It’s that glorious time of year, when presents are opened, toasts are made, and overused words are banished. That’s right, folks, Lake Superior State University has published its annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. The fine people in the upper peninsula of Michigan spend the holiday season gathering words and phrases that should not be used in 2009. I, for one, salute them for it.
If you were in Mr. Gossett’s Honors English class, you’ve probably already been introduced to this most useful of lists. But if you had to diagram sentences and learn about comma splices from someone less entertaining, then you might not be familiar with the LSSU collection. The school began the list in 1976, and receives nominations throughout the year. Each year they publish the list just before the calendar flips.
The list provides entertainment value, of course. But it also teaches me that when it comes to my love of words, I don’t offer unconditional love. I love words when they are useful, colorful, efficient, beautiful, or even just entertaining. They don’t have to be all of those things; they just have to prove a purpose or worth. Words die all the time, natural deaths that stem from lack of use or changing times. The LSSU list, though, banishes words that we’ve exhausted. We’ve used them to death, and bored each other with them. Like Lennie Small over-loving his mouse, we’ve ruined the words. And the good people at LSSU call us on it every year.
Happy New Year! May all your apostrophes be needed and all your modifiers correctly placed.
Merry Christmas, readers. I trust you had a pleasant holiday.
I found out that I am allergic to the contrast dye used in CT scans, and that I have a kidney stone. Oh most favorite Chrismtas of all!
One of the important word choice lessons that Mr. Gossett taught us was of the difference between anxious and eager. (more…)
You may have read that I have an interesting relationship with contractions. There is one that stumps me beyond all others.
I grew up in Michigan, where we point to our hometown on our hand map, call Diet Coke “pop”, and have an unusual affinity for nasal vowels. Film Chris and I have a lot of relatives back there, and some of them (very dear, special people to us) drive me bonkers with the use of you’se.
Yes, you read that right. My spell-checker is dying to fix that.* You’se. As in “We’ll miss you’se guys at Christmas this year.” I’ve also heard “You’se guys should tell us when you’ll be back in town again, so you’se guys can come visit us.” There seem to be bonus points awarded for using it multiple times in a sentence. The Christmas card we received yesterday, sparking this post, contained four uses of the word, with two in one sentence.
I’m going crazy trying to figure out what exactly is being contracted here. You, obviously. But what is the second word? What word fits there, and was so long that it needed compacting?
I’ll let you’se guys consider that and let me know what you think. I’m going to go get a pop.
I grew up near the left heel of that hand.
*I think this post broke my spell-checker.
“Of all the idiots I have met in my life, and the Lord knows they have not been few or little, I think that I have been the biggest.”
-Isak Dinesen
When I was in the ninth grade, my friend Matt and I took a red pen to the school newspaper. When we were done, it was clear that the newspaper staff had no copy editor. (more…)
