14 Words That Need to Be Banished

After an a-ha moment, two BFFs decide to live life to the fullest and make an epic video, which could have the wow factor and go viral, or be an epic fail. Was that an annoying sentence? The people at Lake Superior State University would likely think so, as it includes seven of the 14 words that made its 36th annual "List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use, and General Uselessness" (as nominated by the American people, who give "banishment reasons"). A sampling, along with a "reason":

• Viral: "This linguistic disease of a term must be quarantined."
• Epic: "Cecil B. DeMille movies are epic. Internet fallouts and opinions delivered in caps-lock are not."
• Back story: "This should be on the list of words that don't need to exist because a perfectly good word has been used for years. In this case, the word is 'history,' or, for those who must be weaned, 'story.'"
• Man up: "A stupid phrase when directed at men. Even more stupid when directed at a woman, as in 'Alexis, you need to man up and join that Pilates class!'"

Read the full list. (More words stories.)