There are plenty of tiresome things that we won’t have to deal with again in 2013, like endless political ads and people obsessing over the Maya apocalypse. But wouldn’t it be great if we could choose what to banish in the New Year? If we could put a piece of culture in a steel vault and sink it into the blackest depths of the deepest ocean? In a special editon of Wednesday Words, TIME asks you to give it a try, by voting on which word or phrase people need to delete from their vocabulary in 2013.
See which description best suits you and cast your vote below:
47%/99%/110%: Percent, percent, percent! You’ve heard plenty about Mitt Romney and his 47% gaffe. And you’ve heard more than plenty about the 99% who love occupying places so much. Also, for the last time: it’s statistically impossible to give more than 100% of your effort, so let’s throw that in as a bonus.
adorkable: People were calling for the retirement of this word in 2011, yet that didn’t stop major news outlets — much less bloggers and tweeters — from calling things “adorkable” throughout 2012. You find it cloying and annoying. Plus, there has to be some other adjective to describe Zooey Deschanel.
amazeballs: You think it’s irritating that people overuse the word amazing, particularly when they pronounce it ah-mah-zing. But amazeballs makes you want to commit violence against your own eardrums. For realballs.
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artisanal: If you have to listen to one more hipster brag about something being artisanal, you are going to snap their Ray-Bans in half. “Artisanal” has become such a commonplace label that it will soon have all the selling power of “MSG-free.”
cray: You thought it was cute at first, saying that crazy things were “cray-cray” and then walking it back to the more familiar “cray.” Unfortunately, cute is rarely a quality that endures.
fiscal cliff: TIME chose this as the Buzzword of the Year. And that’s fine; you just want the world to leave the tired metaphor in 2012. You’ve heard it so many times, your dreams are haunted with doubloon mountains. Plus, economists say fiscal slope is a more accurate depiction of the U.S.’s impending plight. So there.
Gangnam style: Heeeeeey, sexy lady! Stop it. Just stop it.
jelly: You think people who say “jelly” instead of “jealous” sound like 15-year-old girls who believe the height of tragedy is having unbalanced skin tone. (To be clear, this has no effect on your enthusiasm for PB&J.)
literally: You have figuratively had it up to here with people using literally when they mean, say, metaphorically. To paraphrase the great Sir D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, precision is the very soul of communication.
meh: This was a fine reaction to the lackluster Republican field during the election. Now you’re over it — and think we could all do with a little less apathy in general. Employ some constructive criticism, people.
mommy porn: Much like the sex scenes in E.L. James’ Fifty Shades trilogy, you think this phrase has gone from gasp-inducing to novel to unbelievably overdone. If only there were a safe word you could use to stop the pain.
teehee: Approximating laughter in written form is difficult. However, only the likes of mischievous cartoon mice should be using “teehee.” Use “guffaw” or “bwahaha” or “spit take.” Just retire this tittering nonsense.
totes: Simply abbreviating something doesn’t make it cool. This word has totes magotes lost its staying power.
YOLO: You Only Live Once — so stop wasting your fleeting breath on this terrible acronym.
zombie apocalypse: What is it with the undying zombie fixation? You’d rather hear about almost anything else at this point: a werewolf apocalypse, a kraken apocalypse, a toaster apocalypse!
So there you have them: 15 contenders. Vote for your candidate in the poll!
We’ve surely missed some bugbears, so feel free to tell us the words that drive you totes cray in the comments. We’ll announce the most unpopular of this bunch next week.