Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Words That Should be Banned from the English Language

    Yesterday I listened to  phone in radio show on words that should be banned from the English language. I hear one or two of these shows a year and I find them fascinating. I'm quite low key when it comes to vigorous protest. There are words that I may not like but I don't go out beating a drum to have them banned.

    So what do people want banned? Some things are expressions that are meaningless and inaccurate. Example: "like." "Like" tell me! "Like" get a life! "Like" cool man! Another example"you know". "You know" I really like blues music. "You know" Fords are the best cars.

    Others phoned into the show were "going forward" "from the get go" "irregardless"

    Other examples were just grammar errors that are repeated. One I remember was "jet fighter" when it should be fighter jet" because what you're talking about is the kind of jet so the modifier should be before the noun.

    Others criticized words the have an er added to the end. I used one the other day when I said "littler " when I should have used smaller. I use funner quite often.

    We are a community of writers with our own styles. As writers we have some interest in expression and vocabulary. Many bloggers spend a tremendous amount of time editing to polish up their post. They care. 

    I find the styles used by bloggers interesting as they have found a successful way to tell their story. Many  bloggers write as they speak. They have an interesting and sequential way writing their post.

    So are there words you would like to see banned from the English language? What words or expressions really bug you? Is "bug" one of those words you want banned from the language?