2025 Banished Words List (opens in new tab)

> I'd be happy if people on HN would drop "Learnings." It just shows you never learned the word "lessons."

Agreed. Using that "L" word makes one look out-of-touch to me, and I'm disinclined to trust anyone using it.

Same for "performant". There are many ways that something can perform. Are you trying to tell me that something is fast? Why can't you just say that it's fast, and leave it at that?

scotty791y ago

> Learnings

Sounds like something from Borat

Years ago, I remember Jim Sterling ranting about an "iconic" hat from Ubisoft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN4Umsjp6Cs&t=79s

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago

2024 and 2009: https://www.lssu.edu/resources/about-lssu/traditions/banishe...

softwaredoug1y ago· 6 in thread

Whatever boomer. This list is pretty cringe

lsaferite1y ago

I know this is a joke, but it makes curious. Is "boomer" just used a derogatory term for people older than the speaker now? I ask because the youngest boomers are 60 now and in practice I see the term used against people younger than 60.

throw59591y ago

It's used to describe an attitude or behavioral stereotype, rather than strictly to refer to that demographic group in the US.

janmarsal1y ago

Millennial gamers had a collective quarter-life crisis a few years back that manifested itself in form of memes where anyone who whined about modern games being bad was called an out of touch "30 year old boomer". Then as retaliation the whiners started calling anyone who defended modern games as "zoomers", which gave the generation Z a fancy new nickname.

You just imagine some little shit say these words to you in precisely the way that makes your fists itch to make a dent in their face.

That said, if your antagonist evokes the “little shit” vibes without you consciously thinking that, it’s probably only fair that you evoke “boomer” vibes for them. Well.

(It’s also apparent that “boomer” has evolved to mean any old fart.)

kube-system1y ago

> the youngest boomers are 60 now and in practice I see the term used against people younger than 60.

In those cases the term isn't being used because the speaker is attempting to accurately identify the age of the person they are referring to. It is name-calling.

softwaredoug1y ago

I’m not a boomer but my kids say “Ok boomer” to me all the time

boogieknite1y ago· 5 in thread

utilize been on my internal list for about a decade. always has the opposite effect as intended on me. i question if the writer is playing intellectual dress up.

our CEO does it A LOT. a personal emperors new clothes scenario. anyone ever confront upper management and correct language that signals they dont know what theyre talking about?

it seems to me that many small business ceos are emperors in new clothes talking amongst themselves so i rationalize thats just how they speak and expect to be spoken to. confronting not worth risking a knee-jerk-response to an injured ego

golly_ned1y ago

If your ceo saying “utilize” instead of “use” is your most trenchant criticism of your ceo, consider yourself blessed. Better to let this one go.

busterarm1y ago

If your CEO is always saying "utilize", I'd just make the "doin it" finger motions every time until he stops.

Let me interject for a moment to tell you about our lord and saviour, “leverage”.

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago

And disciples "reach out", "touch base", and "circle back."

boogieknite1y ago

i hear "leverage" more than see it in docs/email, but almost only ever see "utilize" in writing.

Retr0id1y ago· 4 in thread

The fact that nobody knows what skibidi means implies it has more life left in it

For me, skibidi is always going to be connected with John Scatman first, Little.Big second, and there is no third for now.

TuringNYC1y ago

Most people who use the word skibidi dont remember Scatman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8kmNEo1i8) and were not even born when the song came out :-)

Der_Einzige1y ago

When I learned that the youngest were keeping source engine animations alive in the most hilarious way possible I appreciated it.

Not my kind of humor, but I remember the 420 MLG era. Brainrot is universal.

thefz1y ago

MLG parody videos were a parody. This is... not?

Andrex1y ago· 3 in thread

> A classic offender, “utilize” proves that longer is not always better. Why complicate things when “use” works just fine? Everett from Cumby, Texas encourages readers to “Write like you talk,” and added, “Lord, I hope you don’t talk like that.”

