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