Words that should be banished from the English Language

I was thinking about the word webinar today and what an ugly word it is.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was first used in 1997 in a publication called DM News (it turns out that DM stands for Direct Marketing, which further solidifies and justifies my hatred of the word).  This web + seminar construction gives rise to other equally ugly words like webisode and vlog.

I like new words that are useful, but constructions like this one seem a bit too twee for my taste.  Webinar...  it is one of those words that will seem exceedingly quaint in about 10 years.  Luckily, the Durham Spelling Bee uses the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, as its source, where these words do not appear.  So, you will never encounter them at the bee.  You're welcome.

Are there any words you think should be banished? Leave a comment.

Another gem from Quite Interesting, this time about lost languages:

There are about 6,900 languages being spoken in the world today. Unesco estimates that half of these will have disappeared by the end of the century as the languages of world commerce – English, Chinese and Spanish – spread. 

 And my favorite bit:

The last speakers of Zoque, a language from Tabasco, Mexico, are two elderly men who refuse to speak to one another. Relatives claim their mutual silence isn't motivated by personal animosity but by the fact that they have little in common.

It's National Grammar Day!

Celebrate National Grammar Day by reading "5 Easy Ways to Learn Grammar With The New York Times," and by visiting the Huffington Post's piece, "National Grammar Day 2010: Resources And The WORST Grammar Mistakes Ever."

(Is that sentence grammatically correct?)

A 19th century slang dictionary

OK, strictly speaking, I'm straying a bit from the spelling bee here, but it is related.  I love this kind of 19th century period slang.  I should start incorporating more of it into everyday language.  i.e.:

"They began to suspicion, maybe, that they had got the wrong sow by the ear."

I reckon my friend, Jebediah Jones, will have a field day with this link.