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Now is the time to get rid of this year’s abused and misused words and phrases. Only a matter of days remain to submit a nomination for Lake Superior State University’s 2016 Word Banishment List, to be released on Dec. 31.

For every new year since 1976, LSSU has issued an annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use or General Uselessness.” LSSU has been accepting nominations for banishment from all over the world, covering all manner of word or phrase worthy of exile.

University officials note that even with this year’s election-year lift, most entries don’t necessarily come from politics. Nominations for the 2016 list roll in via e-mail at a steady pace from the fields of academia, advertising, business, the military, sports, as well as politics.

“We have a great number of firebrand nominations,” says a spokesman for the word-sifters. “The selection process has been push-polled this way and that, and pummeled by trappings of truthiness.”

Words and phrases banished in previous years include: My Bad (`98), Forced Relaxation (`89), Free Gift (`88), Live Audience (`83, `87, `90), and Minor Emergency Clinic (’90). Last year’s list dealt with “bae,” “polar vortex,” “hack” and more.

The annual compilation makes news all over the world. Between now and mid-January, LSSU’s public relations staff will conduct interviews with electronic media outlets such as Fox, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, CBC, plus radio call-in programs too numerous to mention. The world’s major press agencies – AP, UPI, Reuters, and Xinhua (China’s national news agency) – also move the list. Lake Superior State’s tongue-in-cheek compilation catches the attention of columnists with the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, and Newsweek.

The List has appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Colbert Report.

Nominations for 2016’s list, along with compelling reasons for banishment, can be submitted through the Internet by running a Web search on, “word banish submission.”

The 2016 list will be released on Dec. 31, in time to welcome the new year.

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