2010: What Not to Say

At the cusp of the new year, Lake Superior State University listed the most useless buzzwords of 2009 in the oh-so-prestigious “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.” After receiving thousands of nominations, the university selected the worst words and catch phrases that were most annoyingly overused last year. Here are some of the top picks from the list:

-Tweet: For Twitter users, a noun and a verb. Alternate definition: an annoying way to announce to the world that you just had a turkey sandwich for lunch.

-App: Of iPhone commercial fame. Example: “Annoying abbreviations? There’s an app for that.”

-Friend (as a verb): Example: “Let’s just keep on friending our friends until all of our friends are friended.”

-Bromance: If you need to describe your oh-so-close relationship with your male friend, there’s no need to become a desperate romantic. Seriously.

-Chillaxin’: You’re either “chillin’” or “relaxing.” I don’t need to hear a combination of the word. This one’s been nominated for the list for years now. It finally made it!

-Obama (as a prefix or a root): Obamanation, Obamalicious, Obamacare, Obamanomics, Obamaland”¦ when does it end???

As I looked over the list, I noticed that a few words were missing. Here are some of the most overused words at Jamesville-Dewitt High School:

-(Epic) FAIL!: Used to describe a truly unfortunate occurrence. As in, “I tried to enter my house but I didn’t realize that the sliding glass door was closed. FAIL!”

-Funny!: A sarcastic way of pointing out how extremely hilarious something may or may not be.

-Legit: I understand that the jacket you’re wearing is legit amazing, but when overused, “legit” makes you seem legit lazy.

-OMG/LOL: No one cares to hear these spoken aloud. It might be convenient for IM, texting, and Facebook, but let’s keep these abbreviations to the screens of your computers and phones.

-That’s gay. / That’s retarded.: If you use these, you may not know who you’re offending.

-Flow: Example: “My flow is top notch because of my mid-calf Nikes, Turf Dawgs, and flow bucket combo’d with the lettuce fiesta in the back.” Translation: “I look really good today because I am wearing nice shoes, a nice pair of socks, and a protective piece of equipment on my head (with nicely groomed hair coming out of the back).”

-Swag: Definition: A way of describing one’s”¦class and style. Made famous by many rappers. Spread at J-DHS with the help of wannabe gangstas.

-Like/Um/Totally/You Know (used as meaningless fillers): Example: “Like, no one cares if, um, you’re, you know, totally addicted to, like, using these words.”

-Deaded!/Demoted!: Similar to “FAIL.” Successor to the old-school “BURN.” Used to inform someone that he or she has just been insulted. Badly.

-My bad: Often abbreviated to “My B.” According to UrbanDictionary.com, the phrase is used when one means, “I did something bad, and I recognize that I did something bad, but there is nothing that can be done for it now, and there is technically no reason to apologize for that error, so let's just assume that I won't do it again, get over it, and move on with our lives.”

-Obnoxious abbreviations of totally, whatever, and obviously: As in, “I’m totes sick of these obvi annoying abbrevs. Whatev.”

-That’s what she said: Of course, this is never said in such a fine educational institution, but when the right moment arises, you know what to do”¦ that’s what she said!

With these words popping up in everyday language, I’m a little concerned for the future of our country. Will all of our sentences depend on these created words and abbreviations soon? If that is the case, our society is sure to become one big epic fail.