2025 Banished Words List(lssu.edu)
lssu.edu
2025 Banished Words List
https://www.lssu.edu/lake-superior-state-university-unveils-2025-banished-words-list/
73 comments
Unless you are Taylor Swift, it might be time to leave “era” behind. The term’s overuse has made every fleeting moment feel like it demands a historical marker. Leah of Holland, Michigan submits, “Thanks to the name of Taylor Swift’s tour, now there is an ‘era’ for everyone and everything! ‘He’s in his fatherhood era’, ‘She’s in her pottery-making era,’ etc., etc.. It’s overused and tiring.”
I’m moving on to “aeon” now.
I’m moving on to “aeon” now.
I haven't really noticed this one. I guess I've missed out on the "era" era.
Which ominously opens up the possibility of aeonics.
The fact that nobody knows what skibidi means implies it has more life left in it
For me, skibidi is always going to be connected with John Scatman first, Little.Big second, and there is no third for now.
Most people who use the word skibidi dont remember Scatman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8kmNEo1i8) and were not even born when the song came out :-)
When I learned that the youngest were keeping source engine animations alive in the most hilarious way possible I appreciated it.
Not my kind of humor, but I remember the 420 MLG era. Brainrot is universal.
Not my kind of humor, but I remember the 420 MLG era. Brainrot is universal.
MLG parody videos were a parody. This is... not?
Where’s “iconic”? That one had a very rapid ride from wherever it came from to the lexicon of Madison Avenue.
I'd be happy if people on HN would drop "Learnings." It just shows you never learned the word "lessons."
Somewhere on the internet I once ran across a HN BINGO card. From memory:
Somewhere on the internet I once ran across a HN BINGO card. From memory:
Walled garden
Regulatory capture
An unreasonable...
So...
Period. Full stop.
Oh, hell yes. The anonymous author of "The Unendurable Horrors of Leadership Camp" agrees as well.
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2016/06/the-unendurable-...
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2016/06/the-unendurable-...
> I'd be happy if people on HN would drop "Learnings." It just shows you never learned the word "lessons."
Agreed. Using that "L" word makes one look out-of-touch to me, and I'm disinclined to trust anyone using it.
Same for "performant". There are many ways that something can perform. Are you trying to tell me that something is fast? Why can't you just say that it's fast, and leave it at that?
Agreed. Using that "L" word makes one look out-of-touch to me, and I'm disinclined to trust anyone using it.
Same for "performant". There are many ways that something can perform. Are you trying to tell me that something is fast? Why can't you just say that it's fast, and leave it at that?
> Learnings
Sounds like something from Borat
Sounds like something from Borat
Years ago, I remember Jim Sterling ranting about an "iconic" hat from Ubisoft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN4Umsjp6Cs&t=79s
Though somewhat different than the intent of the list, I'm amazed at the rise of "payed" in place of "paid". I rarely ever saw this error before a couple of years ago and now it's become commonplace, even with people who formerly used paid correctly. I keep expecting to find out it's some recent cultural reference but so far that doesn't appear to be the case.
They're phonetically identical in my dialect so I think this is simply a spelling/transcription error, not usage per se.
It’s official, cringe is dead :)
The end of the cringe era, 100%, period.
Is there an opposite list, a list of underused and trendy words?
Or does this sort of recognition already ~makes it cringe~ sorry, disqualifies the word?
Or does this sort of recognition already ~makes it cringe~ sorry, disqualifies the word?
At least in my local sphere, cringe still has meaning, and I've not heard of the uses in the article although admittedly I live under a bit of a rock. The same goes for era.
I've never heard of skibidi, sorry not sorry, dropped, or IYKYK. But I do agree that "game-changer" is overused.
I've never heard of skibidi, sorry not sorry, dropped, or IYKYK. But I do agree that "game-changer" is overused.
