The joy of banning
BMJ 2002; 325 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7378.1436 (Published 21 December 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:1436
Over 200 readers joined the BMJ 's exercise on banning words
- Alison Tonks, associate editor (atonks@bmj.com)
- BMJ
Just over a month ago we asked readers to suggest words that should be banned for Christmas.1 The response was immediate and overwhelming. At the time of going to press there were 212 responses on bmj.com, and they are still coming. Having gathered your suggestions, we held a vote. The table shows the top 10 words that readers want to ban together with our response. The full vote and all the rapid responses can be seen at bmj.com/misc/ban_a_word.shtml.
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Top 10 words that readers want to ban
The exercise was a game and might be compared to free association of words. It illustrates what is on readers' minds and allows them to expose prejudices in a politically correct way. The diverse responses in …
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