'Wait, What?' And 'No Worries' Among Phrases To Leave In 2021

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI — If you want to take on 2022 with the accuracy, elegance and poise of a proper wordsmith, don't even think about "circling back" to this year's compendium of phrases courtesy of Lake Superior State University’s annual tongue-in-cheek Banished Words List.

The list is an annual rejection of frequently used colloquialisms voted on by members of the Lake Superior State University English Department. Prior to the list's release, the "irked and the amused from around the country and across the world" submit their phrases of choice while making only one mock-serious request: Please stop.

This year's No. 1 offender: "Wait, what?"

"These two four-letter words should not go together under any circumstances," according to many nominators and the contest judges. "The two-part halting interrogative is disingenuous, divergent, reflective and other damning words that begin with the letter 'd.' "

The top 10 banished words were selected from more than 1,250-plus nominations.

The university has compiled the list since 1976 to "uphold, protect, and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are overworked, redundant, oxymoronic, clichéd, illogical, nonsensical —and otherwise ineffective, baffling, or irritating."

"Most people speak through informal discourse. Most people shouldn’t misspeak through informal discourse," Peter Szatmary, executive director of marketing and communications at LSSU, said in a release." That’s the distinction nominators far and wide made, and our judges agreed with them."

One subject people really don't want to talk about in 2022? COVID-19. Three out of the 10 words on this year's list have some relevance to the ongoing pandemic. Still, that's a marked improvement from last year's list, which contained seven words related to the coronavirus.

Coming in at No. 2 on the list was "no worries," a phrase commonly used to convey that "all is good" or "no harm done," according to Urban Dictionary.

Judges, however, say this phrase is often substituted for "you're welcome" when someone offers thanks. Others simply think the phrase is insensitive, including a person whose only worry seems to be being told not to worry:

"If I’m not worried, I don’t want anyone telling me not to worry. If I am upset, I want to discuss being upset."

Here is 2022's top 10 list of banished words in its entirety:

1. "Wait, what?"
2. "No worries."
3. "At the end of the day ..."
4. "That being said ..."
5. "Asking for a friend."
6. "Circle back."
7. "Deep dive."
8. "New normal."
9. "You're on mute."
10. "Supply chain."

Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 topped last year's list, which we all failed miserably at banishing in 2021. Other words on the 2021 list included "social distancing," "Karen" and "I know, right?"

So, at the end of the day, what's this all mean?

"Say what you mean and mean what you say," the university says. "Can’t get any easier, or harder, than that."