2007 Banished Words List

[Ryoutarou]

Spoiler:

ANNUAL LIST OF WORDS BANISHED FROM THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH FOR MIS-USE, OVER-USE, AND GENERAL USELESSNESS:

Lake Superior State University 2007 List of Banished Words

GITMO -- The US military's shorthand for a base in Cuba drives a wedge wider than a split infinitive.

"When did the notorious Guantanamo Bay Naval Base change to 'Gitmo,' a word that conjures up an image of a fluffy and sweet character from a Japanese anime show?" -- Marcus W., St. Louis, Missouri.

COMBINED CELEBRITY NAMES-- Celebrity duos of yore -- BogCall (Bogart and Bacall), Lardy (Laurel and Hardy), and CheeChong (Cheech and Chong) -- just got lucky.

"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.'" -- M. Foster, Port Huron, Michigan.

"It's so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it's 'lamethetic.'" -- Ed of Centreville, Virginia.

AWESOME -- Given a one-year moratorium in 1984, when the Unicorn Hunters banished it "during which it is to be rehabilitated until it means 'fear mingled with admiration or reverence; a feeling produced by something majestic." Many write to tell us there's no hope and it's time for "the full banishment."

"The kind of tennis shoes you wear, no matter how cute, don't fit the majestic design of the word." -- Leila Hill, Damascus, Maryland.

"That a mop, a deodorant or a dating service can be called 'awesome' demonstrates the limited vocabularies of the country's copywriters." -- Tom Brinkmoeller, Orlando, Florida.

"Overused and meaningless.' My mother was hit by a car.' Awesome. 'I just got my college degree.' Awesome." -- Robert Bron, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand.

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." -- Robin Dennis, Flower Mound, Texas.

PWN or PWNED -- Thr styff of lemgendz: Gamer defeats gamer, types in "I pwn you" rather than I OWN you.

"This word is just an overly used Internet typo. It has been overused to the point that people who play online games are using it in everyday speech." -- Tory Rowley, Corunna, Michigan.

NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS -- Heard in movie advertisements. Where can we see that, again?

"How often do movies premiere in laundromats or other places besides theaters? I know that when I want to see a movie I think about going to a shoe store." -- Andrea May, Shreveport, Louisiana.

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." -- Sharla Hulsey, Sac City, Iowa.

"I'm sure any woman who has given birth will tell you that 'WE' did not deliver the baby." -- Marlena Linne, Greenfield, Indiana.

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.'" -- John Varga, Westfield, New Jersey.

ARMED ROBBERY/DRUG DEAL GONE BAD -- From the news reports. What degree of "bad" don't we understand? Larry Lillehammer of Bonney Lake, Washington, asks, "After it stopped going well and good?"

TRUTHINESS – "This word, popularized by The Colbert Report and exalted by the American Dialectic Society's Word of the Year in 2005 has been used up. What used to ring true is getting all the truth wrung out of it." -- Joe Grimm, Detroit, Michigan.

ASK YOUR DOCTOR -- The chewable vitamin morphine of marketing.

"Ask your doctor if 'fill in the blank' is right for you! Heck, just take one and see if it makes you 'fill in the blank' or get deathly ill." -- R.C. Amundson, Oakville, Washington.

"I don't think my doctor would appreciate my calling him after seeing a TV ad." -- Peter B. Liveright, Lutherville, Maryland.

CHIPOTLE – Smoked dry over medium heat.

"Prior to 2005 . . . a roasted jalapeno. Now we have a 'chipotle' burrito with 'chipotle' marinated meat, 'chipotle' peppers, sprinkled with a 'chipotle' seasoning and smothered in a 'chipotle' sauce. Time to give this word a rest." – Rob Zeiger, Bristol, Pennsylvania.

i-ANYTHING -- 'e-Anything' made the list in 2000. Geoff Steinhart of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, says tech companies everywhere have picked this apple to the core. "Turn on…tune in…and drop out."

"Banish any word that starts with it. i am just tired of it. it's getting old. -- Brad Butler, Adrian, Michigan.

SEARCH-- Quasi-anachronism. Placed on one-year moratorium.

"Might as well banish it. The word has been replaced by 'google.'" -- Michael Raczko, Swanton, Ohio.

HEALTHY FOOD -- Point of view is everything.

Someone told Joy Wiltzius of Fort Collins, Colorado, that the tuna steak she had for lunch "sounded healthy." Her reply: "If my lunch were healthy, it would still be swimming somewhere. Grilled and nestled in salad greens, it's 'healthful.'"

BOASTS -- See classified advertisements for houses, says Morris Conklin of Lisbon, Portugal, as in "master bedroom boasts his-and-her fireplaces -- never 'bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,' or 'kitchen laments pathetic placement of electrical outlets.'"

Awesome is too awesome a word to be on a list like this. I shall continue to use it both seriously and sarcastically. Otherwise, I pretty much agree with it, especially on "pwn".

 

[doesn't matter]

Do people actually take this seriously?

Cause I'm gonna say whatever I want.

