‘Ban’ wagon

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I like that there is an official list of yearly banned words. I just learned this today. No one seems to be policing the ban, so I’m fine for not knowing, (except that I may irritate some people). On the list for each year are words or phases that have become over used according to a group at Duke University. When I read through this years list I could see how saying some things a lot might get on nerves.

For some reason it reminded me of fashion and trends in general. I think we do this. We like, then over-like, then don’t like, then can’t even stand things as they come in and then go out of style. Words, clothes, hair styles, houses, colors, decor, cars, etc. we want it, we don’t want it. It must have something to do with staying current. A fresh new thing that sometimes needs some getting used to, then we love, until we don’t. Then we actually get so tired of hearing or seeing that, we fully reject it.

Who starts these trends? Young people? Cool people. Advertising people? Do I dislike certain trends or words enough to want to erase them permanently?

Here’s the thing. so much is a reinvention of something else. I’ve lived long enough to see things come into style and then go out, only to come back again. I myself am a fan of reinvention, so I won’t vote to get rid of any words or trends permanently. I get tired of words or phrases or styles at times, I can’t bare yellow wall paint for example, but there is always some clever person who will reconfigure and improve upon what is. Besides, did you ever notice, things always disappear before reappearing as something else.

I am not getting on any ‘ban’ wagon for a lot of reasons. I probably don’t believe in banning.