Don't Say that Word!

IN THE NEWS: According to Fox News.com, "Taylor Hicks might have won "American Idol," but he doesn't have his record deal anymore.
The soul singer, who won the televised singing competition in 2006, has apparently been dropped by J Records, a label within Sony-BMG, which signs the show's singers.
'Taylor is going to record on his own for the next album,' said J Records publicist Liz Morentin, who did not give further details regarding Hicks."

Well, Lake Superior State University has done it again and has come up with the List of Banished Words for 2008.

Here's a few:

WEBINAR – A seminar on the web about any number of topics."Ouch! It hurts my brain. It should be crushed immediately before it spreads." – Carol, Lams, Michigan.


ORGANIC – Overused and misused to describe not only food, but computer products or human behavior, and often used when describing something as "natural," says Crystal Giordano of Brooklyn, New York. Another advertising gimmick to make things sound better than they really are, according to Rick DeVan of Willoughby, Ohio, who said he has heard claims such as "My business is organic," and computers having "organic software."


AUTHOR/AUTHORED – "In one of former TV commentator Edwin Newman's books, he wonders if it would be correct to say that someone 'paintered' a picture?" – Dorothy Betzweiser, Cincinnati, Ohio.



POST 9/11 – "'Our post-9/11 world,' is used now, and probably used more, than AD, BC, or Y2K, time references. You'd think the United States didn't have jet fighters, nuclear bombs, and secret agents, let alone electricity, 'pre-9/11.'" – Chazz Miner, Midland, Michigan.



UNDER THE BUS – "For overuse. I frequently hear this in the cliché-filled sports world, where it's used to describe misplaced blame – i.e. 'After Sunday's loss, the fans threw T.O. under the bus." – Mark R. Hinkston, Racine, Wisconsin. (I use this one ALL THE TIME)

I think I would have put Gi-Normous on that list as well, but, hey, that's me.

Happy writing.