10 Tired Phrases to Drop in 2022

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Certain words and phrases have worn out their welcome over the past year, according to Lake Superior State University, which released a list of which tiresome phrases you should strike from your conversations.

Ever since 1976, Lake Superior State University compiles a yearly list of “banished words,” reviewing more than 1,250 nominations for words and terms that respondents feel have become misused, overused, or useless. The LSSU English Department serves as judges.

“Most people speak through informal discourse,” says Peter Szatmary, executive director of marketing and communications at LSSU. “Most people shouldn’t misspeak through informal discourse. That’s the distinction nominators far and wide made, and our judges agreed with them.”

The top offender and phrase banished from 2022: “Wait, what?” Judges call the phrase “disingenuous, divergent, and deflective.”

Many of the words on this year’s banished list relate to the pandemic or are more conversational-based. Here are the top 10 phrases to avoid, according to LSSU’s “banished words” list for 2022.

1. Wait, what?
2. No worries
3. At the end of the day
4. That being said
5. Asking for a friend
6. Circle back
7. Deep dive
8. New normal
9. You’re on mute (in reference to virtual meetings)
10. Supply chain (the scapegoat for everything that doesn’t happen or arrive on time)