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"Banished" Words

Brown

Penultimate Amazing
Brown
Joined
Aug 3, 2001
Messages
12,984
It's hard to take this seriously, but this report from Yahoo and AP lists the "words that should be banished" for "misuse, overuse and general uselessness," according to Lake Superior State University.

Some of the items on the list probably belong there, and some probably do not. In another thread, many of us found use in the "Place Stamp Here" notation, and "In Harm's Way" still has a useful military meaning.
 
Brown said:
It's hard to take this seriously, but this report from Yahoo and AP lists the "words that should be banished" for "misuse, overuse and general uselessness," according to Lake Superior State University.

Some of the items on the list probably belong there, and some probably do not. In another thread, many of us found use in the "Place Stamp Here" notation, and "In Harm's Way" still has a useful military meaning.
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I've always found "In Harm's Way" to be really annoying. It sounds like a sanitized version of "In danger"

On the subject of overused war talk, can we please recognize that the army is really damn inclusive, and start calling them "soldiers" instead of "men and women in uniform".
 
I think it would be the perfect time to listen to George Carlin on Euphemisms...
 
Have I been living under a rock, or am I the only one who has never heard the phrase "Hand-Crafted Latte"?
 
Sanamas said:
Have I been living under a rock, or am I the only one who has never heard the phrase "Hand-Crafted Latte"?
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That must be a pretty big rock, because I've been living under it too.
 
"Captured Alive" is not an oxymoron; if the individual being pursued is caught by reason of being dead, he's still caught.....

"And that was how they captured him, the Wild Colonial Boy...."

(They shot him):D
 
I thought "companion animal" implied a helper, such as a seeing eye dog. I did not think it was the same as pet.
 
TruthSeeker said:
I thought "companion animal" implied a helper, such as a seeing eye dog. I did not think it was the same as pet.
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Cornell University's vet department is split into Companion Animal and Equine and Farm Animal departments.
 
Troll said:


Cornell University's vet department is split into Companion Animal and Equine and Farm Animal departments.
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Oh..well...guess I'm wrong. Won't be the last time in 2004.

Can I start calling the people in my life "companion humans"? :)
 
TruthSeeker said:


Oh..well...guess I'm wrong. Won't be the last time in 2004.

Can I start calling the people in my life "companion humans"? :)
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Only if they don't work for you or provide you with food.;)
 
Troll said:


Only if they don't work for you or provide you with food.;)
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And they said cannibalism was a bad idea...


Back on topic...

I'm going to make a general statement right now: People bitch and moan too much. Really. Who cares about such and such or so-and-so?
 
Get rid of "My Bad"

Say "I'm sorry, I was wrong" or something meaningful instead of sounding like an infant, please.
 
my nomination

Unless you are actually referring to the logical fallacy, or maybe the weaseling use of language, don't use 'begs the question'.

The quick test is, if youdon't already know the answer, it's not question begging.

And I support the idea of a banished words list. 'Basically' has been on it since the '80s. Whenever I hear it I think, 'Umm..'
 
E-mail is wonderful. So many publications list contact email addresses. It is so easy to send a brief message pointing out annoying words as well as errors and other problems. We can all be unpaid contributing editors.
 
I think the term "pre-owned car" (as opposed to 'used car') should be banned, or at least be properly used. To me, there is a difference.

If a car has been driven at all by the owner, it is USED. If a car was purchased but never driven, then I suppose "pre-owned" could apply. I believe Lexus coined this term...first I heard of it anyways.

The problem with the phrase "embedded jounalist" isn't the use of the word 'embedded'...it's the word 'journalist' that bothers me. Talk about a misused word!
 
Badger said:
Get rid of "My Bad"

Say "I'm sorry, I was wrong" or something meaningful instead of sounding like an infant, please.
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I don't necessarily agree here. An apology is a social statement, tied in with the emotions of the person being apologized to. It is useful to allow apologies (or other emotive statements) to emerge with different words and tones, because then someone skilled in such nuances can make much more effective apologies. If we all limit ourselves to saying it one exact way every time, we risk sounding overly formal or insincere.

Think of John Conner teaching the Terminator not to just say "affirmative" or "negative" all the time.

"useless" words or phrases can develop more meaning than their denotation.
 
It's kind of fun to watch the gyrations language goes through, anyway. Slang is particularly interesting, because often words will change meanings by 180 degrees in a rather short time.

You never can be sure what'll take off, either. The first time I heard "My Bad" was on Buffy; now it seems to be all too common.

I wonder how much scriptwriters have contributed to our vocabulary...
 
Just FYI, the "In Harm's Way" comes from the Revolutionary sailor John Paul Jones, and the full quote is "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way."

Considering his subsequent history, I think the term will probably be around as long as we have a Navy, or at least as long as the John Wayne/Kirk Douglas film of the same name is shown on TV.
 
Reminds me; the phrase "Damn the torpedoes, full speed" actually dates from the Civil War.

The "torpedoes" in this case were much more like what we call mines today, charges with an impact fuse, frequently mounted on a pole.

In some cases, these things were mounted on the end of a long pole affixed to the bow of a boat, the idea being to ram an enemy vessel with same.
 
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