I like to think I was into transparency before transparency was cool. Even Secretary
Clinton trotted "transparency" out for the Copenhagen climate talks. Apparently,
now it's passé:
Word "czars" at Lake Superior State University "unfriended" 15 words and phrases and declared them "shovel-ready" for inclusion on the university's 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.
"The list this year is a 'teachable moment' conducted free of 'tweets,'" said a Word Banishment spokesman who was "chillaxin'" for the holidays. "'In these economic times', purging our language of 'toxic assets' is a 'stimulus' effort that's 'too big to fail.'"
Former LSSU Public Relations Director Bill Rabe and friends created "word banishment" in 1975 at a New Year's Eve party and released the first list on New Year's Day. Since then, LSSU has received tens of thousands of nominations for the list, which includes words and phrases from marketing, media, education, technology and more.
TRANSPARENT/TRANSPARENCY
"I can see clearly that this is the new buzzword for the year." -- Joann Eschenburg, Clinton Twp., Mich.
"In the lexicon of the political arena, this word is supposed to mean obvious or easily understood. In reality, political transparency is more invisible than obvious!" -- Deb Larson, Bellaire, Mich.
"I just don't see it." – Joe Grimm, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
This just makes it official. I've resigned myself to becoming part of the counterculture.