Lake Superior State University and Wayne State University — both in Michigan — are two of the nation's leading word nerd institutions. Each new year, they each release a list of ten important words that we should all pay attention to — sort of a Midwest war of words.
Not only are the two schools at opposite ends of the state, they're philosophically at opposite ends of the word usage argument.
Every year, LSSU — up on the tippy-top of Michigan — releases their annual List of Banished Words for Mis-Use, Over-Use, and General Uselessness. These are words the LSSU Lakers want us to stop using because they're dumb. (The words, not the Lakers).
Meanwhile, way down south in Detroit, the Wayne State Word Warriors offer their list of ten underused words they want us to bring back into general use. I have taken to calling "Words to Resurrect After Disuse, Underuse, or General Desuetude." So far, they don't seem to have taken to the title, but I'm holding out hope.
Last year was my first year to write about the WRADUGD, and since I was out of column ideas this week, I thought, "Let's make this a tradition. That way, I have one less topic to come up with each year."
The Wayne State word selections are compiled from submissions around the world as well as the administrators of the wordwarriors.wayne.edu website.
Honestly, I think it's an amazing list, one of the best word lists you'll ever see, and the people who created it are some of the wittiest, most charming, most attractive people in the Midwest, and they all deserve a nice steak dinner plus two desserts. And I'll bet they're so generous, they would even love to give me a Wayne State Word Warrior t-shirt (size XXL).
See, what I was doing there? That's called a "honeyfuggle," which is on the 2025 list. To honeyfuggle means to ingratiate yourself in order to cheat or deceive. Like, hypothetically, when tech billionaires suck up to an incoming political leader so they can be allowed to screw their own users in order to make more money.
Of course, I won't get a t-shirt since I can't actually accept a gift for my writing because that would be unethical. It's disappointing, but I'm used to that: I've been a fan of the Indianapolis Colts for the last 15 years, so I'm inured to heartbreak.
Also, "inured" is another word Wayne State wants to bring back. To be inured means to become accustomed to something, especially something unpleasant. Like trying to figure out why the Colts' GM, Chris Ballard, can't put two winning seasons together in a row.
Or, to use it in a sentence, "Colts fans are inured to heartbreak because Chris Ballard hasn't won a playoff game since 2018. Seriously, how does he even still have a job?"
Maybe it's because he has ensorcelled Colts' owner, Jim Irsay.
"Ensorcelled" is another of Wayne State's wonderful words, and it means enchanted or bewitched. The only time I've ever seen the word used is in fantasy novels, usually when one of the characters has literally been enchanted or bewitched by a wizard or witch, which means they can't do anything. They can't speak, can't move, can't fire executives and put together an offensive line that's not built like a sieve.
Or they could just be hurkle-durkling. To "hurkle-durkle" means to lounge in bed long after it's time to get up.
I'll use it in a sentence: "I thought my teenage son had been ensorcelled by a neighborhood witch after I told him to mow the lawn five different times, but he was just hurkle-durkling."
I figured the spell had been broken when he appeared shackbaggerly for a late breakfast.
"Shackbaggerly" is an old Lincolnshire, England dialectic word that means, in a loose, disorderly manner, or to be very messy.
"The teenager's room was shackbaggerly, so his father closed the door so he wouldn't have to look at it anymore."
But my favorite underused word of the year is "syzygy," pronounced SI-zuh-jee. I love it because there aren't many words with three Y's in them. I haven't seen that many Y's since my oldest daughter learned to talk.
A syzygy is when three celestial bodies are in a nearly straight line in a gravitational system — a solar eclipse is a syzygy because the sun, moon, and Earth are in near-perfect alignment. Or, as Flat Earthers call it, "the government trying to deny the truth. Wake up, sheeple!"
Of course, most Flat Earthers tend to be science deniers in general, or as Wayne State might call them, a "Scaramouch," which means a cowardly buffoon.
Scaramouch is a stock character from commedia dell'arte — also called "Italian comedy — who is a cowardly braggart, easily frightened and outwitted. He also dances a mean Fandango.
You have your assignment, fellow word nerds. Use these words as often as you can, and let's make them a part of our regular language.
Because what LSSU taketh away, Wayne State giveth.
Except for a lousy t-shirt. Neither of them is giving me jack squat, and I'm still a little salty about it. Inured, my foot!
Photo credit: Del arte (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons 3.0)
My new humor novel, Mackinac Island Nation, is finished and available from 4 Horsemen Publications. You can get the ebook and print versions here.