Reading an article when suddenly a random personal attack appears.

busterarm1y ago

"Utilize" always makes me uncontrollably giggle due to its use in the movie Idiocracy.

deadfa111y ago

Yep, 100%

nicbn1y ago

100% period.

https://www.lssu.edu/resources/about-lssu/traditions/banishe...

summermusic1y ago· 3 in thread

It’s official, cringe is dead :)

binarymax1y ago

100%

Dilettante_1y ago

Period.

andrepd1y ago

The end of the cringe era, 100%, period.

vouaobrasil1y ago· 3 in thread

At least in my local sphere, cringe still has meaning, and I've not heard of the uses in the article although admittedly I live under a bit of a rock. The same goes for era.

I've never heard of skibidi, sorry not sorry, dropped, or IYKYK. But I do agree that "game-changer" is overused.

Minor49er1y ago

The article sounds like someone complaining about words that they don't like to hear, but framed in a way to try to get others to stop saying them. It makes me cringe bigly

TuringNYC1y ago

>> I've never heard of skibidi

Oh my, you need to meet some of the Gen A crowd

vouaobrasil1y ago

To be honest I am not even sure what Gen XYZ even means any more...too many free variables!

egypturnash1y ago· 2 in thread

Unless you are Taylor Swift, it might be time to leave “era” behind. The term’s overuse has made every fleeting moment feel like it demands a historical marker. Leah of Holland, Michigan submits, “Thanks to the name of Taylor Swift’s tour, now there is an ‘era’ for everyone and everything! ‘He’s in his fatherhood era’, ‘She’s in her pottery-making era,’ etc., etc.. It’s overused and tiring.”

I’m moving on to “aeon” now.

SoftTalker1y ago

I haven't really noticed this one. I guess I've missed out on the "era" era.

cess111y ago

Which ominously opens up the possibility of aeonics.

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago· 2 in thread

The annual list of words and phrases that have worn out their welcome.

selimthegrim1y ago

Rizz?

steveBK1231y ago

Only if you don’t have any

slowhadoken1y ago· 2 in thread

“Optics” is at its peak. I can’t wait to see it go.

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago

Likewise since I work in the field of actual optics. Made the list in 2019:

slowhadoken1y ago

My maternal grandmother was a psychologist. I grew up watching pop-psychology become a thing and it drove her crazy. I thank god she passed away before "toxic" became wide spread.

Mountain_Skies1y ago· 1 in thread

Though somewhat different than the intent of the list, I'm amazed at the rise of "payed" in place of "paid". I rarely ever saw this error before a couple of years ago and now it's become commonplace, even with people who formerly used paid correctly. I keep expecting to find out it's some recent cultural reference but so far that doesn't appear to be the case.

giraffe_lady1y ago

They're phonetically identical in my dialect so I think this is simply a spelling/transcription error, not usage per se.

Der_Einzige1y ago· 1 in thread

"Ground breaking", "Delve", "Kaleidoscope", "Symphony", Testament To"

Pretty much everything from here: https://github.com/sam-paech/antislop-sampler/blob/main/slop...

Freak_NL1y ago

'Slop' on the other hand has a bright future ahead. I picked it up just last week, and it is so incredibly apt at what it does. I like it (not the thing it refers to though, i.e., AI generated content and imagery).

thih91y ago

Is there an opposite list, a list of underused and trendy words?

Or does this sort of recognition already ~makes it cringe~ sorry, disqualifies the word?

LinuxBender1y ago

When will Masters Degree be banished?

mrayycombi1y ago

I'm glad this list dropped, these words are so cringe.

freitasm1y ago

Leverage and outcomes should be there.

RecycledEle1y ago

Is this a list of some college dean's pet peeves?

thefz1y ago

Let me add:

"Aesthetic"

"Energy" (when used outside physics)

treetalker1y ago

- journey (cf. era)

- highly (used as an intensifier)

slowhadoken1y ago

"ick" also needs to die.

janmarsal1y ago

cringe

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

70 comments

59 comments · 21 top-level

shermantanktop1y ago· 6 in thread

Where’s “iconic”? That one had a very rapid ride from wherever it came from to the lexicon of Madison Avenue.

reaperducer1y ago

I'd be happy if people on HN would drop "Learnings." It just shows you never learned the word "lessons."

