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Banned in Michigan
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Banned in Michigan |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA 
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DETROIT - Resist the urge to say you will "wordsmith" your list of New Year's resolutions rather than write one. And don't utter, "It is what it is" when you fail to meet your first goal. Those are two of the 19 words or phrases that appear in Lake Superior State University's annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. The school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula released its 33rd list Monday, selecting from about 2,000 nominations. Among this year's picks are "surge," the term for the troop buildup in Iraq. "Give me the old days, when it referenced storms and electrical power," Michael Raczko of Swanton, Ohio, said in nominating the word. The list also included "waterboarding," "perfect storm," "under the bus" and "organic." Also: "It is what it is," which Jeffrey Skrenes of St. Paul, Minn., said "accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant." Now one can say that it is just a University in Michigan (universities in Michigan? Whodathunkit?) and just a piece of fluff........but...... Sadly for grammar's guardians, the lighthearted list isn't binding, as evidenced by the continued use of past banned words and phrases such as "erectile dysfunction," "i-anything" and "awesome." Still, university spokesman Tom Pink, part of a committee that evaluates submissions, takes his syntactic success where he can find it. His office once received a letter from an Arizona Supreme Court justice who said he posted that year's list on a bulletin board and prohibited all attorneys from using those words. More evidence that, if you stick a feather in your cap, someone WILL call it macaroni.  Happy New Year, Ron.  ___ |
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| © Copyright 2008 Michael Mack - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Lucky for Ron - This school is on the upper penninsula, right??..  |
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TomMark Member Elite
since 2007-07-27
Posts 2133LA,CA |
Happy New Year to both of you!!! Sir Balladeer, what a good time( the happy beginning of a year) to mention those as if you thought that Ron's Rules are still not enough in numbers and in strictness that you intend to set up a word warning security system. Let Ron marks them Red-yellow-orange-green and black. If your post contains three red words then it get automatically deleted as post of General Uselessness or WMD.  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
If there were one word that I would ban, it has to go along with the "shrug" that goes with it that it seems most every teen utters... "whateveah". |
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TomMark Member Elite
since 2007-07-27
Posts 2133LA,CA |
Sir balladeer, this was what you asked for. Lady Sunshine wanted to ban "shrug". And of course all together with its past tense "shrugged". |
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Mistletoe Angel 
since 2000-12-17
Posts 32816Portland, Oregon |
Wuthin the last year, I've noticed a meteoric increase in the word "shawty", used primarily in urban and R&B music. Hope that makes the next list!  Sincerely, Noah Eaton "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other" Mother Teresa |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
Obviously, Tom,we cannot eliminate shrugged since it is in the title of the greatest novel ever written. |
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Essorant Member Elite
since 2002-08-10
Posts 4769Regina, Saskatchewan; Canada |
What is "i-anything"? |
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TomMark Member Elite
since 2007-07-27
Posts 2133LA,CA |
Quite sure, this is New Year's first day, my dear sir balladeer, we need fantasies not philosophies.  |
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hush Senior Member
since 2001-05-27
Posts 1653Ohio, USA |
What about the word "urban?" My fiance pointed it out- it's the PC way to say black. If you want to criticize a culturalethnic speech pattern/phrase, why not just call it what you really mean instead of dressing it up to make it sound pretty. Nothing against you personally Noah, just food for thought. And don't get me started on Atlas Shrugged- I wrote an essay after high school for a contest for the Ayn Rand Institute delineating the signifigance of the book's title... I didn't win anything, but they sent me a free copy of one of her phiolosophy books... not nearly as readable as her novels. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Whoops...no, Tom, I did not want to eliminate the word "shrug". I was trying to imply [and seems I did a poor job doing so] of the motion that goes along with the word "whatever" or in my case, the slang [or sound] "whatevah" that kids throw around today, along with the banal lifting and dropping of their shoulders. To rid them of their antipathy would be a great thing indeed; they have no idea just how marvelous the world still is, and will continue to be. |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of things go...I thought shag was a rug before Austin Powers.  I'd also like to see "no contest" eliminated from pleas. You're either guilty or you ain't. This "I'm not saying I didn't do it but I'm not admitting it" is a joke. |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
I'm pretty sure I've been banned in Michigan too.  |
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TomMark Member Elite
since 2007-07-27
Posts 2133LA,CA |
"I" is already banned. And Lady Sunshine, i try not to miss any opportunity to get on Sir Balladeer's nerve.  |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
'Deer, I must agree on "shag"... and T? keep trying. You're in for a long haul. Serenity? No way, Jose! |
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rwood Member Elite
since 2000-02-29
Posts 3793Tennessee |
"Lawrys" Ha. Maybe Kanye has something there? |
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Seeker72 Member
since 2007-02-24
Posts 387Oregon USA |
As I surge forth into this New year, I find myself thinking back to the days of yore, ah yes give me the good old days, when a poet and writer could dive into the ocean and ride the perfect storm. Our words would glide through the water, cutting deep like we were water boarding with a frenzied euphoria created from eating our organic sustenance known as passion! Alas I feel one day we just might end up under the bus, crushed by our own fears. It is what it is, I guess. Who am I to say? *shrug* |
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oceanvu2 Senior Member
since 2007-02-24
Posts 1066Santa Monica, California, USA |
The "whatevah" business goes back to Hawaii in at least the 1970's, used by adults and kids alike. Strangely, almost none of them related it to Ayn........AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NO NO I DIDN'T SAY THAT!!! Essorant: Can't tell your i-Pod from an i-amb, eh? Me neither. I received a FREE cellular phone as part of promotional gambit. It is worth every penny! I particularly like the feature which allows me to hit three numbers with only one finger! Saves a lot of time, but doesn't seem to connect me to anybody. Morning all from California! Jim |
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Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA |
cutting deep like we were water boarding with a frenzied euphoria Seeker72....are you nuts??? You can't say water boarding any more!! |
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Seeker72 Member
since 2007-02-24
Posts 387Oregon USA |
I know, I'm such a rebel! With a pencil in one hand a note book in another and always one step ahead of the word police. ;-) |
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