words and phrases you want to eliminate from your writing/usage/daily conversation

http://www.dyslexia-test.com/gustaveflaubert.jpg

let's get a make a 2011 edition of the dictionary of received ideas

actually
basically

that maud newton piece about blogspeak made me more conscious of my overreliance on "kind of" and "sort of"

I was on a tear about this recently:

Most objectionable neologism ending in "-ize"

hipster

"would be" or "will be" instead of IS

i don't say this but lots of other people do and it bugs me

I've been an avid user of "actually," "basically," "kind of," and "sort of" (and "possibly," and "somewhat," and "notwithstanding"--I basically love equivocation) for 15 years at least. I don't think blogspeak had yet been invented.

"retarded"

I've been an avid user of "actually," "basically," "kind of," and "sort of" (and "possibly," and "somewhat," and "notwithstanding"--I basically love equivocation) for 15 years at least. I don't think blogspeak had yet been invented.

― clemenza, Tuesday, September 6, 2011 8:55 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yah i add these to all my work correspondences to amuse myself

"that basically how i break it down to an extent" is my guide for how to transmit all my ideas

Equivocation means never having to say you're wrong.

"dichotomy"

"for sure"

yah i add these to all my work correspondences to amuse myself

Basically I kind of add all of those words to my work correspondences to avoid having to actually take any responsibility for anything.

I've removed "actually" from day-to-day conversation but still say "actual" and "in fact" more than I'm happy with.
Oh, and "basically" xp :)

!!!!
but sometimes i feel that nothing really expresses my zeal like an exclamation point
when i say "hi!" i mean it

this is similar to any number of wingeing about language threads on ilx except it's more about being self critical, so there's gonna be a lot of overlap

unpack

in fact

I say "cool" way too much

as long as y'all say "use" instead of "utilize" I'll forgive your tricks.

conceptually
calibrate
like

I've been trying to not say yeayeyeyeyeah and nunununuhno but if I've just had some strong coffee it's gonna happen

I say "yeahyeahyeah" way too often (also way too often)

i do a slow, drawly 'riiiiiiight, riiiiight' that is embarrassing even to type

everybody has crutches they fall back on when they are at a loss for words, or when they want to frame something (framing! there's another one) they want to say. are you comfortable with them? this is why nabokov was so uncomfortable with extemporaneous speaking.

are we supposed to not say "framing," now? i can't get behind that.

oh no! this is just what you are comfortable or not comfortable with.

i think i should stop saying "frankly" so much but i love it.

i've worn out "awesome" and "amazing" isn't too far behind

I don't often say it out loud, but I really need to eliminate "fuggit" from my internal monologue

'ilx'

Pretty
Though

And basically all idioms, because I always get them wrong.

fuck fucking damn shit goddamn man

i can't help it, i'm from missouri

I say "yeah nah" way too much, and I dont even mean to.

I also have to stop saying "lol" out loud :/

"sure, i can come in at 9"

Trayce, do you say el oh el or lowell?

I say "loll", as in Tolhurst. Sarcastically of course. but still.

"to be honest" :-/

and yes, I blame ilx tbh

have to stop saying "to be fair": i began a sentence "to be fair to hitler" last night, and who wants to be that guy?

(to be fair to me i was discussing doctor who)

I use IMO way to much, IMO

seem

i think/reckon/imagine/guess/suspect

imo/iirc

a bit/slightly

stuff/thing

So hesitant! I should present my opinions as STRAIGHT FACTS.

tbh

and all of what woof just said

And 'jol out'

i hate people presenting their opinions as straight facts, mostly.

yeah, i just want to cut out the 'tbh, imo' hugh grant filler between my actual opinions ifygwim

i wd argue that these are often an attempt to recreate speech rhythms in a medium which has more in common with conversation than writing, but idk, whatevs

I use "but, pffffff" a bit too much more than is amusing.

yeah i agree rly, but feel my sentences increasingly want to degenerate into hedged and mannered strings of iirc fwiw imo

'just'
'pretty'
'like'

saying "thank you so much" when a simple "thank you" would suffice.

I'm also sort of concerned that my habit of telling people to "have a good day" or "have a great morning" etc. is left over from my service industry robot years and I probably do not need to deploy these as often as I do.

basically, I'm super-polite, but it makes me feel like c3po

see also: saying "sorry" for things that dont really warrant an apology.

^^^^

Ditch the Canadian accent I picked up from me mum already on words like "about"

saying "thank you so much" when a simple "thank you" would suffice.

Sounds like the kind of thing you hear when speaking to an Indian call-centre

I think I'm going to try to replace "sorry" with "deal with it" for the time being.