Campus News

Annual words-to-ban list targets ‘selfie,’ ‘twerking’ and ‘hashtag’

Social media jargon was a big target in this year’s Lake Superior State University’s banished words list, which critiques overused words and phrases in the English language.

This year’s crop of words included “selfie” (the term for a picture taken by oneself and usually posted on the Web). The term also was named Oxford Dictionaries’ 2013 Word of the Year.

“Hashtag” and “Twittersphere” were other social media terms targeted by the list.

LSSU’s “List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse or General Uselessness” is a tongue-in-cheek annual tradition now in its 39th year.

Other words and phrases on the list were “Mister Mom,” “T-Bone” and “intellectually/morally bankrupt.”