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Banished Words for 2023

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🕖 Off the Clock

Banished Words for 2023

It’s an inflection point

Scott Monty
Jan 7
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Banished Words for 2023

www.timelesstimely.com

“As great minds have the faculty of saying a great deal in a few words, so lesser minds have a talent of talking much, and saying nothing.” — Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Hello, fellow word nerd.

If you’ve been paying attention so far this year, you may have seen the 2023 Banished Words List. It’s an annual tradition started by a kindred spirit that Lake Superior State University carries on.

If you’d like some history on how this came to be and who brought it to life, I’ve got an interview with the creator’s son:

Timeless & Timely
The Fascinating Origins of the Banished Word List
Welcome to “Off the Clock,” a little something that lands somewhere between Timeless and Timely. I send out this fun look at language and words most Saturdays. If someone sent this to you, please consider subscribing…
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a year ago · 6 likes · 3 comments · Scott Monty

Meanwhile, for the rest of us who want to know which of our friends require needling, here’s the 2023 version of the annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use, and General Uselessness.

  1. GOAT

  2. Inflection point

  3. Quiet quitting

  4. Gaslighting

  5. Moving forward

  6. Amazing

  7. Does that make sense?

  8. Irregardless

  9. Absolutely

  10. It is what it is

And as usual, I’ll attempt to use these in a couple of sentences:

We’re at an inflection point where quiet quitting is no longer seen as amazing and gaslighting, having just entered the mainstream, is no longer the GOAT, but it is what it is. Irregardless, we’ll absolutely have to eliminate it moving forward. Does that make sense?

If this kind of list fascinates you, then you’ll also be interested in what my friend Ann Handley put together:

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Oh, and check out her Total Annarchy newsletter while you’re at it.

Make sure you're

subscribed to this one too!

Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.

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Banished Words for 2023

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2 Comments
Chris Abraham
Writes Chris Abraham Online
Jan 7Liked by Scott Monty

I am adding "problematic" to the list.

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Dave Linabury
Jan 7Liked by Scott Monty

Is there an acceptable synonym for gaslighting? Because it’s happening so frequently these days that to kill that word off seems like removing “climate change” or “solar power” as overused. Deceiving, duping, et al seem not to get to this highly specialized form of manipulation.

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