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Banned Words List Carries Its First Emoticon

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the bet-they-have-power-in-the-upper-penninsula dept.

DynaSoar writes "Lake Superior State University in Michigan's Upper Peninsula ('The land of four seasons: June, July, August and Winter') has just published its 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. Besides such unsurprising inclusions such as 'green' corporations being 'game changing' due to concern with their 'carbon foot print,' this year's list contains an emoticon for the first time — not a smiley face or variant, but the 'heart' symbol made from the characters 'less than' and 'three.' It's perhaps a sign of the evolution of language, or at least of this volunteer linguistic watchdog group, that a symbol compounded of two characters, neither of them a letter, is considered not only a word, but a particularly egregious one."

18 of 333 comments (clear)

  1. A cause for celebration by slim · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's celebrate.

    \o/

    1. Re:A cause for celebration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is that a devil fist or a woman laying on her back?

    2. Re:A cause for celebration by awpoopy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Man
         \0/
          |
        _/`\_

      Woman
         \0/
          |
        _/^\_

      --
      I say things which affects my Karma negatively. (and I don't care) For instance; All religion is false.
    3. Re:A cause for celebration by BronsCon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well it looks like shit and feels broken. Can we PLEASE have the old /. back?

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
  2. wtf by pohl · · Score: 5, Funny

    <3  is supposed to be a heart!?  And all this time
    I thought it was mammaries or butt-cheeks, depending
    on the context.

    --

    The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...

    1. Re:wtf by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 5, Funny

      ( . )( . ) = Boobies
      ( O )( O ) = Boobies with big nipples
      [ . ][ . ] = Robot boobies
      ( : )( . ) = Triple Nipple Boobies
      ( % )( % ) = Pierced Boobies
      ( @ )( @ ) = Epic Boobies
      ( ^ )( ^ ) = Perky Boobies
      ( , )( ' ) = Lop-sided Boobies
      ( U )( U ) = Long nipple Boobies
      \ . /\ . / = Saggy Boobies
      | . | . | = Man Chested
      ( . )( . )( . ) = Total Recall


      There are inevitably more. Add to the list.
      This has been a public service announcement.

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    2. Re:wtf by cavtroop · · Score: 5, Funny

      my fav:

      ( . Y . )

    3. Re:wtf by owlnation · · Score: 5, Funny

      Boobies, nah, I'm an (_!_) man.

    4. Re:wtf by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Funny

      You kids and your fancy computer characters! Back in my day, we could only use numbers and calculators. It was 51358008 and we liked it. Now get off my lawn!

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    5. Re:wtf by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 5, Funny

      You kids and your fancy computer characters! Back in my day, we could only use numbers and calculators. It was 51358008 and we liked it. Now get off my lawn!

      In my day we'd say "what's 44125687 + 11252321 ? It's what your girlfriend is! 55378008 Get it? Turn your calculator upside down!" Of course it was 4th grade, so they pretty much all were, except Fat Jason. Just don't call him that, 'cause he'll sit on you.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
  3. I thought it would have been this: by rikkards · · Score: 5, Insightful

    8====D

    1. Re:I thought it would have been this: by SoundGuyNoise · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's one big smiley face!

      --
      You never expect irony, do you?
      Want to be a professional wrestler? Visit www.iyfwrestling.com
      @iyfwrestling
    2. Re:I thought it would have been this: by kv9 · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's one big smiley face!

      ... or are you just glad to see me?

      --
      Stop Computers/Cars Analogies on S
  4. Wait I thought.... by Megatron3W · · Score: 5, Funny

    And all along I thought it <3 stood for Boobs on a cone.

  5. But... by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I <3 monkeys and have set up a green organization so to achieve our directive and maintain a low carbon footprint, along with my wife to protect them. My wife is a bit of a Maverick and is trying to run for president but I am ok with being First Dude.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  6. Language evolves - deal with it by SpeedyDX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Americans leave out the "u" in colour, armour, neighbour, etc. We no longer pronounce "night" as [ni:xt] or [ni:t] (IPA). We could come up with a huge number of examples, but why bother? Language evolves over time, words lose or gain meaning. It's a natural process. You'd think an academic institution would understand this simple concept, but I guess grabbing headlines is more important than practicing proper academia.

    Emoticons are just an evolution of a new language. It's actually quite extraordinary. We have now created symbols that can represent simple meanings cross-culturally and cross-linguistically, and these symbols are popularized in large part by the youth of the world. They are creating a whole new language right before our eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if we would soon be able to communicate simple messages between different cultures that speak different languages via symbols (some would argue we already can). It's a shame that institutions such as this one and the "get off my damn lawn" crowd are ridiculing such an extraordinary example of the human ability to adapt and break down communicative barriers.

  7. Why the hate, LSSU? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Me: LSSU! <3
    LSSU: </3
    Me: :(
    LSSU: ( ^_^ )
    LSSU: <(^_^<)
    LSSU: (>^_^)>
    LSSU: (o^_^)O
    LSSU: O(^_^o)
    Me: :D
    LSSU: (>O<)
    Me: D:

  8. The opposite of <3. by alanwj · · Score: 5, Funny

    For some time now I've been using >=3 as an emoticon for "hate". Rarely do people seem to get it, though.