takes issue at the Mister Moms on steroids who take selfies and place them in the twittersphere so they could tell people about the T-bone collision with the family automobile.
The university invited people to nominate the words that grate on their ears. Examples include:
"Mr. Mom," a comedy movie shown 30 years ago. Society is changing. Today the phrase should be an insult to the millions of fathers who are the primary caregivers for their children. "Would we tolerate calling working women Mrs. Dad?" asks one critic.
"On steroids." It seems today that everything is on steroids, even the service at your local restaurant. Maybe the meat is on steroids but not the frenetic pace, says one nominee.
"Selfies." It's lame. People have taken pictures of themselves "for as long as George Eastman's company made film and cameras," points out one Massachusetts nominee. (The first known example of someone taking a picture of himself or herself dates to 1913. Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia at age 13 took a photo of herself using a tripod and mirror. She sent the photo to a friend.)
In keeping with the spirit of an entry, a critic condemned "twittersphere" in fewer than 144 characters: "There cannot possibly be any oxygen there."
"Hashtag," which of course is used in the twittersphere, is simply the pound sign on the typewriter keyboard. It has had that name ever since keyboards were invented. What's wrong with "pound sign" or "pound tag?" People are making hash of the symbol. Says one nominee from Toronto: #sickoftheword.
Recently TV news readers (and that's what many of them are; they don't report or edit the news) have taken to using "T-bone" to describe an automobile accident. A cut of beef is no accident.
Also making the list as the suffixes "-ageddon" and "-pocalypse" to describe some horrible situation. For instance, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show skewered "ice-ageddon" and "snowpocalpse" when the East Coast had a big snowstorm.
I wonder whether there will be a "fan base" for the list? Or maybe just fans.
Over the years some of my favorite words were supplied by the late Edwin Newman, the NBC news reporter and anchorman. He wrote a book in 1974 gently scolding the hoi polloi and the well-read alike about their abuse of the English language.
One of Newman's pet peeves was the word "authored" when describing a writer of books. Would someone say a person "paintered" a picture?
This year's list takes issue at the Mister Moms on steroids who take selfies and place them in the twittersphere so they could tell people about the T-bone collision with the family automobile.
The university invited people to nominate the words that grate on their ears. Examples include:
"Mr. Mom," a comedy movie shown 30 years ago. Society is changing. Today the phrase should be an insult to the millions of fathers who are the primary caregivers for their children. "Would we tolerate calling working women Mrs. Dad?" asks one critic.
"On steroids." It seems today that everything is on steroids, even the service at your local restaurant. Maybe the meat is on steroids but not the frenetic pace, says one nominee.
"Selfies." It's lame. People have taken pictures of themselves "for as long as George Eastman's company made film and cameras," points out one Massachusetts nominee. (The first known example of someone taking a picture of himself or herself dates to 1913. Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia at age 13 took a photo of herself using a tripod and mirror. She sent the photo to a friend.)
In keeping with the spirit of an entry, a critic condemned "twittersphere" in fewer than 144 characters: "There cannot possibly be any oxygen there."
"Hashtag," which of course is used in the twittersphere, is simply the pound sign on the typewriter keyboard. It has had that name ever since keyboards were invented. What's wrong with "pound sign" or "pound tag?" People are making hash of the symbol. Says one nominee from Toronto: #sickoftheword.
Recently TV news readers (and that's what many of them are; they don't report or edit the news) have taken to using "T-bone" to describe an automobile accident. A cut of beef is no accident.
Also making the list as the suffixes "-ageddon" and "-pocalypse" to describe some horrible situation. For instance, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show skewered "ice-ageddon" and "snowpocalpse" when the East Coast had a big snowstorm.
I wonder whether there will be a "fan base" for the list? Or maybe just fans.