Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 16:19:28 EST

From: AAllan AAllan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Superior anti-words of the year



As we consider our own (morally neutral) vote on words of the year, here'=

s the=0Achilly annual report from Lake Superior:=0A=0A Word police think =

the linguistic value of `yadda, yadda, yadda' is zip, zero,=0Anada =0A Re=

uters News Service =0A=0A SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. -- The word police at L=

ake Superior State University=0Anominated a New Year's list of slang word=

s and cliches they want banned=0AWednesday, issuing a plea that speakers =

avoid the annoying "yadda, yadda,=0Ayadda." =0AOther words and phrases fa=

iling the school's standard for proper English usage=0Awere the abbreviat=

ed greeting "whassup?" or the even shorter " 'sup?", the=0Aconfessional "=

my bad" and the insulting "talk to the hand" (not to my face). =0A Since =

1976, the university's public relations staff has solicited nominations=

=0Afor its New Year's list of cliches, slang words or redundancies that c=

rop up=0Ain current usage and deserve banishment. =0A Instead of "whassup=

?" the school suggested people just try saying hello.=0A"It's pass=E9," s=

aid nominator Greg Arceri of Northville, Mich., of the=0Agreeting. =0A Ma=

ny found the oft-repeated phrase "my bad" to be an infantile alternative =

to=0Aadmitting a mistake, and others opined that "yadda, yadda, yadda" wa=

s merely=0Aan irritating substitute for "and so on." =0A The overused "Ge=

neration X" came in for criticism -- possibly from those in=0Athe 20-some=

thing age group -- for being a bland moniker deserving a=0Areplacement, a=

lthough no suitable one was offered. =0A Some favored words and prefixes =

used by the media were also excoriated. The=0Asuperlative "ever" as in "t=

he best film adaptation of a John Grisham novel=0Aever!" was viewed as an=

unneeded superlative that is redundant. =0A The prefix "re-" was so over=

used that one contributor to the list suggested=0A"we should re-double ou=

r efforts to re-think this issue" before reusing it. =0A In addition, the=

school suggested that athletes who insist on giving "110=0Apercent" shou=

ld be held to it, and anyone who announces plans to "take it to=0Athe nex=

t level" ought to be held back. =0A The phrase "show me the money," popul=

arized by the football player played by=0ACuba Gooding Jr. in the movie J=

erry McGuire, was seen as funny once -- but no=0Amore. =0A And casino ope=

rators ought to be instructed to quit calling their sport=0A"gaming" when=

everyone knows it's a euphemism for gambling, gambling,=0Agambling. =0A =

Yadda, yadda, yadda. =0A