Out, bad cliché, we banish ye!

‘Now more than ever,’ it’s time to bid farewell to words suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous misuse, overuse or general uselessness

By Jayne Spencer

Released New Year’s Day

(Editor’s note: If you have a favorite word or phrase you would like to see banished, please send your nominations by E-mail to : homepges@indiana.edu. We’ll print them online in an upcoming issue.)

• Are the broadcast media incessantly “giving us a heads-up” about imminent war in the Persian Gulf?

• Is your department ready to install “state-of-the-art machines” instead of, say, obsolescent ones? Do you promote “cutting edge technology” instead of, well, dull technology?

• What do you think of your colleagues who insist on “thinking outside the box?”

• Has your supervisor characterized your suggestion as an “active possibility,” meaning there’s not a chance it will ever be considered?

Would you like to see the phrase “as per our discussion” deleted from the 21st century? What do you think of “homeland security” or “paradigm” or “throughputting?”

Out, out, bad spotty language! Banish ye, cliché! The queen is not amused!

New Year’s Day, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) in Michigan released its 28th annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.”

LSSU has been compiling the list since 1976, choosing from nominations sent from around the world. A university committee makes the final decisions on word banishment.

Thanks to LSSU’s Tom Pink, we have the following list of 2003 “winners” and related commentary. IU Home Pages also suggests you visit the Web site at the end of the story for a comprehensive list of banished words. “State of the art,” for instance, got its walking papers in 1983; “paradigm” in 1992, and “cutting edge” left Michigan in 1988, migrating southward.

Business/industry/marketing/technology
Extreme— This overused word in advertising and marketing drew the ire of citizens throughout North America.

Al Slang of Duncan, B.C., Canada, said: “It’s used 24/7 (24/7 was banished in 2000) on everything from store sales to deodorant ads.”

“Extreme sports, extreme cars, extreme soft drinks…I’m tired of hearing it.”—Doug Hagen, Newton, N.C.

“Razors aren’t extreme. Neither are deodorants or cheeseburgers.”—Cliff of Pensacola, Fla.

“I saw a church billboard advertising ‘Extreme Adventures’ at vacation bible school. What the heck does that mean?”—Cheril Lin D. Abeel, Detroit, Mich.

Now, more than ever—Many, including Valli Irvine of Austin, Texas, thought this should have been included on the 2002 list. Matthew Lowe of Kew Gardens, N.J., summed it up for the many who nominated this tiresome phrase: “It has become overused since the terrorist attacks…from warnings to be safe, to stores having sales…It has to go!”

Lowe’s neighbor, Mike Bowers of Lebanon, N.J., agreed: “What’s next? ‘Now, more than ever, Americans need 50 percent more raisins in their cereal?’”

“This precious way of saying, ‘Now that we’ve had a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, we have a duty to recognize the important things in life’ seems to be the recent darling of advertisers and politicians…What simpering balderdash!”—Josh Mandel, Colonie, N.Y.

Branding—“This word, once properly associated with marking livestock to prove ownership, has been co-opted by the M.B.A. crowd and now seems to refer to any activity that supports a company’s desire to clearly define its products and/or services. Can’t we just say ‘Promotions and PR?’—Nancy Hicks, Fairfax, Va.

Miscellaneous
Having said that and that said—Nominated by many for overuse, especially in the news media, according to Kay Jauch, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and William Hamlin of Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

“I heard you the first time,” said David Patrick of Lafayette, Ind.

“Annoying useless filler,” said Sadie Campbell of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.

“It seems like the intellectual form of ‘ya know.’”—Shelley Gaskin, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Peel-and eat shrimp—“Do they think that, if the name did not contain instructions, we would peel-and-throw-on-floor?”—Miguel McCormick, Orlando, Fla.

Challenge—“No one has problems anymore, they only face ‘challenges.’”— Sonia Jaffe Robbins, New York, N.Y.

“I think it’s a weasel word. ‘Challenges’ only have to be met. Problems require solutions!”— Ray Lucas, Ann Arbor, Mich.

