Basically, It Got Down to Fundamental Words

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The “associates” who compile an annual list of Words Banned from the Queen’s English “went ballistic” in 1992, “downsizing” the language to cut out the fat.

The Lake Superior State University wordsmiths, who released the lighthearted list Saturday, said they weren’t trying to get “in your face” by listing words that are misused, overused and generally useless.

They just wanted to keep the language on the “cutting edge” and provide the “most complete” attempt to get at the “honest truth” about the jargon that fills the vocabulary of “the American people.”

Some sentences that drew their special scorn:

--The “armed gunman” found that his “co-conspirator’s” “high-powered rifle” was “completely empty.” They moved quickly to locate a “safe haven” before their “victimless crime” was “most complete.”

--The “associates” “went ballistic” when they learned of the “definite possibilities” of “downsizing.”

The list was drawn from suggestions mailed in by at least 500 people. It was compiled by the school’s public relations department and whittled by a committee.

The words receiving the most nominations for banishment this time around were “basically” and “got” as in the election year cry “We’ve got to get the country moving again.”

“Basically” is a stall word, the verbal vigilantes said, and any sentence starting out with it signals fuzzy thinking and a desire not to offend.

“Got” got on the list because people are fed up with hearing “have got, has got etc.” over and over. One person who nominated it said “If one ‘gets’ something, one then ‘has’ it. ‘Got’ is redundant. It is the most overused word in the language.”