Somewhere on the internet I once ran across a HN BINGO card. From memory:

   Walled garden
   Regulatory capture
   An unreasonable...
   So...
   Period. Full stop.

There were a bunch of others. Enough that the grid was expanded beyond B-I-N-G-O.

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago

Oh, hell yes. The anonymous author of "The Unendurable Horrors of Leadership Camp" agrees as well.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2016/06/the-unendurable-...

> I'd be happy if people on HN would drop "Learnings." It just shows you never learned the word "lessons."

Agreed. Using that "L" word makes one look out-of-touch to me, and I'm disinclined to trust anyone using it.

Same for "performant". There are many ways that something can perform. Are you trying to tell me that something is fast? Why can't you just say that it's fast, and leave it at that?

scotty791y ago

> Learnings

Sounds like something from Borat

Years ago, I remember Jim Sterling ranting about an "iconic" hat from Ubisoft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN4Umsjp6Cs&t=79s

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago

2024 and 2009: https://www.lssu.edu/resources/about-lssu/traditions/banishe...

softwaredoug1y ago· 6 in thread

Whatever boomer. This list is pretty cringe

lsaferite1y ago

throw59591y ago

It's used to describe an attitude or behavioral stereotype, rather than strictly to refer to that demographic group in the US.

janmarsal1y ago

You just imagine some little shit say these words to you in precisely the way that makes your fists itch to make a dent in their face.

That said, if your antagonist evokes the “little shit” vibes without you consciously thinking that, it’s probably only fair that you evoke “boomer” vibes for them. Well.

(It’s also apparent that “boomer” has evolved to mean any old fart.)

kube-system1y ago

> the youngest boomers are 60 now and in practice I see the term used against people younger than 60.

In those cases the term isn't being used because the speaker is attempting to accurately identify the age of the person they are referring to. It is name-calling.

softwaredoug1y ago

I’m not a boomer but my kids say “Ok boomer” to me all the time

boogieknite1y ago· 5 in thread

utilize been on my internal list for about a decade. always has the opposite effect as intended on me. i question if the writer is playing intellectual dress up.

our CEO does it A LOT. a personal emperors new clothes scenario. anyone ever confront upper management and correct language that signals they dont know what theyre talking about?

golly_ned1y ago

If your ceo saying “utilize” instead of “use” is your most trenchant criticism of your ceo, consider yourself blessed. Better to let this one go.

busterarm1y ago

If your CEO is always saying "utilize", I'd just make the "doin it" finger motions every time until he stops.

Let me interject for a moment to tell you about our lord and saviour, “leverage”.

OldGuyInTheClubOP1y ago

And disciples "reach out", "touch base", and "circle back."

boogieknite1y ago

i hear "leverage" more than see it in docs/email, but almost only ever see "utilize" in writing.

Retr0id1y ago· 4 in thread

The fact that nobody knows what skibidi means implies it has more life left in it

For me, skibidi is always going to be connected with John Scatman first, Little.Big second, and there is no third for now.

TuringNYC1y ago

Most people who use the word skibidi dont remember Scatman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8kmNEo1i8) and were not even born when the song came out :-)

Der_Einzige1y ago

When I learned that the youngest were keeping source engine animations alive in the most hilarious way possible I appreciated it.

Not my kind of humor, but I remember the 420 MLG era. Brainrot is universal.

thefz1y ago

MLG parody videos were a parody. This is... not?

Andrex1y ago· 3 in thread

Reading an article when suddenly a random personal attack appears.

busterarm1y ago

"Utilize" always makes me uncontrollably giggle due to its use in the movie Idiocracy.

deadfa111y ago

Yep, 100%

nicbn1y ago

100% period.