It’s a good thing—“This phrase is ‘ramped up’ (banished in 2002) for overuse,” said Mark Dobias of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. “The question is: good for whom? For example, insider trading may be a good thing, but only if one does not get caught. Then it is a bad thing.”

As per—“As per a conversation I had with a co-worker and ‘as per’ common decency to your fellow human beings, please substitute ‘according to.’ If I hear ‘as per’ ever again, I will need to take some ‘asperin.’”—Greg Gibson, Tucson, Ariz.

Reverse discrimination—“Discrimination is discrimination, regardless of who is being discriminated against.”—Kristen of St. Paul, Minn.

Sports
There is no score—“It is inaccurate and misleading. There IS a score. It is 0-0.”—Paul Jertson, Christmas Valley, Ore.

Got game—“I hear this phrase used by sportscasters trying to be hip: ‘He’s got game tonight!’ They mean he’s playing well.”—Scott Tolentino, Garden City, Utah.

Mental mistake—“Used often in the sporting world,” said Paul DeCarlo of Helena, Ala. “What mistake is not mental?”

Tautology and other circumambages
____ in color—“As opposed to green in size,” quipped Janet Litherland of Thomasville, Ga. Lends an empty air of precision.

Politics and the media
Undisclosed secret location—Redundant stacking of adjectives often used to describe Vice President Dick Cheney’s whereabouts. “If it’s a secret, it’s pretty undisclosed, and if it’s undisclosed, it’s a secret,” said Bill Lodholz of Davis, Calif.

Material breach—“Suggests an obstetrical complication that pulls a physician off the golf course,” said a nominator from Washington, D.C. Sounds like contract lawyer-speak rather than the world-worn parlance of war planners and diplomats. At one time, UN resolutions were violated. Violators were held in contempt. How long until treaties are ripped up in the presence of attorneys?

Must-see TV—“Must find remote. Must change channel,” laments Nan Heflin from Colorado Springs, Colo. Television once pitched entertainment. Apparently now it’s taken on a greater imperative. Assumes herd mentality over program taste.

Untimely death—Balky attempt to make some deaths more tragic than others. “Has anyone yet died a timely death?” asked Donald Burgess of South Pasadena, Calif.

Black ice—From the weather and news reports. Ice is ice. Watch your step. “Ice is usually clear and shiny when you see the black pavement through it.”— Robert Irving, Tahoe City, Calif.

On the ground—Media hip-speak and frivolous dramatization. David Cheng of Rockville, Md., pointed out that humans live on the ground, “not suspended 100 feet in the air or 100 fathoms beneath the ocean.”

“Especially annoying during the presidential election recount, but still shows up in major news stories.”—Robert Prince, Philadelphia, Pa.

“Where else would you be?”—Ken Finkel, Dundas, Ontario, Canada

“Only in a few situations is it necessary.”—Andrew Makepeace, Vancouver, B.C. Canada

Weapons of mass destruction—Used more and more (and just too much, according to James of Canberra, Australia) as a card that trumps all forms of aggression. In danger of becoming a push-button buzzword. Many nominators point out that any weapon, used effectively, does a lot of damage. “A few thousand machetes in the hands of an army in Africa can lead to `mass genocide,’” wrote Howard Stacy of Atlanta, Ga.

Jack Newman of Cypress, Texas, often hears the hybrid: “wepuhmadistricshun.”

“Overused, over-wrought.”—Michelle Gill, Chicago, Ill.

Make no mistake about it—Nominated by many, including Angela Wood of Anchorage, Alaska, for overuse since the 2000 election.

“Generally used instead of ‘don’t underestimate’ or ‘understand,’” said John O’Connell of San Jose, Calif.. Are listeners really going to mistake what the questioner is saying?

“Who’s mistaken, anyway?” asked Barb Keller of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

Homeland security—A new and improved buzzword. With billions of dollars at stake, perhaps “national security” is just plain blasé.

“What happened to the Department of Defense?” asked Rick Miller of Champaign, Ill.

For more banished words and phrases as well as the rejection rationale go to:
http://www.lssu.edu/banished/compiled/compiled.html