The article sounds like someone complaining about words that they don't like to hear, but framed in a way to try to get others to stop saying them. It makes me cringe bigly
>> I've never heard of skibidi
Oh my, you need to meet some of the Gen A crowd
Oh my, you need to meet some of the Gen A crowd
To be honest I am not even sure what Gen XYZ even means any more...too many free variables!
utilize been on my internal list for about a decade. always has the opposite effect as intended on me. i question if the writer is playing intellectual dress up.
our CEO does it A LOT. a personal emperors new clothes scenario. anyone ever confront upper management and correct language that signals they dont know what theyre talking about?
it seems to me that many small business ceos are emperors in new clothes talking amongst themselves so i rationalize thats just how they speak and expect to be spoken to. confronting not worth risking a knee-jerk-response to an injured ego
our CEO does it A LOT. a personal emperors new clothes scenario. anyone ever confront upper management and correct language that signals they dont know what theyre talking about?
it seems to me that many small business ceos are emperors in new clothes talking amongst themselves so i rationalize thats just how they speak and expect to be spoken to. confronting not worth risking a knee-jerk-response to an injured ego
Let me interject for a moment to tell you about our lord and saviour, “leverage”.
And disciples "reach out", "touch base", and "circle back."
Don’t mention them in vain, lest you call Synergy from the deeps of oblivion! Best of breed, of course.
Enterprise-grade at scale.
i hear "leverage" more than see it in docs/email, but almost only ever see "utilize" in writing.
I’m entertaining a hypothesis that “Leverage” rolls from the tongue smoothly, but “utilize” is more of a breeze to produce on a QWERTY keyboard.
The annual list of words and phrases that have worn out their welcome.
"Ground breaking", "Delve", "Kaleidoscope", "Symphony", Testament To"
Pretty much everything from here: https://github.com/sam-paech/antislop-sampler/blob/main/slop...
Pretty much everything from here: https://github.com/sam-paech/antislop-sampler/blob/main/slop...
'Slop' on the other hand has a bright future ahead. I picked it up just last week, and it is so incredibly apt at what it does. I like it (not the thing it refers to though, i.e., AI generated content and imagery).
“Optics” is at its peak. I can’t wait to see it go.
Likewise since I work in the field of actual optics. Made the list in 2019:
https://www.lssu.edu/resources/about-lssu/traditions/banishe...
https://www.lssu.edu/resources/about-lssu/traditions/banishe...
My maternal grandmother was a psychologist. I grew up watching pop-psychology become a thing and it drove her crazy. I thank god she passed away before "toxic" became wide spread.
When will Masters Degree be banished?
I'm glad this list dropped, these words are so cringe.
[deleted]
Leverage and outcomes should be there.
[deleted]
Is this a list of some college dean's pet peeves?
Let me add:
"Aesthetic"
"Energy" (when used outside physics)
"Aesthetic"
"Energy" (when used outside physics)
- journey (cf. era)
- highly (used as an intensifier)
- highly (used as an intensifier)
"ick" also needs to die.
cringe
Whatever boomer. This list is pretty cringe
I know this is a joke, but it makes curious. Is "boomer" just used a derogatory term for people older than the speaker now? I ask because the youngest boomers are 60 now and in practice I see the term used against people younger than 60.
It's used to describe an attitude or behavioral stereotype, rather than strictly to refer to that demographic group in the US.
Millennial gamers had a collective quarter-life crisis a few years back that manifested itself in form of memes where anyone who whined about modern games being bad was called an out of touch "30 year old boomer". Then as retaliation the whiners started calling anyone who defended modern games as "zoomers", which gave the generation Z a fancy new nickname.
You just imagine some little shit say these words to you in precisely the way that makes your fists itch to make a dent in their face.
That said, if your antagonist evokes the “little shit” vibes without you consciously thinking that, it’s probably only fair that you evoke “boomer” vibes for them. Well.
(It’s also apparent that “boomer” has evolved to mean any old fart.)
That said, if your antagonist evokes the “little shit” vibes without you consciously thinking that, it’s probably only fair that you evoke “boomer” vibes for them. Well.
(It’s also apparent that “boomer” has evolved to mean any old fart.)
It's amusing that the phrase "Don't trust anyone over 30" gained popularity when the Baby Boomers were under 30 but now the sentiment is focused against them (and Gen-X and Millennials).
> the youngest boomers are 60 now and in practice I see the term used against people younger than 60.
In those cases the term isn't being used because the speaker is attempting to accurately identify the age of the person they are referring to. It is name-calling.
In those cases the term isn't being used because the speaker is attempting to accurately identify the age of the person they are referring to. It is name-calling.
I’m not a boomer but my kids say “Ok boomer” to me all the time
dvh(4)
Reading an article when suddenly a random personal attack appears.