Wrongly….yep…yesterday someone used that word at me. I say “at me” because when a person, especially a so-called writer, uses a word in a way that is annoying it is like getting slapped in the face. Come on people….words are your thing…they are what you do….use them correctly and for Pete’s Sake…don’t overuse them!
Here are some examples of writers gone stupid and/or words we should always stay away from.
- Basically, essentially and totally – Three more useless words in writing you will be hard pressed to find. These words add nothing but word count spaces. Your sentence almost always improves without them. And don’t get me started on the whole “totally” phase the kids are into right now.
- Irregardless – THIS IS NOT A WORD! No one word will annoy me faster than this one.
- Thusly - Whenever I read a writer who uses this word it screams one thing to me, he/she is trying to sound smarter than they are. The words thus or therefore go a long way and don’t make you sound like you are trying too hard.
- Paradigm, synergy, leveraging; thinking outside the box, attacking low-hanging fruit, getting things done down and dirty and, worse of all, easy-peasy – Folks you are writers, so write…don’t use the overused crap that everyone from newscasters to the kids on the block are using. My spouse actually looked at me last night and asked, “What does easy-peasy mean exactly?” I had to shake my head and respond, “I’m not sure but it sure sounds stupid.”
- Literally – This is a biggie. Most people who use this word don’t actually realize what it means. “Literally” isn’t a word you use for emphasis. It’s a word you use when you say something that shouldn’t just be interpreted figuratively. If you say that you literally worked your ass off, it doesn’t mean that you worked really hard; it means you no longer have an ass. Stop misusing this please.
These are just a few examples. I am sure that many of you have your own examples of words gone wrong. Please take a moment and share them here so that we might help some other poor writer who doesn’t know any better.
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