IN TEACHABLE MOMENT, WORD CZARS UNFRIEND 15 SHOVEL-READY WORDS

Word "czars" at Lake Superior State University "unfriended" 15 words and phrases and declared them "shovel-ready" for inclusion on the university's 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness:

SHOVEL-READY: "Apparently, the generally accepted definition of this phrase is to imply that a project has been completely designed and all that is left to do is to implement it. . . however, when something dies, it, too, is shovel-ready for burial and so I get confused about the meaning." - Jerry Redington, Keosauqua, Iowa. . . "Stick a shovel in it. It's done." - Joe Grimm, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

TRANSPARENT/TRANSPARENCY: "I just don't see it." - Joe Grimm, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

CZAR: George W. Bush appointed 47 people to 35 "czar" jobs; Pres. Obama, eight appointments to 38 positions.

TWEET: Jay Brazier of Williamston, Mich. says she supposes that tweeters might be "twits."

APP: "Must we b sbjct to yt another abrv? Why does the English language have to fit on a two-inch screen? I hate the sound of it. I think I'll listen to a symph on the rad." -- Edward R. Bolt, Grand Rapids, Mich. . . "Is there an 'app' for making this annoying word go away? Why can't we just call them 'programs' again?" - Kuahmel Allah, Los Angeles, Calif.

SEXTING: "Any dangerous new trend that also happens to have a clever mash-up of words, involves teens, and gets television talk show hosts interested must be banished." - Ishmael Daro, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada.

FRIEND AS A VERB: 'Befriend' is much more pleasant to the human ear and a perfectly useful word in the dictionary." - Kevin K., Morris, Okla.

TEACHABLE MOMENT: "It's a condescending substitute for 'opportunity to make a point,'" says Eric Rosenquist of College Station, Tex.

IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES: "Overused and redundant. Aren't ALL times 'these economic times'?" -- Barb Stutesman, Three Rivers, Mich. . . "If a letter or e-mail message from your employer starts with this phrase, usually it means you're not getting a raise this year." - Dominic, Seattle, Wash.

STIMULUS: "Can I go down to the local bar and down a few drinks and call it a stimulus package?" - Richard Brown, Portland, Ore.

TOXIC ASSETS: We think we're going to be sick.

TOO BIG TO FAIL: "Does such a thing exist? We'll never know if a company is too big to fail, unless somehow it does fail, and then it will no longer be too big to fail." - Holli, Raleigh, NC.

BROMANCE: "Have we really reached the point where being friends has to be described in a pseudo-romantic context?" -- Greg Zagorski, Washington, D.C.

CHILLAXIN': "It should receive bonus points for its ability to exhort the opposite reaction from the receiver." - Bret Bledsoe, Cincinnati, Ohio.

OBAMA-prefix or roots: The LSSU Word Banishment Committee held out hope that folks would want to Obama-ban Obama-structions, but were surprised that no one Obama-nominated any, such as these compiled by the Oxford Dictionary in 2009: Obamanomics, Obamanation, Obamafication, Obamacare, Obamalicious, Obamaland….We say Obamanough already.