Banned words for 2009

Lake Superior State University just released its infamous List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness, which perennially gives me a good laugh.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_ ... nned_words

The list:

• Green
• Carbon footprint
• Offsets
• Maverick
• First Dude
• Bailout
• Wall Street vs. Main Street
• Monkey
• The heart emoticon [ <3 ]
• Iconic
• Game changer
• Staycation
• Desperate search
• Not so much
• Winner of five nominations
• It's that time of year again

I might have added "upconverting" and "HD-ready 1080p!"

In any case, many of these words have applications for culinary writing, and I have used not a few this year. On LTH, it's been hard not to avoid "unctuous," "toothsome," "assertive," and "destination dining" in the past twelve months.

What food terms got stuck in your craw this year? Which terms are underused? Help me build a robust, refreshing, cromulent vocabulary for 2009.

meh

I should abstain from this conversation.

good list they compiled I agree all of those should be gone especially "green", and "carbon footprint".

I'd add:

- yummy, or use of any derivative of the word if you are over 4 years old

Not banned words per se, but I would like servers (who are not the chef/owner) in 2009 to refrain from using the first person singular to describe specials ("Today I have a pumpkin soup...") and from using the first person plural to describe how dishes are constructed ("And we're going to finish that with a balsamic reduction. . ."). Pet peeves.

Matt wrote:first person plural to describe how dishes are constructed ("And we're going to finish that with a balsamic reduction. . ."). Pet peeves.

I always call this the "royal we."

Regards,

Do, as in I'll do the duck breast.

Ordering an entree or setting up an assignation?

Matt wrote:Not banned words per se, but I would like servers (who are not the chef/owner) in 2009 to refrain from using the first person singular to describe specials ("Today I have a pumpkin soup...") and from using the first person plural to describe how dishes are constructed ("And we're going to finish that with a balsamic reduction. . ."). Pet peeves.

Sort of in the same category as servers referring the "the chef" as "chef" (e.g., "Chef recommends the prosciutto wrapped bacon roll" or "Chef is offering 28 specials tonight").

jesteinf wrote:Sort of in the same category as servers referring the "the chef" as "chef" (e.g., "Chef recommends the prosciutto wrapped bacon roll" or "Chef is offering 28 specials tonight").

But what if Issac Hayes is doing the cooking?*

* I know he's dead, it's just a joke.

They forgot the word rogue or going rogue. As in "Sandra Lee is going rogue. She is making everything from scratch."

jimswside wrote:especially "green", and "carbon footprint".

Totally agree, two of trendiest, most misused and overused words in the English language right now.

I'm also tiring of neologism such as merged words like "staycation." Overly cutesy, and kind of lazy, IMHO.

The absolute cheapest, most small-town-restaurant reviewers culinary words of all time are:

addictive (The buffalo chicken marshmallows are addictive!)

and to die for (The coconut-crusted gizzards are to die for!)

Just thought that needed to be said.

(I thought "first dude" was pretty funny, actually. Try to imagine most of the senators who ran for president last year having enough of a sense of humor about themselves to refer to themselves in a similar fashion. Their hair alone is too self-important to allow it.)

But then I'm still relishing "viral inevitability" from yesterday. I just pitched a treatment with that title to Roland Emmerich.

Mike G wrote:The absolute cheapest, most small-town-restaurant reviewers culinary words of all time are:

addictive (The buffalo chicken marshmallows are addictive!)

This had me concerned, because I definitely use that word. I do agree that it's a bit of a cop out, used most often when one is either too tired or incapable of more descriptive language.


However, my concern about being pegged as a cheap, small-town guy was quickly alleviated when I found these big-city quotes (emphasis mine):

Mike G wrote:Samooses were okay but a little tray-of-filo-dough-pastries-at-a-partyish. Injera was much better than the foam rubber I had at Shan off their smallish African menu. Lamb was robust, brown lentils spicy and addictive

Mike G wrote:The highly addictive corn nuts

Mike G wrote:slightly rubbery phyllo-like dough, inside of which was ground beef, perhaps a bit of cabbage, some spice like clove or cinnamon-- surprisingly these were done no harm by a quick visit to the inside of a microwave, and proved addictive.

Granted, these quotes were all from before 2008, so it is entirely possible that "addictive" has become cheap only in the latter part of the decade . Or, more likely, Mike may have meant that the word should be banned only among professional reviewers writing professional reviews, and not among casual food forum posters.

