Let's Retire these Words!

I recently read a funny and thought-provoking article in TIME magazine about the 15 words and phrases that should be banned from the English language in 2010 for “Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.” The list, compiled by Lake Superior State University (LSSU), includes:

1. Shovel-ready
2. Transparent/Transparency
3. Czar
4. Tweet
5. App
6. Sexting
7. Friend (as a verb)
8. Teachable Moment
9. In These Economic Times ...
10. Stimulus
11. Toxic Assets
12. Too Big to Fail
13. Bromance
14. Chillaxin'
15. Obama (as a prefix)

“’In these economic times,’ purging our language of ‘toxic assets’ is a ’stimulus’ effort that’s ‘too big to fail,’” said a LSSU spokesperson.

I’m afraid that I’m an offender. (I’ve caught myself, more than once, using “transparency,” “app,” “tweet,” “in these economic times” and “too big to fail.”) But where, I ask you, are the following words and phrases that should also be banned: “public option,” “unprecedented,” “OMG” and “at the end of the day”?!

Surprisingly, there is such a superabundance of useless words in the workplace that I blogged about this topic back in October. Yet every year brings an entirely brand new crop of annoying, over-used words!