Justified By Academia Re: "Under The Bus"

Having academia independently confirm one's own findings is so validating:

... 19 words or phrases ... appear in Lake Superior State University's annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. The school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula released its 33rd list Monday, selecting from about 2,000 nominations.

The list ... included "waterboarding," "perfect storm," "under the bus" and "organic." Also: "It is what it is," which Jeffrey Skrenes of St. Paul, Minn., said "accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant." (Link.)

"Perfect storm" is another I've had on my personal blacklist as well. People love to say that one, even if it's regarding a momentary traffic jam in a mall parking lot. Watching the shelf-life of words is a beautiful thing. It's now five hours into 2008, and it's nice to see these selections officially deemed defunct.