Banned Words List 2012

Right before the end of the year, as per tradition, the 38th Annual "List of Words to be Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness" is released. It's more of a tongue-in-cheek list but it does serve notice to the words that were WAY overused in society for the year.

Northern Michigan's Lake Superior State University compiled the list based on submission from people all around the world. Nominations came via regular mail, email, and the schools website/facebook. So far, they have banished more than 900 words to date.

What made the list?

Fiscal Cliff - Had the most nominations. Can we stop with it now?

YOLO (you only live once) - Mostly used by people as an excuse for their stupid behavior and/or slutty ways.

Spoiler Alert - Used as an obnoxious way to show one has trivial information and is about to use it, no matter what*

Kick The Can Down The Road - Usually used in politics, this typically means that someone or some group is neglecting its responsibilities.*

Double Down - This blackjack term is now used as a verb in place of 'repeat' or 'reaffirm' or 'reiterate'.*

Bucket List - Seemed to gain a lot of use in 2012. Everything to everyone involved a 'Bucket List' - "Add that to my bucket list" or "that's one off the bucket list"

Job Creators/Creation - Need I explain this? I was so happy when the election was over so I could stop hearing this phrase.

Boneless Wings - With Buffalo sauce becoming such a huge hit, Boneless Wings gained a lot of popularity this year. Just about every restaurant has them now. Can we just call them what they are? Chicken Nuggets doused in sauce?

Passion/Passionate - "My passion is (insert favorite snack food here). I'm passionate about how much I hate the words 'passion' and 'passionate."*

Trending - What wasn't trending this year? I guess the only way to judge something's popularity is if it's trending?

Guru - In 2012 if you were good at something, you were a Guru. Not sure if anyone remembers but Love Guru (the Mike Myers movie) sucked and so does this word.

Words with * have an explanation used from the school's website