We got ourselves a drama queen on our hands.
Specifically, Lake Superior State University in Michigan which has published it’s annual list of “Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.”
The “offending” words?
- Bae
- Polar vortex
- Hack
- Skill set
- Swag
- Foodie
- Curate
- Friend-raising
- Cra-cra
- Enhanced interrogation
- Takeaway
- -nation
Anyway, what’s the takeaway from this?
A couple things..
First, I find this list pretentiously cra-cra.
Communication is about clarity not snobbery. And, several of these words are perfect for using in emails (and copywriting, content, etc) when you want to inject a bit of curated entertainment value into your writing (being entertaining — with a whiff of swag — is a good skill set to possess), or simply make something clear.
And secondly, here’s the way I see it:
Settle Nation will strive to use ALL these words in copy in 2015.
And, maybe even misspell ’em, to boot.
It’ll be fun for me.
And, be like enhanced interrogation to the word snobs who put lists like the one above together.
All right, Bae.
Enough friend-raising.
To see my latest email marketing hacks, go here:
Ben Settle
