Ever grow tired of some of the catchphrases and weasel words that are so easily bandied about in the media and in industry jargon?

Do you think you’ll scream if you hear one more combination word like Obamacare or Branjelina?

Do your hands twitch whenever someone substitutes “like” or “go” for the word “said”?

If so, you might enjoy the annual banished words list published by Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

The list was the brainchild of a former LSSU PR director and debuted in 1976. Word weenies up there have released a list on New Year’s Day ever since.

Words that appear on the list, its creators say, are misused, overused and generally useless.

For 2010, the list suggests 15 words or phrases for banishment from our speech, including words formed using Obama’s name.

I don’t know that any particular ranking is suggested by the order on the list, but this year’s version begins with “shovel-ready.”

I like the term because it quickly communicates a project, especially a construction related one, that’s ready to begin, but given how quickly terms like this become overused, I can understand its appearance.

My fondness for the term, though, may be as result of being told that my columns have a relationship to shoveling something.

“Czar” made the list, and most deservedly so. I’m not sure when this term became a popular synonym for presidential advisers, but we in the news media have been way too enamored of it for a while now.

By the way, no one in the government actually holds the title czar, and people who like to count things point out that George W. had almost as many advisers who qualify for the dubious distinction as the big O does.

A phrase that earned its listing is “teachable moment.” It has all the hallmarks of the kind of jargon that’s created to sound more important than it really is.

Somehow I can’t imagine my father laying me over his knee or pulling my allowance and saying, “Let’s make this a teachable moment, son.” More like, “That’ll learn ya, dern ya.”

Up until recently I’d never heard of another word on the list, “bromance.”

I gather it refers to a close friendship between males, but how it differs from having a best friend or being someone’s “main man,” or golf buddy, I really don’t know.

Maybe it’s the relationship between two metrosexuals, whatever they are.

The sort of technical term for such a word is “portmanteau,” a combining of two words to make a new word.

“Smog” is one example, a word that’s safely ensconced in our language now.

Other examples are “Branjelina” and “Tomkat,” both execrable terms created by entertainment media that have much the same effect as fingernails on a chalkboard.

Some portmanteaus just can’t carry the weight being stuffed into them.

Another screecher on the list is “chillaxin’.” Can’t say as that’s a term I hear a whole lot around Johnson County, but given that words like chillaxin’ tend to be created on one of the coast and work their way into the middle of the county, I expect all my friends to be using it in about five to 10 years.

Seeing the word on the list reminded me of a recent conversation with my daughter, an English major who works at The University.

She mentioned that she’s tired of hearing the word “ridonculous.” Again, I’ve not heard that in Johnson County, and we can all hope the word will be confined to college campuses in general and the home of Bevo in particular.

For the complete list, and words from previous lists, visit www.lssu.edu/banished.

And if you have a word you’d like to see banished, leave a comment on this article on our recently revamped Web site, www.burlesoncrowley.com.



Michael O’Connor can be reached at editor@trcle.com.

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