Colllege students were asked to nominate words for the Most Abused category for 2008 and thousands of nominations flooded the contast HQ.

The political cartoon below contains many of the top abused words agreed upon for 2008 by American college students.

College Students' Top Picks for Most Abused Words in English in 2008:

Maverick, dude/First Dude, iconic, green/go green, and bailout; not neccesarily in that order.

One student wrote on his nomination form that if he hears the term "green" one more time, he was going to collect rubber tires and burn them in his back yard. Interestingly, I am not bothered by green and going green, and I wish more people could be bothered to do so.

Anyways – Please note that this is not a word; it is the incorrect form of anyway.

Sucks – This is a physical reference that suggests lack of imagination and vocabulary, actually.

Actually – Overused, but we can use a synonym like truly, in point of fact, in fact, really, or a couple of others, and wear them out also.

Bailout – Insurance-gate,Bank-gate, Car-gate. What next? The fact that a nation invests in important businesses need not always be looked upon as a bailout.

Hot – Paris Hilton and nearly everyone else has worn this one to shreds. One synonym is blistering. Would that work as a substitute? How about carbonized? Scorching might really work for a change, though.

“…gate” – Watergate and all of its cousin-gates. Frost/Nixon may be an interesting film, but I am tired of certain parties running this type of commodity into the ground in order to profit financially.

Like, for example, - Use like or for example, but not both, please. For example is more grammatically correct in formal writing.

Maverick - Election-gate 2008. The term may have fit the candidates in certain matters, but it was much overused. I was expecting to see a Maverick superhero. Wait! – There is one already: Marvel Comics’ Maverick: A former CIA agent, the super mystery mutant can see the immediate futures of all of his enemies. He is thus able to take a more successful course of action to make him a consistent victor.

Various definitions of maverick:

• An unbranded calf.
• An independent person that will stand against his/her own group.
• An individual that refuses to abide by the dictates of a group; a dissenter.
• A lone dissenter, i.e., an intellectual, an artist, or a politician that makes an independent stand against associates.
• Some folks feel that the definition of the word maverick is troublemaker.

Main Street and Wall Street – I prefer the old TV classic Window on Main Street and the even more classic MAD Magazine (MAD = Madison Avenue parody). Now we have MAD TV and that’s OK, too – not quite the classic Second City TV, but better than some SNL shows.

Better yet, how about the streets that house the homeless populations, the back alleys where people are murdered and raped, and the streets, roads, and bridges of Americain need of repair? President-Elect Obama’s $800+ billion US Infrastructure Project, if implemented, will hopefully ameliorate some of the road problems, at least. How about better public transportation on those roads and streets?

I just read a book called Hidden Kitchens, a section of which is about the homeless that were able to prepare meals with a George Foreman Grill and a long extension cord under Wacker Drive in Chicago for many years. The area was fenced off in recent years and the peoples’ refrigerator box homes destroyed by the city. Where did they go?

Orientate – Incorrect form of orient.

Osama Bin Laden – Find him and do what needs to be done. Osama-gate.

Proven track record – This is a worn out phrase on resumes and in marketing, among other places. Instead of using these words, give specific examples of accomplishments, complete with numbers, percentages, and dollars & cents.

Reality Show – If these words are not overused, then the concept is definitely worn out. Too much reality can be a bad thing on any of several levels.

Spin <OR> Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them – Please get the votes counted in the 2008 Minnesota senate race before the 2012 General Election. (Update - Finally! July, 2009.)

Yeah, right. - Much too overused to the point of rudeness. Can’t you say, “I don’t believe you” or “Show me some proof”? No, don’t use “Show me the money”, either. In the 20^th Century, the phrase used was “I’m from Missouri”, Missouri being the Show Me State. People finally got sick and tired of that phrase and it fell into disuse about 1980.

Whazzup? – You’re not getting hired in this interview, that’s what’s up! Use proper English if you want a job with a bank.

Whatever! – Take a debate class in order to learn how to argue effectively.

F#_k – This word imitates the sound of awkward or forced coupling. Pineapple Express, the movie, contained 161 F-words. Grind House? – only 146. However, In the latest PG-13 film I viewed, there were five (5) F-words. It’s f#_k-gate.

Local Starbucks employees in one unit in the Midwest began to use this profanity at work to customers, but were fired when overheard by a manager. If a person uses this word on our public buses, that individual is ejected. Further, if the person is a student enrolled in elementary through high schools or college, their bus pass-card is deactivated. Adults can have their monthly passes deactivated also.

Our busses are pretty quiet these days. Uniformed and undercover police ride each bus daily with the rules are posted clearly: no food or beverages, no talking on cellphones or cranking headphones up so others can hear, no smoking, no drugs, no profanity at any level. Sudden movements toward the driver and any threatening movements or statements toward anyone on the bus are grounds for ejection and arrest. We also have surveillance cameras on all busses.

One Midwestern university's top choices for abused words in 2008 matched some of my own.

1. Green - (I'm still fine with this one!)
2. Carbon footprint/offset - (This is still OK by me, but my carbon footprint is very, very tiny and I dislike being asked to purchase carbon offsets in addition to this - especailly in the new schemes formulating to "make money by selling carbon offsets.")
3. Maverick - I still like the old TV series.
4. First Dude - Not tired of this one yet. kind of funny, too.
5. Bailout - Amen!
6. Wall Street/Main Street - How about my street?
7. Monkey - I don't get this one, but I refuse to see Space Chimps.
8. Icon/Iconic - Have the users of these words ever seen a real Russian or Orthodox icon?
9. Game Changer- My preference is to get rid of the games.
10. Staycation - For those that can't afford to take a vacation, I quess this is just "taking time off."
11. Desperate search - Media jargon, like an All Points Bulletin or a Nationwide Manhunt.
12. Not so much - Whatever.
13. Winner of Five Nominations - Must be award addicts using this one. If it's not at least nominated, it's cr#p.
14. It's that time of year again - What time is that, may I ask?  

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