The Most Useless Words of 2007

'Surge,' 'random,' 'under the bus' top list of cringe-worthy neologisms
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 1, 2008 6:00 PM CST
The Most Useless Words of 2007
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Do you roll your eyes every time a newscaster calls a coincidence a "perfect storm"? Cringe the thousandth time a teenager invokes "random"? The faculty at Lake Superior State University shares your vexation. Here are some selections from the school's list of words and phrases to be "banished" for "Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness" in 2007:

  • "Perfect Storm"
  • "Webinar" (web seminar)
  • "Waterboarding"
  • "Organic"
  • "Wordsmith"/"Wordsmithing"

  • "Post-9/11"
  • "Surge"
  • "X is the new Y" (e.g. "Cold is the new hot")
  • "Black Friday"
  • "Back in the day"
  • "Random"
  • "Under the bus"
  • "It is what it is"
(More words stories.)

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