Monday, May 05, 2003

That Which Must Not Be Uttered

Lake Superior State University has issued its famous Banished Words list for 2003. These are words and phrases, often illogical ones, that are used ad nauseam in the media, and some of them are rather obvious: weapons of mass destruction, homeland security, material breach, etc. One of them, "untimely death," actually comes from Shakespeare originally, though the LSSU committee doesn't seem to be aware of it: "O, untimely death!"--King Lear, Act IV, Scene VI. (I just looked it up . . . . Someone on the LSSU page comments, "Has anyone yet died a timely death?" Well, yes--so although this phrase may be overused, I don't think it's nonsensical.)

By the way, has anyone ever heard of Lake Superior State University in any other context? This annual list must be their claim to fame.

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