Lake Superior State University just released its 2012 list of banned words. Okay – technically, the words are just banished. I’m still not comfortable with these “word czars” banishing overused words and annoying phrases. The fact that the list is created by vote is supposed to make up for the trickeration involved in this blatant attempt at censorship. Apparently, there are certain words people feel are overused. Maybe these words have just become the new normal. However, the people have decided the rest of us should no longer use them.
I think this quasi-democratic attempt to take away free speech is utterly amazing. Just because the school’s nearby lake is “Superior” doesn’t give this educational institution the right to tell the rest of us what to say. So those of us who want to win the future need to fight for our right to annoy others with overused words. So I present to you a new movement called Occupy Language.
Those of you who happen to have baby bumps right now know that we’re fighting on behalf of the future citizens of this country for the continued right to free speech. And all you pet parents out there should take a ginormous amount of interest this topic, too. What if next year these guys ban the words sit and stay? How will Spot know what to do?
We can’t let these attempts at censorship become the new normal. So in order to win the future for pet parents and baby bumps alike, let’s send LSSU some community blowback. I know this topic may not be as serious as, say, the economy or the upcoming elections, but the issue is important. In response to the banning of these words, I encourage you all to continue saying the words that these “Superior” people have banned. In fact, I encourage you to check out their list of banned words and adopt any of the expressions and made up words you might not have used before this moment in time.
It’ll only take a few moments to brush up on these overused expressions so we can Occupy Language. Yes, some of the words are amazingly annoying. But let’s just consider it a shared sacrifice and make these words even more popular than before. Thank you in advance for helping to ensure that these banned words don’t disappear altogether. By the way, I’ve used each of them in this article. Some I’ve used more than once. How’s that for a ginormous blowback, LSSU? I’ll be sending in a vote to include “list of banned words” on your “list of banned words” for 2013. (By the way, it appears that your effort toward eliminating words like viral and facebooking in 2011 was an epic fail. I’m just sayin’…)