Speechless
Lake Superior State University, a small private college in Michigan, has compiled the 2003 list of banned words. The list is put together from entries received throughout the year and represents those words that the selection committee considered highly over-used.
Among the words on this year's list are "weapons of mass destruction" and "homeland security." How sweet. If only it were really so easy to ban those things. "Well, we can't use the words 'weapons of mass destruction' anymore, so no one can possibly have them!" Quick, somebody tell Hans Blix. Or, "Sorry, Mr. Ridge, but your department can't exist, because some two-bit college in Michigan says we're not allowed to use the words 'homeland security' ever again."
I do have some sympathy with the concept, however, as other banned words include "must-see TV" and the use of the word "challenge" instead of "problem." I would also submit that "opportunity" should have been included along with "challenge." "We don't have a problem. We have an opportunity!" Oh, fuck that, a budget shortfall is a problem, and no idiotic cheerleading will change that. It will, however, make me want to slap the person saying it. The good news, though, is to that person, my wanting to slap them could not be a problem, but an opportunity. Indeed, it is, an opportunity for me to exorcise my frustrations on a simpering, saccharine moron. Too bad common sense prevents me from seizing that opportunity. Well, common sense and the mortgage I have to pay.
You can see the full list of words here.