Panel Calls for a New Year Devoid of Old Slang, Cliches

The word police at Lake Superior State University nominated their annual New Year’s list of slang words and cliches they want banned Wednesday, issuing a plea that speakers avoid the annoying “yadda, yadda, yadda.”

Other words and phrases failing the school’s standard for proper English usage were the abbreviated greeting “Whassup?” or the even shorter “‘Sup?” and the insulting “Talk to the hand” (not to my face).

Since 1976, the university’s public relations staff has solicited nominations for its New Year’s list of cliches, slang or redundancies that deserve banishment.

Instead of “Whassup?” the school suggested people just try saying hello. The slang term is passe, said nominator Greg Arceri of Northville, Mich.

Others opined that “yadda, yadda, yadda” was merely an irritating substitute for “and so on.”

The overused “Generation X” came in for criticism, possibly from those in the 20-something age group, for being a bland moniker deserving a replacement, although no suitable one was offered.

Some favored words and prefixes used by the media were also excoriated.

The superlative “ever,” as in “. . . the best film adaptation of a John Grisham novel ever,” was viewed as redundant.

The prefix “re-” was so overused that one contributor to the list suggested “we should redouble our efforts to rethink this issue.”

In addition, the school suggested that athletes who insist on giving “110%” should be held to it, and anyone who announces plans to “take it to the next level” ought to be held back.