SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., Dec. 31 (UPI) —
Michigan’s Lake Superior State University announced its 39th annual list of words "banished" from the language includes "selfie," "twerking" and "hashtag."
The Sault Ste. Marie school said the 2013 List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness, compiled from tens of thousands of nominations from the public, is topped by "selfie," which means a self-portrait taken with a cellphone camera and was dubbed Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year.
The list also includes "twerking," the suggestive butt-centric dance popularized by Miley Cyrus; "hashtag," the new name for the pound sign brought about by its use on Twitter; "Mister Mom," a phrase inspired by the 1983 Michael Keaton movie to mean a man who serves as the primary caregiver for his children; and "T-Bone" to refer to a perpendicular auto collision.
The school said it is also banishing the phrase "on steroids" used to describe something being improved, and the suffixes "-ageddon" and "-pocalypse," which are often used to describe events ranging from snowstorms to sales.
Politically themed words the school said people grew tired of in 2013 include "intellectually/morally bankrupt," which is used often by members of one political party to describe the members of the other, and "Obamacare," the nickname for the Affordable Care Act that became the most-used label for the law.
The list indicated people are also sick of hearing about the "adversity" faced by sports stars, as well as the support of their "fan base."