Lake Superior State University Releases Annual List of Banned Words
Most of us can agree that there are certain words that should absolutely be banned from the English language. For the past forty-years, Michigan’s Lake Superior State University has been compiling a list of these godforsaken grammatical bastardizations for its annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.”
Submissions for this list come from the public and are voted on by a designated committee. The words banned this year are as follows:
- Bae -- Basic American English. Learn it.
- Polar Vortex -- Every year, they manage to make winter sound more terrifying.
- Hack -- As in "life-hack." These things used to just be tips.
- Skill Set -- You are not Liam Neeson.
- Swag -- Just stop, bro.
- Foodie -- Everyone likes food. You're not special.
- Cra-Cra (or Cray-Cray) -- Most annoying way possible to say "crazy."
- Curate -- It's not supposed to be interchangeable with "found" or "got."
- Friend-Raising -- Said no one ever.
- Takeaway -- As in, "The takeaway here is..."
- Enhanced Interrogation -- Also known as "torture" to those on the receiving end.
- -Nation -- As in "Douche-Nation," "Sparty-Nation," etc.
In the case of the supposed word “bae,” which is an abbreviation of “before anyone else,” it was nominated for the ban simply because it is a dumb thing to say. “How stupid! Stop calling your boyfriend ‘bae,’” said Evie Dunagan, who submitted the word.
Fortunately, the word “cra-cra” also made the list, so please stop saying it.