SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University are giving back to English speakers everywhere with their 33rd annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.

Since 1976, LSSU has published this list every year in a attempt to roll back the decline of language one cliché at a time. This year’s nominees for banishment include:

IT IS WHAT IT IS — “This pointless phrase, uttered initially by athletes on the losing side of a contest, is making its way into general use. It accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant.”

PERFECT STORM — “Overused by the pundits on evening TV shows to mean just about any coincidence.”

EMOTIONAL – “Reporters, short on vocabulary, often describe a scene as ‘emotional.’ Well sure, but which emotion? For a radio reporter to gravely announce, ‘There was an emotional send off to Joe Blow’ tells me nothing, other than the reporter perceived that the participants acted in an emotional way. For instance: I had an emotional day today. I started out feeling tired and a bit grumpy until I had my coffee. I was distraught over a cat killing a bird on the other side of the street. I was bemused by my reaction to the way nature works. I was intrigued this evening to add a word or two to your suggestions. I was happy to see the words that others had posted. Gosh, this has been an emotional day .”

DECIMATE – “Used today in reference to widespread destruction or devastation….’Decimate’ simply means a 10% reduction”.

It’s instructive, if a bit depressing, to review their past lists. In 1976, for example, the following phrases were already considered clichéd beyond redemption;

Meaningful – “Has lost all of its meaningfulness”.

Input – “Has unfortunately replaced “contribution.” Often used in combination; as “meaningful input.”

Scenario – “Spread like wildfire after Watergate. It can be roughly translated as “I don’t know what had happened (or will happen) but this is a scenario.” Means: “I’m making this up.” Also used when reporter doesn’t want to use “according to unimpeachable source.”

But it’s not all negative. This year the committee took the unusual step of restoring the neologism “Truthiness” to respectability. According to LSSU, “this comes after comedians and late-night hosts were thrown under the bus and rendered speechless by a nationwide professional writers’ strike. The silence is deafening.”

Hat Tip To the Shmohawk. (If you’re not with us, you’re a Guinness.)