Hasta La Gadget!

Jan 01

Hashtag, twerking and selfie: Most annoying words of the year

Singer Miley Cyrus both twerks and takes selfies like this one. No word on her opinion of Obamacare.

(Credit: Miley Cyrus)

The words “selfie” (taking a photo of one’s self); Obamacare (the nickname of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act); and “twerking” (a provocative dance style made famous by singer Miley Cyrus during her MTV VMA performance) made the 39th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness from Lake Superior State University.

The list is compiled from nominations sent to LSSU throughout the year and then released each year on New Year’s Eve. It dates back to 1975, when onetime LSSU public relations director Bill Rabe and colleagues came up with the idea to urge banishment of overused words and phrases from the English language.