Lake Superior State University is emphasizing the superior part of their name and turning their noses up at 12 common slang terms as a part of their annual list of Words Banished From the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use, and General Uselessness.
This year’s list includes: “Cra-cra”, “polar vortex”, “foodie”, “bae”, “hack”, “skill set”, “swag”, “curate/curated”, “friend-raising”, “enhanced interrogation”, “takeaway”, and “-nation”.
To be honest, I’m not familiar with a couple of these.
According to CTV News, Bae’s popular origins can be partially traced to a Pharrell Williams song, but we’ll likely never know who actually crafted it in the first place. Which is a shame, because while we’re banishing words, the phrasesmiths who concoct these saccharine terms are free to keep spreading the disease of needless abbreviations across the land.
This is apparently the 40th year for LSSU’s list and they’ve singled out more than 800 words so far. Surely you’ve noticed the absence of “twerk” and “selfie” from the english language over the last year. You can thank LSSU for that since those words were on their 2013 list.
Thank God they haven’t gotten around to banishing sarcasm yet.
Source: CTV News