Have you ever called someone a GOAT?  I have never heard that expression and had no idea that it was an acronym for “greatest of all time.” Why is this number one on the Banished Works List 2023? 

Since 1976, Lake Superior State University has released a list of words and phrases to be banished for the new year. More than 1,000 everyday terms have been banished – some more than once.

Here’s the full list of the university’s banished words for this year:

  1. GOAT
  2. Inflection point 
  3. Quiet quitting
  4. Gaslighting
  5. Moving forward
  6. Amazing*
  7. Does that make sense? 
  8. Irregardless (This is not a word, but continues to be used)
  9. Absolutely*
  10. It is what it is*

These words made the list because they are used so often that they have become disconnected from their literal meanings — like “amazing,” which nominators said no longer means “dazzling” or “awe-inspiring.” “Not everything is amazing; and when you think about it, very little is,” one nominator noted.

“Does this make sense?” made the list because the judges said you should always make sense. The majority of people who talk for the sake of hearing themselves usually don’t make sense.

“Inflection point,” is a mathematical term has lost its original meaning. An inflection point, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “a moment when significant change occurs or may occur.” The expression became 2022’s version of “pivot,” a word that was “banished” in 2021.

“Quiet quitting” and “gaslighting” were selected for their inaccuracy and overuse and misuse, respectively.

When a worker is completing his/her minimum work requirements without going above and beyond or bringing work home after hours, he/she is quiet quitting.

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that hinges on creating self-doubt.

Did you have any doubt that I had my own list of words to banish?  These words/phrases have been overused ad nauseum.

  1. Circle back
  2. Word Salad
  3. C’mon man
  4. That’s not hyperbole 

* These words have been banned before but were repeated this year for their reported overuse.

I invite you to add words to the list you feel should be banished.