We have 2 more months before we pop the champagne cork and wish everyone a Happy New Year. This year has flown by faster than a speeding bullet, or does it just move faster in my world?
Every year I publish a list of the overused, obnoxious words of the year, and believe me, 2016 has a laundry list full. My source is the Lake Superior State University which has been publishing the list annually for 41 years. Get your coffee or wine, read the list and promise to purge your vocabulary.
This year, the most nominations went to the simple two-letter “so.” It had been banished back in 1999, when people were suggesting that it be eliminated because of phrases like “I am SO down with this list!” It is also being used to start a sentence. Example: “When did you relocate to Arizona?” “So, we moved here in 1990.”
Problematic is on the list to get rid of now. It reached its peak in 2015, being overused in online writing. Dump it and go back to “problem” or better yet, discover the Thesaurus.
Price point is a 2 word phrase that means price, so why don’t we just say “price?” Someone commented, “It has no point, it’s just a price!” And I agree!
Break the Internet. This phrase has been used when Kim Kardashian (another overused word which should be in the trash) posts a pictures of body parts that we have seen umpteen million times. Back to the term at hand – Breaking the internet. I am no computer genius, but I really don’t think the internet can be broken by her posts or anyone else’s. Hacking is a different story and, fortunately, not the word, but the action for no-good will bring fines and prison sentences.
Physicality is being overused on every sports talk show. Obviously these geniuses think they sound intelligent by using words with more than 1 syllable. Along that same line I have to add musicality which has been used constantly on the TV talent shows. People are musical or they are not! End of conversation.
Manspreading sounds like a guy who eats too much but it actually refers to men spreading their legs to take up more room on public transportation. I would just use the words inconsiderate & impolite to describe these goons. They should stand and give up their seat to someone who needs it.
Do you have words you would like to add to this list? Bring ‘em on!
