Banned Emoticon Gets No <3

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

dictionaries

Lake Superior State University has issued its 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness. Nominations for the list come from the general public, through the university’s website. The targets are generally “pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, education, technology, advertising, politics, sports and more.”

This year’s list was obviously influenced by the media saturation of the election, including words like “maverick,” “bailout,” and “carbon footprint.”

However, this year there’s actually an emoticon on the list: <3. What, no texting/instant messaging love? One of the nominators suggested, “Just say the word instead of making me turn my head sideways and wondering what ‘less than three’ means.”

I don’t care what the list says; I still less than three emoticons.


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