‘Shovel ready’ remembered as a presidential favorite, though ubiquity led to grammatical grave

Once-presidential phrase casualty of word war

DETROIT — A Michigan school has proposed interring “shovel ready” and other phrases in its annual list of Words to Be Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.

Lake Superior State University also suggests that “transparent/transparency,” ”czar,” ‘’sexting,” ”tweet,” ”teachable moment” and “app” should join “shovel ready” in dialectical death. The school releases its 35th annual list Thursday.

The Word Banishment Committee’s proclamations of previous years have not prevented some overused words and phrases from remaining in popular usage. There is still life left, deserved or not, in “24/7,” ”it is what it is,” ”happy camper,” ”LOL” and “state of the art,” which have all made the list in the past 16 years.