And my nomination is . . .

Lake Superior State is a university several hundred miles north of here. It is situated by the Soo Locks which enable tankers to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The locks are impressive in summer, cold in winter, and that is doubtless the reason that LSSU is the smallest public university in Michigan.

One —and I am sure not the only—distinction of the university is the list of  words it bans each January.  Here is the complete list, and this is the list for 2013.

They give an explanation of the words in the context of the year. I admit I can’t always remember why some of them were used so frequently in years gone by. And they also ask for nominations for next year. That is easy. I just nominated the conjoint words that have been driving me crazy. I nominated  “the next level”, if indeed that counts as a word. It should, because the words are always joined at the hip, be-it describing a dish on Top Chef, a dress on Project Runway, a speech, a performance . . .

It is a long while to wait until next January, but we'll see.