Forbidden words 1996-2005 5 July 2004, 10:14

Matt Groening’s yearly Forbidden Words are a fixture of his Life in Hell comic strip. Here is a lexicon of forbidden words compiled from his last ten years’ work, as available on the web.

The more dated entries can be seen as the terms which were successfully rooted out. Many refused to die, and came up year after year.

:)
24-7
Absolutely!
action items
actualize
advertorial
affordable
all-natural
America strikes back!
And I’m all like…
And I’m like…
And more!
And the winners are…
angry white male
Anything for Dummies
anything is Hell
anything-Gate
Arch Deluxe
As if!
At the end of the day
award-winning
awesome
Awesome!
axis of evil
babe
basically
basketbrawl
Been there, done that
big government
...Bigtime!
bi-partisan cooperation
bling bling
bling-bling
blogosphere
booty call
bot
botox party
bottom line
brain fart
brainstorming
Bring it on
budget impasse
buttocks
buzzword
cautiously optimistic
celeb
channel surfing
chanteuse
Check it out
cheesy
chi-chi
Chicken soup for the soul
Chill out!
classy
closure
clueless
code blue
code green
code orange
code red
code yellow
comfort zone
compassionate conservative
conventional wisdom
credible threat
croissandwich
cultural elite
cutting edge
cyber anything
cyber-concert
cybersex
Deal with it!
death tax
deconstruct
dialogue (v.)
disinterested
docudrama
D’oh!
done deal
Don’t even go there!
Don’t go there!
dope (adj.)
dubya
dude
Duh!
dweeb
dysfunctional
eatery
ebonics
eclectic
edgy
edited for television
edutainment
electronica
empower
empowerment
end result
energize
Euro- anything
evildoers
exit strategy
extreme
facial profiling
facilitate
fair and balanced
faith-based
family values
famous
feasible
Feng Shui
flip-flop
...for the Nineties
functionality
fuzzy math
f-word
gangsta
Get over it!
Get with the program!
girlie men
go postal
Got milk?
gratuitous sex
gratuitous violence
guesstimate
having it all
hegemony
Hello?!
Hel-lo-ohh!
hissy fit
holistic
homeland
homeland security
Hooked on Phonics
hopefully
hottie
hunks
I hear that!
iconic
If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit
imagineering
impactful
in denial
In your face!
infrastructure
interactive
interpersonal
It’s a done deal!
It’s all about [anything]
It’s all good
It’s not about sex—It’s about lying!
It’s the bomb!
jump the shark
Just don’t do it
keeping it real
killer app
King of Latenight
King of Pop
kudos
left coast
Make no mistake about it
Man of the Year
matrix
media bias
meme
metrosexual
Millennium bug
mission accomplished
monetize
Monica-Gate
moral values
morph
morphing
most definitely
movers and shakers
multi-tasking
must-have
my bad
neo anything
nerd
netsurfing
networking
newbie
[any color] is the new black
Nipplegate
no child left behind
no-brainer
no-brainer
Nonfat grande mocha, no whip
no-spin zone
...Not!
Not even!
not over my dead body
nucular
of the moment
Oh my god, they killed Kenny!
Oh. My. God.
Omigosh-that-is-so-cute
on task
on the same page
Operation Infinite Justice
Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.
Outrageous!
outré
outsourcing
paradigm
paradigm shift
parameter
parameters
partial-birth abortion
Party Like It’s 1999!
passé
peeps
per se
phat
Please hold: your call is very important to us
political capital
politically incorrect
postmodern
power anything
prestigious
prioritize
proactive
puh-leeze!
punked
push the envelope
quantum leap
radio personality
reach across party lines
reality check
reality tv
repurposing
restructuring
retarded
retooling
rink rage
Rock the vote
same old same old
sassy
sexually explicit
Slick Willie
slut
so last year
soccer mom
stained blue dress
starter marriage
street cred
subtext
sucks
supersize
surgical strike
surreal
Sweet!
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
synergize
synergy
tacky
take it to the next level
tax relief
tax-and-spend
techno-anything
that’s gotta hurt
The artist formerly known as Prince
The Celestine Prophecy
the death of irony
the dream team
the evil ones
The Governator
The O.C.
The other white meat
The Rules
the ultimate anything
The World Wide Wait
...then the terrorists will have won
thinking outside the box
Tickle-me Elmo
Tight!
to conference
to die for
to leverage
to partner
tofurkey
toon
total information awareness program
touch base
ultra anything
Uma—Oprah! Oprah—Uma!
undisclosed secret location
unhealthful
upskirt
USA Patriot Act
user-friendly
utilize
value-added
vamp
V-chip
veggies
wardrobe malfunction
way cool
weaponize
Well, duh.
Whatever.
Whatever!
window of opportunity
win-win
women of cover
Won’t you help us build the bridge to the 21st century?
world-class
worst
XFL
Y2K
Yada yada yada
Yeah, baby
Yesss!
Yessss!
You go, girl
You got that right!
You know what I’m sayin’?
You the man!
You’re fired
zero tolerance
Zipper-Gate

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Comment

  1. # And then like 1232 days ago Eric goes:

    A few that need to go... Wardrobe malfunction Flip-Flopper Swift Boat "People" who use "Quotation marks" when they talk No Doubt (the Phrase) Fo' Shizzle, my nizzle No you dit'ant! Red States/Blue States

    — Eric · 1232 days ago · #

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