Time for some new words

A definition of cool — being a man in my 40s who is so connected to modern vernacular that every year I'm forced to cut certain phrases from my usage due to their banishment. Let me explain. Each year, Lake Superior State University, in my wife's hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, presents its Banished Words List, "a tradition highlighting the importance and evolution of language." LSSU receives submissions from across the globe and each year, on New Year's Day, LSSU produces its list. "What began as a whimsical New Year's Eve party idea in 1976, has grown into a global reflection on the words that wear out their welcome," said an LSSU press release. With a wife who teaches high school and one teenager and one pre-teen at home, I know it's easy to get passed by with popular speech. If you don't scout Instagram, Snapchat or You Tube, your popularity index will reach a full stop. I certainly am not demure, but I am mindful to pay attention when my daughters speak. When they say something I'm not quite sure of what it means, I reach out to them for clarification. When they tell me the meaning of 6-7, for instance, they are gifting me knowledge because I can now converse like someone in 2026 should. Perfect. I know what you're probably thinking. It sounds like I'm cooked for trying to hang on to pop culture. I had my time, and it was radical, awesome and sweet. I just come off as weird trying to stay in the it-crowd. My answer: I have a massive issue. I'm incentivized to understand the strange new twists and turns of modern word usage because I want to understand what the heck my daughters and their friends are saying. But you know what? I kind of enjoy it — it's maybe even my guilty little pleasure. My bad. Happy New Year, and I hope you can spend a little bit of time with the young in 2026. I guarantee you you'll both be encouraged by their outlook and confused by the language they speak in. Maybe you'll even get a start on unearthing next year's banished words list. Here are this year's words with commentary from LSSU's press release. • 6-7: "There needs to be six or seven reasons why this phrase needs stopped. The volume of submissions for this one could have taken up the whole list, at least slots 6-7." • Demure: "It's very said more than very done, and we're all very done hearing it…the overuse waters down the real meaning." • Cooked: "Hearing it…my brain feels cooked." • Massive: "The word's massive overuse has secured its place on this list." • Incentivize: "In the longstanding effort to turn nouns into verbs, this is another culprit. What's wrong with motivate?" • Full stop: "For the same reason period was banished…redundant punctuation." • Perfect: "There are very few instances when the word actually applies." • Gift/gifted as a verb: "Another case of a noun being used as a verb." • My bad: "It does not convey much meaning in the way of an apology." • Reach out: "This saying has strayed from the positive message it once intended to deliver." Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier, Findlay, the Sandusky Register, The Advertiser-Tribune, Tiffin, the Norwalk Reflector and Review Times, Fostoria. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com.