Quote: "PERSON OF INTEREST – Found within the context of legal commentary, but seldom encountered at cocktail parties." Lake Superior State University 2006 List of Banished Words.
Figure of Speech: litotes, the figure of ironic understatement.
For 31 years the school chooses the most annoying, useless and over-used phrases. Its PR guy came up with the idea, which should tell you something. He said he did it with "tongue firmly in cheek," a phrase that eminently deserves banishment.
Nonetheless, the school's litotes, "seldom encountered at cocktail parties," works. We are not unamused.
Snappy Answer: "My friends call me 'Perp.'"