Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

May 16, 2008 3:28:07 AM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

Back to the grid

The Most Useless Words of 2007  

Posted Jan 1, 08 6:00 PM CST in Arts & Living    Editor's Choice

(newser) – Do you roll your eyes every time a newscaster calls a coincidence a "perfect storm"? Cringe the thousandth time a teenager invokes "random"? The faculty at Lake Superior State University shares your vexation. Here are some selections from the school's list of words and phrases to be "banished" for "Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness" in 2007:

  • "Perfect Storm"
  • "Webinar" (web seminar)
  • "Waterboarding"
  • "Organic"
  • "Wordsmith"/"Wordsmithing"

  • "Post-9/11"
  • "Surge"
  • "X is the new Y" (e.g. "Cold is the new hot")
  • "Black Friday"
  • "Back in the day"
  • "Random"
  • "Under the bus"
  • "It is what it is"

Source Associated Press

open commentscomments (0)

Editor Recommended

Is it a 'surge' or a 'perfect storm' of terrible new words?
Reuters | Dec 31, 07

The list
Associated Press | Dec 31, 07

The annotated list, with comments from nominators
Lake Superior State University | Dec 31, 07

Related News

  • So, You Need to Learn Swahili?

    Aug 26, 07 5:08 PM CDT
    Get ready for your business trip or vacation with these programs recommended by Porfolio.

    • Pimsleur Approach: 10-day courses offered in 40 languages.
    • Rosetta Stone: Promises competence in 2 weeks in 30 languages.
    • Teach Yourself: CDs and books offer 200 languages at varying speeds.
    More »

  • Toddlers Learn Language Slowly and Quickly

    Aug 3, 07 4:57 PM CDT
    Toddlers Learn Language Slowly and Quickly Toddlers learn to speak by simply using small, familiar words to acquire harder ones, new research says, throwing a curveball at scientists who assumed a more complex cognitive system. Youngsters can rapidly go from spouting babble to intelligible chatter as long as their words have varying levels of difficulty, Scientific American reports. More »

The Most Useless Words of 2007
  (Shutterstock.com)
The Most Useless Words of 2007
  (Shutterstock.com)
The Most Useless Words of 2007
  (Shutterstock.com)
prev   next
play

Threads (1 of 2)

Tags

list  • language  • vocabulary


Loading...

Loading...

Related Threads: So You Like Lists?, Best of 2007

Next story from this section »

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Arts & Living Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »