“We live in unprecedented times.” “In these challenging, difficult times.” “Out of an abundance of caution.” “We’re in this together.”
According to one university, this has been going on long enough.
“It should come as no surprise that this year’s list is dominated by words and terms related to Covid-19,” Peter Szatmary, executive director of marketing and communications at LSSU, said in a statement.
LSSU has named more than 1,450 phrases from around the world, and seven of the ten phrases the university has chosen for the so-called ‘banishment’ this year deal with the coronavirus. It contains’ Covid-19 ‘,’ social distance ‘,’ we are all in this together ‘,’ ‘pivot’, ‘unprecedented’ and any variation of ‘in an abundance of caution’ and ‘in these uncertain times’.
Since New Year’s Day 1976, the university has compiled its annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Useless”. The aim is to ‘maintain, protect and support excellence in language’ by encouraging. avoiding words and terms that have been overused to ‘ineffective, baffling or irritating’.
‘LSSU’s List of Banished Words’ has reflected signs of the times since its mid-1970s debut, and the spirit of the year this year is: We are all in this together by banning expressions like ‘We are all in this together’. “To be sure, Covid-19 has sown unprecedented devastation and destroyed lives, but also the excessive reliance on ‘unprecedented’ to frame things, so it has to go,” Szatmary said.
People with the name Karen may be happy to hear that the term ‘Karen’ made the list.
As the university states, “What started as an anti-racist critique of white women’s behavior in response to black and colored people has become a misogynistic term for criticizing the alleged overemotional behavior of women.”
LSSU has also called for an end to the use of ‘sus’, the abbreviated form of suspect that is ubiquitous in the striking video game Among Us. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
“In a small way, perhaps this list ‘helps to flatten the curve’, which has also been considered for banning,” said dr. Rodney S. Hanley, president of the LSSU, said. “We trust that your ‘new normal’ – another candidate among nominations – for next year will no longer have to include it.”
“I know, right?” rounded off the list. Nominators felt that the phrase was absurd to ask a question to which one already knows the answer and comes off as unsure.
Honestly, we’m not sure about the last one. Looks kind of sus.