Michael Quinlon’s weekly newsletter, World Wide Words, reports that the American Dialect Society has announced this year’s winning words:

Most likely to succeed: Blog.
Most useful: Google.
Most creative: Dialarhoea.
Most unnecessary: Wombanisation (feminization).
Most outrageous: Neuticles
Most euphemistic: Regime change.
Phrase of the Year: Weapons of mass destruction.

Quinlon also points us to the 2003 list of words Lake Superior State University has banished from the language for being overused or just plain stupid. The list includes:

Material Breach
Must-See TV
Untimely death
Black ice
Weapons of mass destruction
Make no mistake about it
Homeland security
Extreme
Now, more than ever
Branding
Having said that (also: That said)
Peel-and-eat shrimp
Challenge
It’s a good thing
As per
Reverse discrimination
Got game
___ in color (e.g., “Green in color”)
Undisclosed, secret location

Boy, I’d like to see those American Dialect Assocation rowdies pummel them Lake Superior eggheads — even their name is smug! — over claiming “weapons of mass destruction” deserves to be driven from the land in shame! Pettifogs at dawn, gentlemen!

(For previous years’ words of the year, see here.)

Categories: misc dw