Why Should a Word Be Banished When It Is Popular - Essay Example

 Why Should a Word Be Banished When it is Popular? There are words that we get tired of reading and hearing so much so that we would like them to be cast out. Others `thought of words that they would like to get rid off from everyday’s spoken words and caused surveys to get to know them. One example is the survey conducted by Lake Superior State University that is done on a yearly basis. For this particular project, my group and I will come up with our own list of banished words. The purpose is to know what words are they irritated with or would rather not use it. The process is to come up with 10 participants from the school, regardless of gender. A short and a personal interview with only one question will be asked the participant on word or words she/he wants to banish. Results will then be tabulated to come out with the top ten words. Why should a word be banished when it is popular? It is because of misused, overused or general uselessness (.http://www.lssu.edu/banished/Lake Superior State University 2014 Banished Words List. Table 1 shows the names, gender, age, ethnicity, language spoken and the words suggested to be banished. For confidentiality, only initials of surnames and names were retained in the tabulation. Table 1. Respondents from my school Name Gender Age Ethnicity Language spoken Words to be banished 1.Kathy M.. F 18 Asian English trending 2. Robert S. M 18 Asian Chinese & English ASAP 3. Miriam Q. F 19 American English Cool 4. Faye D. F 17 American English Selfie 5. Dexter G. M 20 American English Selfie 6. Ben M. M 19 African English Cool 7. Vicky S. F 17 Asian English Last but not the least 8. Tom S. M 18 American Chinese & Englih selfie 9. Ann B. F 19 African English cool 10. Rose M. F 19 European English selfie TABLE 2. TOP WORDS Words recommended Frequency % Selfie 4 40% Cool 3 30% ASAP 1 10% Trending 1 10% Last but not the least 1 10% N =10 Analysis There were 10 respondents in this case. Personal interview was done at the school café during lunch break and involved only one question: “What is the word you want to banish?” We did not ask them to fill up a questionnaire form. After asking them to join, we immediately started with the inquiry and asked for the reason why. It was an easy questioning for us because all of them were eager to respond. Respondents were 6 female 4 males with an age group of 17-20 years old. The respondents are composed of 4 Americans, 3 Asians, 1 African and 1 European, but all of them speak English well. Our school enrolls students of varied nationality so the ethnicity is properly represented in this survey. Age range is almost the same for our level so opinion carries the weight of being in the youth rank which we think is important in surveys. In Table 2, many words were mentioned, but the word “selfie” topped the list by 40%. Selfie is an overused word that means to take picture of oneself with the purpose of posting it on Facebook, /or other social media. It replaces the word “take picture of myself” that indicates laziness of speaking long words. Respondents comments is that it they get tired of hearing the word from TV hosts, seeing it frequently on FB, on mobile apps, and camera lovers. Cool comes second with 30% recommendation because they said it is not an appropriate word for school assignments since the word cool has many meanings which could be misunderstood. Cool could mean mildly cold, indifferent, impressive, or bad. Others are ASAP; Last but not the least, and trending. ASAP is short for as soon as possible, but when someone is new in communication, respondent say it will take a while to be understood. ASAP is used as a short for a command to do things quickly. But the word would be unfamiliar to many people and will need the help of others to be understood. A respondent said she gets tired of hearing from teachers and speakers “Last but not the least” because the words leaves someone hanging on interpretation or what is meant. Trending is a word that got familiar with the social network site. It means a topic that is currently popular and discussed in media. Respondent says it is not the proper form of saying the word and it itches her ear when she hears it. New words get into our lives because we are often exposed to it. Most often, they are only fads that come and go. I agree with the respondents that “selfie” is an overused word said not only by the younger generation but the older ones as well. This is probably an influence of media that when they fancies the word, it spread like wildfire. It is readily pick-up and soon enough, everybody says it. Today, the word, whose origin is not known, is carried and said in many parts of the world. It is translated in many languages. But for how long it will remain the society alone and time will judge. I agree that the word cool be said less often, because to me it offers blurred meaning that could be misunderstood by recipient of the word or will carry a different interpretation. For instance, if one says, “Hey, this man is really cool!” It will take some time to decipher what he means. When you say, last but not the least, I believe it is best that speaker say what she/he means, or mean what he says. I would rather recommend to banish this phrase.. It is best to say, “Our last speaker….” , or our last topic….Then continue with the explanation. There are other words that I have in mind, but was not mentioned by respondents, like saying “yes” rather than “absolutely”; and removing the phrase “first of all” because it is not seconded by another phrase, “second of all.’ To me, this is nonsense. Going straight to the point, using straight English, to our group, means the word stays long in usage. Reference Lake Superior State University. Lake Superior State University 2014 Banished Words List. Retrieved 26 March 2014 http://www.lssu.edu/banished/ Read More