Every year a new list comes out telling us what words we can no longer say. This year, Fake News is on the list!

For over four decades, the High Commissioners of Banished Words at LSSU in Sault Ste Marie, MI have been removing words from our language for mis, mal, or overuse...or just plain uselessness.

From this year's list...

Tons – Refers to an exaggerated quantity, as in tons of sunshine or tons of work. 'Lots' would surely suffice.

Dish - As in to dish out the latest rumor on someone. Let's go back to 'talks about' and leave dishes in the cupboard.

Pre-owned - What is so disgraceful about owning a used car now and then?
Onboarding/Offboarding - Creature from the HR Lagoon. We used to have hiring, training and orientation. Now we need to have an "onboarding" process. Firings, quitting, and retirements are streamlined into "offboarding."
Nothingburger - Says nothing that 'nothing' doesn't already. I'll take a quarter-pound of something in mine.

Impactful - A frivolous word groping for something ‘effective’ or ‘influential.'

- An impulsive typo, born into a 140-character universe, somehow missed by the autocorrect feature.
Fake News – Once upon a time stories could be empirically disproved. Now 'fake news' is any story you disagree with.
Hot Water Heater - Hot water does not need to be heated. 'Water heater' or 'hot water maker' will keep us out of hot water.

I am 100% down with Hot Water Heater. And Fake News, too. Mostly because it doesn't mean what it says, and I have a hard time with those kinda phrases.

Most of 'em, tho...aren't you just sick of hearing? What words would you ban if you could?

DISCLOSURE: I have a special love for this list because my father created it. From the press release...

LSSU's word banishment tradition is now in its fifth decade and was started by the late W. T. Rabe, a public relations director at Lake Superior State University. ....Rabe and fellow LSSU faculty and staff came up with the first list of words and phrases that people love to hate at a New Year’s Eve party in 1975, publishing it on Jan. 1, 1976.

The rest of the history is hazy. It was, after all, a cocktail party running late into the night.

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