| Author | Message | ||
     Spreadem |
(AP) DETROIT, Mich. If the media's habit of combining celebrity names didn't cause word watchers enough heartburn in 2006, the past year had plenty of other words and phrases that language purists wish had "gone missing." Lake Superior State University on Sunday released its annual "List of Words and Phrases Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness." The Sault Ste. Marie school in the Upper Peninsula has been compiling the list since 1976 to attract publicity. A total of 16 words or phrases were selected by a university committee from more than 4,500 nominations. The list reads like a lexicon of popular culture. Take "ask your doctor," the mantra of pharmaceutical commercials. The university called it "the chewable vitamin morphine of marketing." Critics piled on the media's practice of combined celebrity names such as "TomKat" or "Brangelina." One said, "It's so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it's "lamethetic."' Real estate listings were targeted for overuse of "boast." As in "master bedroom boasts his-and-her fireplaces -- never 'bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,"' quipped Morris Conklin of Portugal. It wasn't hard to find the phrase "gone/went missing" in 2006. "It makes 'missing' sound like a place you can visit, such as the Poconos. Is the person missing, or not?" asked Robin Dennis of Texas. The university's word watchers had no use for "truthiness," the word popularized by Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert. Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster selected it as the word that best summed up 2006 in an online survey. The list, which in recent years has included such gems as "show me the money, "erectile dysfunction" and "holiday tree," is closing in on its 1,000th banishment. And despite the university's vigilance, university spokesman Tom Pink said he's not aware that any dictionaries have followed its advice. "Sometimes people write us and tell us, 'This isn't working,"' Pink said. "I tell them we need an enforcement division." Lake Superior State University's 2006 list of words banished "for mis-use, over-use and general uselessness": --Gitmo --Combined celebrity names --Awesome --Gone/went missing --Pwn or pwned, a misspelling of "own" used by online video gamers --Now playing in theaters --We're pregnant --Undocumented alien --Armed robbery/drug deal gone bad --Truthiness --Ask your doctor --Chipotle --i-anything --Search --Healthy food --Boasts | ||
| Xbduck |
My wife wants to know when exactly would you want an armed robbery/drug deal to go good?  | ||
| Xbduck |
O.K. maybe it's not that funny, I guess it helps to be full of holiday spirits. | ||
| Mike748 |
"We're pregnant" This one really annoys me. | ||
| Tq_freak |
+1 Mike748 "WE" are not pregnant, SHE is pregnant and HE is about to be BROKE | ||
| Spreadem |
I get annoyed by the Chipotle thing. I love spicy foods and it seems like a lotta places are just throwing some mystery sauce on the dish and "shi-zaam", it's "Chipotle"! | ||
| Microchop |
how about the mispronounciation of the word "chipotle" It is not "Chip-OL-TE." | ||
| Bcordb3 |
It is not "Chip-OL-TE." How is chipolte pronounced? Not a flame I would like to know. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Chi-pot-le The pot is pronounced lkike "boat" | ||
| Vegasbueller |
UNless you are from the South and it is pronounced like "bottle" Chi-Pottle.... Sorry...I am in a mood.  | ||
| Blake |
I'm hooked on the Tobasco Chipotle stuff. | ||
| Bads1 |
The next word's to really get over used will be "Are you Serious". | ||
| Oldog |
since this is the season how about the 9 words any parent hates to see on toy packages, some assembley required batteries not included refills sold sepereatly | ||
| Pwnzor |
ROFL (that means rolling on floor laughing) | ||
| Spreadem |
on a deodorant pack: "apply to underarms only" | ||
| Spreadem |
i was wondering when you were gonna pipe in pwnzor...although don't feel bad, the "mis-use, over-use and general uselessness" applys to me too :c) | ||
| Oldog |
on a deodorant pack: "apply to underarms only" I'm waiting for the pictures on the package, you know the "international symbols" | ||
| Pwnzor |
Somewhere on the interweb I saw a picture of a sign, I think located in a Tokyo subway, and it used some symbology to depict a person farting, and had a diagonal line through it as if to say "Don't do this" and in multiple languages below the picture it said "please keep the air fresh". classic.  | ||
| Liquorwhere |
Good on ya Pwnzer!! Nice find. |
