Banning words for the new year

[Jonathan Lighter]

I banned all words a few years ago. Results should be apparent soon.

JL


On Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 1:56 PM, Baron, Dennis E <debaron at illinois.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baron, Dennis E" <debaron at ILLINOIS.EDU>
> Subject:      Banning words for the new year
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There's a new post on the Web of Language:
>
> Banning words for the new year
>
> In the spirit of New Year=92s resolutions like quit smoking, lose weight,
> e=
> xercise more, each January brings new calls to ban words, the linguistic
> eq=
> uivalent of losing weight. But while New Year=92s resolutions are
> self-impo=
> sed=97I decide that an hour on the elliptical watching Sherlock would be
> be=
> tter than an hour on the couch with Sherlock and a bowl of chips=97word
> ban=
> s tend to be imposed by someone else.
>
> Usually it=92s an individual or a group that wants to ban a word. One such
> =
> group, at Lake Superior State University, posts an annual banished words
> li=
> st<http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php>. Instead of learn a new word
> e=
> very day, the New Year=92s resolution of this crowd is ban a new word
> every=
>  day. This year=92s banned words are selfie, twerk, and hashtag.
>
> It turns out that quite a few people actually like these banned words:
> Oxfo=
> rd Dictionaries honored selfie<
> http://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/100386?ACTI=
>
> ON=3DPOST&displayOrder=3Ddesc&displayType=3Dsearch&displaySearch=3Dhashtag&=
> displayColumn=3Dcreated&displayCount=3D1> as its 2013 Word of the Year,
> wit=
> h twerk dancing close behind, and both the Web of Language and the
> American=
>  Dialect Society named #hashtag<
> http://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/86413?ACTI=
>
> ON=3DPOST&displayOrder=3Ddesc&displayType=3Dsearch&displaySearch=3Dhashtag&=
> displayColumn=3Dcreated&displayCount=3D1> as Word of the Year for 2012
> (mar=
> riage<http://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/108073> and invasion of
> privacy<http=
> ://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/108407> are the Web of Language=92s 2013
> word =
> and phrase of the year).
>
> Banning words won=92t stop people from using them: nominations on the
> Banis=
> hed Word List are so peppered with selfie and hashtag it seems that even
> th=
> e nominators themselves are reluctant to give up using the words they
> claim=
>  to hate. . . .
>
> read the full post on the Web of Language: http://bit.ly/weblan
>
> Dennis Baron
> Professor of English and Linguistics
> Department of English
> University of Illinois
> 608 S. Wright St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
>
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