LSSU Word Banishment

[Jesse Sheidlower]

Forwarded from John Shibley of LSSU.

----- Forwarded message from John Shibley <jshibley at lssu.edu> -----

WORD BANISHMENT SEASON FOR 2004 OPENS

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - It's time to get rid of this past year's abused
and mis-used words and phrases.
        For every New Year's Day since 1976, Lake Superior State
University has issued an annual "List of Words Banished from the Queen's
English for Mis-Use, Over-Use or General Uselessness." Between now and
December 15, LSSU will be accepting nominations for banishment from all
over the world, covering all manner of word or phrase worthy of exile.
        University officials note that this year's efforts have received a
pre-election year lift, but not necessarily from the world of politics.
Nominations for 2004's list have been rolling in via e-mail at an average
of 100 a week.
        "The selection committee anticipates . . . a surplus of
election-year nominees," says a spokesman for the word-sifters. "But thanks
to the Internet, we are already inundated with more than 5,000 declared
candidates."
Hundreds of words from the fields of academia, advertising, business, the
military, sports, and politics have found their way onto the banishment list.
        Words and phrases outlawed in previous years include: My
Bad  (`98), Forced Relaxation  (`89), Free Gift  (`88), Live
Audience  (`83, `87, `90), and Minor Emergency Clinic  (86 and 90). Last
year's list featured "peel-and-eat shrimp," the noun-modifier "extreme,"
and the elusive redundancy "undisclosed, secret location."
        Nominations for 2004's list, along with compelling reasons for
banishment, should be submitted early, and often, through the Internet at
http://www.lssu.edu/banished.
        The 2004 list will be released on January 1, in time to welcome
the new year.

 LSSU





John Shibley
Photographer/Writer
Public Relations Office
Lake Superior State University
Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783

906/635-2314 (voice)
906/635-2623 (fax)


"There are known knowns; there are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns;
that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns -
 the ones we don't know we don't know."

- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

----- End forwarded message -----