LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Some phrases don’t improve conversation, they overwhelm it, and one Michigan university has the receipts.
Lake Superior State University unveiled its annual “Banished Words List” this week, calling out 10 words and phrases the school says have been stretched, repeated, and diluted beyond usefulness.
The 2026 list marks the 50th year the Upper Peninsula university has played linguistic referee, flagging expressions that critics say clutter conversation more than they clarify it.
Among this year’s banished terms are offenders like “full stop,” “demure,” “my bad,” “perfect,” and “cooked,” the latter earning special scorn from parents who nominated it in large numbers.
Topping the list, however, is “6-7,” a catch-all phrase that surged in popularity on social media and pop culture over the past year. Its meaning is intentionally vague—sometimes “maybe,” sometimes “so-so,” sometimes nothing at all—a quality that helped it spread quickly and, according to LSSU voters, made it ripe for retirement. Submissions calling for its removal far outpaced every other entry.
The Banished Words List began in 1976 as a playful pushback against buzzwords and clichés and has since drawn nominations from around the world. To mark the anniversary, the university also spotlighted repeat offenders — phrases like “Game changer,” “absolutely,” and “at the end of the day” that have been banished more than once.
Whether the latest list will actually change how people talk is debatable. But at least for one Michigan university, the message is clear: enough already.