Banished Words for 2015

For 40 years in a row, the LSSU-Nation folks at Lake Superior State University have been curating a cra-cra list of “Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness”.

During last week’s polar vortex, I hacked the entire 800+ word list to understand if the authors should swag for their skill set in choosing words. My takeaway is they are just having fun – and doing a bit of friend-raising.

LSSU’s 2015 list of banished words are:

  • BAE
  • Polar VortexBanished 2015
  • Hack
  • Skill Set
  • Swag
  • Foodie
  • Curate
  • Friend-raising
  • Cra-Cra
  • Enhanced Interrogation
  • Takeaway
  • <anything>-Nation

I agree with most of this list but wonder about BAE. Other than Pharrell Williams himself, I don’t think most people over 40 would even know what it means. This begs the question of whether you can banish a word that hasn’t even been established.

Instead of BAE, I would offer up photo-bomb. What would you add?

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8 Responses to Banished Words for 2015

  1. Julie January 11, 2015 at 2:11 pm #

    JB- thought you’d be interested to know that BAE means “poop” in Danish and “bye” in Icelandic so, by banishing we acknowledge this by saying “bye poop” y word:)

  2. Jonathan Becher January 12, 2015 at 2:14 pm #

    I like that! I would have said #awesome but hashtag was banned on last year’s list http://jonathanbecher.com/2014/02/16/banished-words-2014/

  3. agulland January 13, 2015 at 1:28 am #

    From the UK I read BAE as the firm BAE Systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAE_Systems. I bet that leads to a lot of confusion

  4. Ron G January 13, 2015 at 1:55 pm #

    Perhaps it’s on an earlier list but I think the use of “inflection point,” once rare, has reached an inflection point.

  5. Violette D. January 13, 2015 at 7:51 pm #

    I have to assume use “gift” as a verb has already been banned , as well as “at the end of the day”, to “socialize” an idea, being “provocative” (in a business context), and “have an adult conversation” with your customers. Ban, ban, ban!!

    • Jonathan Becher January 13, 2015 at 8:19 pm #

      Great suggestions Violette but unfortunately not all banned. Yet.

      • Violette D. January 13, 2015 at 8:28 pm #

        It’s only a matter of time, Jonathan, only a matter of time.

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