Banish it!

I'm not the first one to point out that some words just need to be cast out of the English language. Seriously, just about all the "ize"-heavy bloviation you'll hear anytime more than three people wearing ties gather should get the heave-ho.

But this one is a critical darling. Even my buddy Chuck Klosterman, one of the better writers of our generation, just can't get anough of it.

It is "seminal." As in "a seminal influence." It seems no pop culture critic can so much as mention music that involves an electric guitar without identifying the act's "seminal" influences.

The first person to use this was pretty clever. If you're using it now, though, you're just a few laps behind the greyhound.

I propose tossing this into the linguistic penalty box for a few decades - in other words, until there are truly some new seminal influences.