 

[22sa]

I agree the word typo pwn is completely ghey. :P

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

Are you serious?, I say awesome all the time. This list is stupid

:t354:~*!*~Queen Boo~*!*~

 

[Ho-Oh]

Wtf are the good ones banned.

Though I wouldn't have known the meanings of the others besides pwn and awesome.

Stuff that list. XD

 

[Frostweaver]

I find it kind of ironic how search is to be banished because of "google," a word that originally has no meaning until it is "mis-used and overused." The dictionary banished one word due to another word that they should have banished...

Heh... It sounds like double standards to me. "Pwned."

 

[Bomberman]

Where did this come from?

 

[Cherrim]

I agree with the "we're pregnant" one. I can't stand when people say that and I always want to ask (or shout at the screen, since it usually happens on TV shows, etc.) how the man got pregnant too. :|

Where's this list from though? o_O; These banned words, where are they banned from? I can't think of any reason why one would ban "pwn." Yes, it's annoying and overused but people aren't using the word in essays or proper literature...are they?

 

[TRIFORCE89]

Definitely yes to the "Combined Celebrity Names" one. They're always so stupid and cheesy.

But...I like awesome. T_T; I shall continue to use awesome in it's mighty awesomeness.

I agree on the "we're pregnant" one, mostly because of what it literally means. I know it wasn't listed, but saying "we're having a baby" doesn't both me. But only "we're". The man can't say "I", then it doesn't work.

I never say "gone" or "went missing". I say "vanished". So, I win. XD

 

[Ryoutarou]

Click.

They've been doing it for 8 years or so, right now they're letting people send words in for 2008's list.

 

[Pazuzu]

I agree the word typo pwn is completely ghey. :P

How about you watch your language a bit, and do not use the word "gay"/"ghey" in any disrespecting manner?


Some terms on the list indeed deserved their place, like the combined celebrity names and the "word" 'pwn', but 'awesome'? o_o
I can't see why that's there. It's like on eof the best words. :<

 

[Lily]

Funny...I heard that English never banned words; words were always added, instead.

However, the list is just pointless, especially since it banned the word 'awesome' and 'search.' Wha? >O Also, plenty of other words that have grown stale...best of luck weeding out everything.

Pfft.

 

[Kayleigh]

I agree with the "we're pregnant" one. I can't stand when people say that and I always want to ask (or shout at the screen, since it usually happens on TV shows, etc.) how the man got pregnant too. :|

You said exactly what I was about to say. D: *pwned* You're awesome.

Anyway, um, I really agreed with some of the words on that list... especially the one that Erica mentioned, and the Combined Celebrity Names. Bennifer and Bragelina and all of those have always gotten on my nerves so much. The only one that I was really mad about was "awesome"--I mean, what?! Why...? That's such a cool word. ;_; I'm still going to use it.

I'd like to see a list of other words that have been banned before all of these, as well. Maybe I'll go google SEARCH for one.

 

[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

Awesome is a cool word, what's discussed and criticized is its protagonism when there is lack of vocabulary.

I'm still using it though :P And I agree on the 'we're pregnant' and all those celebrity combined names ones.

 

[Volta.]

Wow, that's just ... freaky! CHIPOTLE??! WE'RE PREGNANT?! And I never knew UK had a word banlist!
I should go to England and say awesome and pwned all over the place now!

 

[Frostweaver]

Awesome is a silly one... if awesome is to be banned because it's not used according to its original meaning, then why isn't "dork" banned as well? I mean, it's used nowadays that's not even CLOSE to the original meaning.

Please PM Lily for the original meaning of dork, if you're interested ;p

 

[Kylie-chan]

Awesome is good. And so is pwn.

In other news, I'M iPREGNANT >.> ♥

Why didn't they ban journey? Emotional journey this, journey of self-discovery that... <.<

 

[doesn't matter]

Wow, that's just ... freaky! CHIPOTLE??! WE'RE PREGNANT?! And I never knew UK had a word banlist!
I should go to England and say awesome and pwned all over the place now!

The thing is, this list has nothing to do with the Queen or England.

As "List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness" is the title, one would suppose that the words appearing on the list would belong to 'The Queen's English'. In actuality, "Truthiness"; "Undocumented Alien"; "Gitmo"; and the excessive use of "awesome" and "combined celebrity names", are all features of that disgrace the Microsoft oxymoron department calls: "U.S. English", and not of the Queen's English in any way, shape or form. Americans abandoned the claim to "the Queen's" anything over two hundred years ago and as such can only blame themselves for the degenerate nature of their language today.

Joe is some guy you commented on the list. He was kinda harsh, but his point is that it has nothing to do with England.

Why didn't they ban journey? Emotional journey this, journey of self-discovery that... <.<

Heh, the word "journey" is banned, and yet it is the area of study for the NSW HSC.

 

[Esupio]

GITMO
PWN or PWNED
WE'RE PREGNANT
AWESOME
NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS
HEALTHY FOOD


I had to didn't I

I'm not listening to it as you may have guessed

 

[bna_li]

Totally whack list. Some of it is really dumb though. We're pregnant? WTF?