LANGUAGE

The Banned Words List

The prohibition of words and the linguistic gymnastics of high school English

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Beginning with my freshman year of high school, my peers and I had to reckon with what our English teachers lovingly referred to as “The Banned Words List.” It had started innocently enough. Many of the words were ones that the world of writing would be wholly better without. From “good,” and “bad,” to “happy,” and “sad,” they were the words for which there were almost unequivocally better substitutes.

But avoiding others required undeniable feats of linguistic acrobatics. Among the list of banned words were all “linking verbs.” And for those who were taught English under less restrictive circumstances and don’t even know what linking verbs are, allow me to be the bearer of bizarre news.

From 9th grade onward in my district, the words “am,” “is,” “are,” “do,” “does,” “seem,” “be,” “look,” and “feel” were all among the seemingly inexhaustive index of linking verbs that needed to be avoided at all costs.

Though throughout our Freshman year, there was a certain leniency toward the nearly ubiquitous bridge words, by the end of only the second semester, each use of them resulted in point deductions…