There are a lot of words that become fads/buzzwords to use, and in doing so, the original & intended meaning is lost or watered down so that the word is rendered ineffective.  This is the list that I propose should be either banned completely, or banned by certain people from their usage, or used only when appropriate, which is rarely:

Impact/Impacted — It has become popular starting around 2008 to use “impact” as a verb instead of “affect/affected” or other better synonyms, such as the simplistic “hit”.  I believe this occurred because it sounds more forceful/macho to use “impact/impacted”, and society likes to look & feel tougher than it really is, and “affect” sounds too close to “effect”, which many ignorant people struggle to use properly, and it sounds somewhat like “infect”, and of course, who wants to be infected?

Basically — Basically, we should rarely use the word “basically” unless you keep your explanation truly basic.  Just like I did in the previous sentence.  It’s not a long paragraph starter, but a lot of ignorant people use it as such because it’s the longest word they know besides “mayonnaise”, which is the only “French” word they know as well.  Never say “basically” and then make a statement that’s anything but basic, as the word means you should use a quick basic example rather than a long-form explanation/lesson on the state of something.

Awesome — Everything is not awesome.  “Awesome” things would include a volcano erupting, 2 planes crashing into one another, the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series after 108 years and after being down 3-1 in the series, i.e., things that truly are stupendous & rare at the same time.  It’s not awesome that Kaylee & Tucker are now dating, whoever they are — I just tried to conjure up some crummy white Millennial names to use in the example.

Actually — Actually, you should never use “actually” unless you are comparing something that probably isn’t an actual event, but rather theoretical, or comparing an alternative to what actually occurred — it’s a comparison involved.  For instance, if someone says “Where did you go on vacation?”, you shouldn’t say “We actually went to Cancun” unless they ask “Did you stay at home & watch the movie about Cancun on your vacation time?” or something that invites comparison.  You could say “That medicine should have tasted bad, but I actually liked it”, though you could omit the word there as well . . . actually.

Fer/Fer me — The word is not “fer”; it’s “for”.  It’s not spelled “fer” nor pronounced “fer” — what’s happened is that people are lazy and aren’t pronouncing the word properly.  Laziness, in this case being a linguistic sloth, is not a proper excuse for mangling our language.  I also want to point out another problem — the use of the phrase “fer me” or even “for me”.  It’s incorrect and redundant.  To say, “For me, I prefer a stick up my ass” is pointless — just say “I prefer a stick up my ass”.  The fact that you used the word “I” is enough to point the sentence & its meaning inward at yourself, so there’s no need to modify it further.  It just makes you look dumb & narcissistic.

Kinda/Sorta or Kind of/Sort of — I get it that people write in slang and I do as well at times when it works, so I don’t have a problem with it depending on the circumstances, but I’m upset at why the word or phrase is even used in the first place.  It’s mealy-mouthed, fence-sitting, wimpy, weasel-word language.  Take a position, dammit!  It’s not “kind of” or “sort of” bad when people step on your face, it’s simply bad, no wimpy modifier needed.  People are saying this because they’re too afraid to take a position so people won’t hate them until the world ends for having a “polarizing viewpoint”, i.e., you believe in something different than the other person or you point out the errors in their POV.

Umm & Uhh — This is taking slang writing too far.  For starters, it’s making fun of people who have learning or mental disabilities.  You may as well say “retard” at some point, as you’re conveying that tone in acting like one, though some will argue that it simply is a sarcastic putdown to make someone else feel like they’re stupid, but where do you think this comes from?  Retarded people.

Uh-huh & uh-uh — The fact that someone would use those words as verbal shortcuts for a 1-syllable word like “yes” or “no” shows people have gone to the utmost length to keep from having to use their mouths to form words properly, but to write them out is ridiculous.

Goes — When people use the word “goes” instead of “says” or “said”, they should be dropped from an airplane without a parachute.  Or maybe we could give them a parachute the first time & let them know the next time they do it, they get no parachute.

Creepy — If you are over the age of 12 & you are male, nothing should be creepy anymore as you’re now a teenager, not a mere adolescent child.  If you are female and you’re out of high school, you can no longer use the word “creepy” anymore because you are an adult and nothing should scare you anymore as you know better.  Another problem is calling people “creepy” in many cases is simply a put-down because of a person’s appearance or mannerisms are different than yours, not that they’re actually scary or should elicit fear.

Melty — This is not a real word.  It was invented on Madison Avenue.  Stop using it.  Stop buying food from companies who use it.  Send the corporate PR rep an email telling them to stop.  If enough people tell them to stop, they will.

So — This word should never be used to start a sentence, even when telling a story.  It’s perfectly fine otherwise.

I can think other words that are lower on my radar; may expand this later when I have time.