Banished Words for 2005

Lake Superior University has released its annual list of banished words and phrases. Don't let yourself use any of the following (among others):

• blue states/red states ("a good map has more than two colors")

• pockets of resistance ("are we talking about someone not buying a round of drinks or people shooting at each other?")

•the prefix "uber"

• the suffix "izzle" (I'd never heard of this one -- I'll have to ramp up my exposure to popular culture)

• body wash ("also known as soap")

• "all new" in reference to TV episodes

...and of course...

• "blog" and all its forms (I've never liked the word, myself. It's childishly clownish. Almost any word would have been better——lampshade, tomato, anything. But we're stuck with it and in a few years, if it doesn't seem quaint, it'll seem as natural as if it had always existed.)