What Are Words For?

This year, around my house, we are going to try and reign in the word "whatever." With so many very deeply held convictions among the people and pets in our family, it seems that can mean anything or everything. It is a matter of consideration to those around us to give those around us a reality check about what we actually mean. And that's another one: actually. We are going to try and give that one a rest in 2011. For the past decade there seems to be some doubt about much of what has been said around here, so we toss that assurance in there just to let anyone listening that we actually mean what we say.
I think it's good to give language a rest from time to time. I worked "for all intents and purposes" to death for nearly twenty years. This was after someone took me aside and politely pointed out that the phrase was not "for all intensive purposes," which I had been saying for some time before that. More words to make myself more emphatic. Sadly unnecessary.
None of those words or phrases made Lake Superior State University's list of banished words for 2011. In spite of my fascination with Al Gore's Internet, I don't use the word "viral" to describe anything but a head cold. When I say "epic" I am referring to "Paradise Lost" or that song by Faith No More. And as a teacher, I feel compelled to keep "fail" at a minimum.
In the meantime, I know that this is a young person's planet, and I fully expect to be burdened by the phrases and lingo of those younger than me. I have become sadly accustomed to my son's need to describe all things important and appealing to him as "beast." I have tried pointing out that he is using a noun as an adjective, but this is not a convention that gives him any trouble. Even my regular assertions to his mother that "dinner was beast," or "those flowers are beast" haven't had the sardonic impact that I had intended. It may take a year longer to get the folks up at LSSU to catch up to my boy.