Not a food term, but they missed "bro-mance."

My personal "Things to never use again" in terms of food:

"mouthfeel"
"topnote"
"flavor profile"

And a phrase I've seen more than a few times:

"______ was good, but not transcendant."

The absolute cheapest, most small-town-restaurant reviewers culinary words of all time are:

Don't forget "cozy little..." as a descriptor of the space.

A while ago, I vowed never to use the following words in my food descriptions. I also try not to use them in everyday life:

amazing: This is an over-used word. "Amazing" means "surprising greatly". A steak that tastes like a delicious steak is not amazing. A steak that tastes like a strawberry is amazing. Everything that you like is not amazing.

awesome: See "amazing". "Awesome" means "inspiring awe or wonder". This is too often used as a replacement for "very good".

YUMMMM (with any number of Ms greater than one, and even with one it's suspect): This can only be used by pre-teens texting to each other about the stuff they had at the food court.

meh: This word has become a substitute for "I have nothing to say". So, say nothing. Even worse is the derivatives "sorta meh", "kinda meh", or "really meh". If "meh" is taken to mean mediocre or "without notable merit", then there cannot be degrees of such a classification requiring an adjective.

I have not policed myself on usage of these words. I'm sure I haven't used the second two, but it's possible that an instance of one of the first two has slipped through. For each one, I vow to lash myself 40 times with a wet noodle.

Thank you,
Michael

eatchicago wrote: I vow to lash myself 40 times with a wet noodle.

watching that would be to-die-for.

I continue my crusade against "solid."

eatchicago wrote:
YUMMMM (with any number of Ms greater than one, and even with one it's suspect): This can only be used by pre-teens texting to each other about the stuff they had at the food court.

Yum-related adjectives and holophrases on LTHForum:

Yum: 918
Yumm: 15
Yummm: 21
Yummmm: 14
Yummmmm: 11
Yummmmmm: 4
Yummmmmmm: 4
Yummmmmmmm: 0*
Yummmmmmmmm: 0*
Yummmmmmmmmm: 0*
Yummmmmmmmmmm: 1*
Yummmmmmmmmmmm: 1*
Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm+: not searchable*
Yummers: 8
Yummo: 14
Yummy: 731
Yummmy: 5
Yummmmy: 1*

*Thesis: after seven 'm' keystrikes, there is a trough because we're in between manually selecting the number of 'm's and just mashing the key down due to foodgasm. Note that this post has screwed up the distribution, however. For that matter, I wonder where I picked up "foodgasm"...

How about "Go Ahead"?? I have a friend that uses it ALL the time and every time he does I'll say "Well you're not going to go behind".

This thread is starting to make me wonder what ever happened to hattyn. She seems to be here in spirit.

Kennyz wrote:However, my concern about being pegged as a cheap, small-town guy was quickly alleviated when I found these big-city quotes (emphasis mine):

Wow, using "addictive" seems to be... habit-forming!

My list of words I hope to see banned from food writing in the new year:

• delicious
• sautéed
• artisanal
• ringworm
• tempting
• eggs
• genocidal
• of

My response to Kennyz:

1) We are all sinners.

2) I stopped, didn't I?

3) 7000 posts makes me Robert Bork rather than David Souter, track-record-wise. Such is life in the arena.

Can we stop talking about bacon now, too?

We get it. It's good in everything. Let's move on.

whiskeybent wrote:Can we stop talking about bacon now, too?

We get it. It's good in everything. Let's move on.

Thank you for saying what I was thinking. I was afraid I would be accused of being a curmudgeon.

I will add my pet word to ban: 'crack' as a hip alternative to addictive.

Regards,

whiskeybent wrote:Can we stop talking about bacon now, too?

We get it. It's good in everything. Let's move on.

Good luck with that.

Cathy2 wrote:I will add my pet word to ban: 'crack' as a hip alternative to addictive.

Ah yes, I forgot about this one. The terms "chicken crack", "pork crack", etc. make my skin crawl. The don't just offend me linguistically, but socially as well.

"Pork butt crack" is probably a real no-no, then.

cilantro wrote:"Pork butt crack" is probably a real no-no, then.

On the contrary. I can think of a couple dishes I've eaten where that would be an acceptable description.

I was talking to a high school teacher yesterday and she mentioned a "keyboarding" class. I had this weird vision of waterboarding, and had to stop her and ask for clarification. She said that it used to be called "typing" class.
Why, for god's sake, why?