2011 Banished Words

Lake Superior State University in Michigan has released its annual list of "banished words" -- terms so overused and misused they deserve to be sent to a permanent linguistic trash can. "Viral," often used to describe the rapid spreading of videos or other content over the Internet, leads the list for 2011. Runners-up included "epic" and "fail," often twinned to describe a blunder of monumental proportions.

A total of 14 words were on the list, including:

• "wow factor"
• "a-ha moment"
• "back story"
• "BFF" (Best Friends Forever)
• "Facebook"
• "Google"
• "man up"