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Lake Superior State University on New Year's Eve released its 43nd annual "List of Words Banished From the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness." The university collects nominations all year on a Facebook page and releases the word to honor the new year. The word cloud is from the university, showing some of the previously banned words. Previous lists and more information about the project may be found here.
The 2018 list and the reasons given by the university:
Unpack: Misused word for analyze, consider, assess. Concepts or positions are not packed, so they don’t need to be unpacked.
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.
Let That Sink In: One could say shocking, profound or important. Let that sink in.
Let Me Ask You This: Wholly unnecessary statement. Just ask the question already.
Impactful: A frivolous word groping for something "effective" or "influential."
Covfefe: An impulsive typo, born into a 140-character universe, somehow missed by the autocorrect feature.
Drill Down: Instead of expanding on a statement, we “drill down on it.”
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.
Gig Economy: Gigs are for musicians and stand-up comedians. Now expanded to imply a sense of freedom and a lifestyle that rejects tradition in a changing economic culture. Runs a risk of sharecropping.
