London: Fiscal cliff, guru and spoiler alert are among words that should be removed from the vocabulary in 2013, according to a group of US academics. Michigan's Lake Superior State University (LSSU) have released their '38th Annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness' on December 31 with fiscal cliff, guru and spoiler alert among recommended terms they think need to be retire from the daily vernacular.
The full list includes 12 words, phrases and acronyms including: Kick the can down the road, double down, job creator/creation, passion/passionate, bucket list, trending, super food, boneless wings and guru - with people providing explanations for why these terms are just so irksome that they just need to die, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
The list which includes words from 2012 that just need to fall by the wayside in the new year, is a reflection of terms frequently heard in marketing, used by news pundits and referenced in entertainment. The top entry 'fiscal cliff', which had the most nominations, is a timely phrase that has dominated political discourse in US as Republicans and Democrats negotiated into the eleventh hour yesterday in hopes of avoiding a financial catastrophe.
In theory, the fiscal cliff has hit the US, which among other things, means across the board hike in income tax rates. "(We've) lost sight of the metaphor and started to think it's a real place, like with the headline, 'Obama, Boehner meeting on fiscal cliff,'" Barry Cochran, from Portland, wrote in his entry. "Please let this phrase fall off of a real cliff!" pleaded Randal Baker, from Seabeck, with Donna, from Johnstown, adding that hearing the word fiscal cliff, "makes me want to throw someone over a real cliff".
Next in line is another often used idiom in political talk, 'kick the can down the road', which "typically means that someone or some group is neglecting its responsibilities", according to Mike Cloran, from Cincinnati, Ohio. Though many terms show the fatigue from the US 2012 presidential campaign, one offensive phrase came from the world of entertainment.
YOLO, which stands for You Only Live Once, is an acronym frequently seen on Twitter and used by texters. The term got a thumbs down earlier this year from The Washington Post, who called it 'the newest acronym you'll love to hate'.
The university allows people to submit offending phrases throughout the year on their website. The blacklist launched in 1975 now includes more than 800 entries.
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