I know you've been waiting for it, and here it is, The Banished Word List for 2007, the 32nd annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.
My personal favorites. . .
- COMBINED CELEBRITY NAMES -- It's bad enough that celebrities have to be the top news stories. Now we've given them obnoxious names such as 'Bragelina,' 'TomKat' and 'Bennifer.'. . . It's so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it's 'lamethetic.'
- GONE/WENT MISSING -- It makes 'missing' sound like a place you can visit, such as the Poconos. Is the person missing, or not? She went there but maybe she came back. 'Is missing' or 'was missing' would serve us better.
- WE'RE PREGNANT -- Grounded for nine months. Were men feeling left out of the whole morning sickness/huge belly/labor experience? You may both be expecting, but only one of you is pregnant. . .I'm sure any woman who has given birth will tell you that 'WE' did not deliver the baby.
- UNDOCUMENTED ALIEN -- If they haven't followed the law to get here, they are by definition 'illegal.' It's like saying a drug dealer is an 'undocumented pharmacist.'
- BOASTS -- See classified advertisements for houses, as in 'master bedroom boasts his-and-her fireplaces -- never 'bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,' or 'kitchen laments pathetic placement of electrical outlets.'
- SEARCH -- Quasi-anachronism. Might as well banish it. The word has been replaced by 'google.'
2 comments:
i particularly liked, "bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum".. hehe
gone missing has been an irritation for quite a while.
I first saw the combined first name thing in a cartoon, Zits I think. RichandAmie or Rich-n-Amie; they were teenagers (15ish) always wrapped in a full body hug where ever they went. Once, they attained the "ultimate in closeness," they were wearing the same shoes.
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