Perhaps it was my foray into Twitter and Google+ this past year, but I’ve found myself simultaneously overjoyed by the opportunities and connections, and also, now, a bit weary of repetition. Some of the same themes, ideas, and mantras crept up time and again, each time undermining their efficacy and usefulness. In particular, given the limitation of 140-characters (a typical tweet), I find that people keep using the same (awesome!) words (epic!) over (insane!) and (sweet!) over again (cue: Top Ten Things You Must Do To Become Cooler Than You Are Now).
Anyone else tired? Maybe, of course, I just need to shake it up and start following different threads. But for now, I’ll rant.
Here’s a list of what I think are the most over-used words from the past year. These aren’t the 100 most common words in the English language (words like “the,” “and” or “if”) — these are words that have crept into common lexicon and subsequently eroded their usefulness. Without further ado, I bring to you the list of most over-used words of 2011 (I, too, am guilty of these–please note locations where I’ve self-edited said words out of this post!).
Words (and phrases) to eliminate from our vocabulary
Epic. Really. Epic? Is it really epic? Seriously. I’m sure. I’m certain that your blog post, or personal photograph, or even your dinner meal was epic. Or how about this: it definitely wasn’t, and I don’t care. Epic is for things like wire-walking. Or doing an entire iron man while pulling, pushing, and running with your disabled son. Or a dog jumping out a plane because of his sheer love and trust of humans, not because it’s a few words on another internet page (see this rant on photography, with a photo of the dog about halfway down).
Amazing. To cause amazement. To induce a state of surprise and wonder. Really, see micro-rant from “epic,” above. The cosmos are amazing. The discovery of a helio-centric universe and it’s subsequent explanation and rebuttals by the church is pretty amazing. The internet is amazing. Physics and mathematics from the 16th century, aka Galileo, is quite amazing. The word debuted in 1530, so I’m pretty fairly sure Galileo (circa 1564) might have used the word once or twice. (I have included the original drafts’ use of “pretty,” which is a word I also think is overused–see below, and slap me on the wrist for that.)
Super. This one just makes you sound like you’re somewhere between the ages of twelve and eighteen, and no older. I’ve used it handfuls of times this year already, to dismissive and skeptical looks. Trust me, stop using this word. Like, that’s super! Yeah. Not so good.
Freaking. A filler word used to make other words seem even more important, but usually has the opposite effect. That’s pretty freaking cool.
Outstanding. I’m a nice person. But most things aren’t outstanding. Things are well done. Good. In progress. Great. Incomplete. Very well researched. Time-intensive. Find another word that doesn’t erode the validity of this one.
Awesome. Just see “epic” and “amazing” above.
Like. Makes you sound … like… a valley girl. Want to know how to eliminate it from your speech? Videotape yourself while you give a presentation. Or just videotape yourself and try talking about anything. Have a friend count on their hand the number of times you use this word in conversation with them. If you don’t mind them doing so, have them slap you each time. It’s a nervous tic, a habit, a lazy habit of speech that can be eliminated. Bring it to the front of your consciousness. Then, try to speak without using the word going forward.
Totally. What does this word even mean? I get the vague sense that it should mean complete, or full, or in total agreement. We use it to offer concurrence or acceptance of what someone else is saying, and we use it to prod someone to keep speaking (or worse, to finish speaking). What if you smiled and nodded instead? If you used your body language instead of flippant words to make a point?
Word. This should have died years ago.
Literally. If it’s not literal, don’t use it.
Seriously. Right?
“See what I’m saying” which is equally interchangeable with “Know what I mean?” (see below). These phrases bubble up like nervous chatter and become filler phrases that indicate that you’re not sure if someone is listening to you.
“Know what I mean?” Equally interchangeable with, “You know?” as a question inserted at every breath point in a sentence, ending in a lilt, you know?, that kind of, like, you know?, drives the other person bat-shit crazy.
Ending anything with questions. For the love of God. If you’re going to say something, have the courage to believe in it. Say it with purpose. Intention. Belief. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? At worst case, you could be wrong, and then you can issue a corrective statement. … right?
Bold. “It’s a bold new century.” Is it really now? Are you sure? Because I think it’s just a new century. We’re talking a lot of bold nonsense. Let’s get real.
Passion(ate). Your passion could eat itself off the page and sell you a job. In fact, I think you’re so passionate, I’m certain you’ve said it six different times in your resume and cover letter. Find a different word. In fact, skip the word altogether and go straight to the examples–the ones where you’ve volunteered, donated, started your own project, built, and succeeded in doing these things, and your passion rings true. You don’t have to say it anymore.
Social media. Two of the most generic words: media, how we communicate, and social, how we interact. So you’ve used “social media” to do … what, exactly? If you say you’re a social media strategist, I’ll look at you with glazed eyes, unsure if you just surf facebook or if you’re actually doing something more useful with your time. Tell me more specifically about who you are and what you do; what your objectives are, and what tactics, specifically, have worked in your industry and why. Everyone’s calling themselves’ a social media strategist nowadays. Don’t be one of them.
Just. Inserting the word “just” before any phrase undermines it’s strength. It’s a way of putting a clause in front of your work, of reducing the importance of what you do. I’m just a girl. I’m just an intern. I’m just doing my job. It’s an excuse, it’s bullshit, and if you’re just doing something, perhaps you shouldn’t do it at all.
Pretty. A filler word, used to reduce the value of other words. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. … dontcha think?”
Kinda. See “Just” and “Pretty.”
If you use any of these words, imagine me hitting you each time you do it. Stop. And likewise, remember that bloggers usually write posts because they need to hear the words as well: give me a little nudge if I slide back into this lazy form of writing. I know that we can be more creative, more expressive, and more clear in our use of language to make the point that we’re trying to make. We have one of the most a nuanced, elaborate language–a complex blend of German, Anglo, Saxon, Roman, Celtic, and multiple other influences.
There are a few recent posts I enjoyed — such as Alpha Dictionary’s 100 beautiful words list, which gives us 100 under-used words to add to our lexicon. Try them.
Thanks.
Any other terrible phrases, words, or commonalities that should be eliminated from our everyday vocabulary? Let me know and I’ll add them to this post if I agree. :)
WHOA… all this word hate, and coming from a writer no less!
I can’t help but agree with you on the overuse of ones such as “like” and “you know what I mean/I’m saying,” especially in face-to-face conversations. There’s no getting around how painful it is to hear someone repeatedly sputter out the same thing, sentence after sentence, like some sort of valley girl broken record.
That being said, I call bullshit if you’re telling us you never use any of these. Doubly so because I think your site is genuinely awesome, and am pretty sure you use that word all the time!
Duly noted, and I am as guilty as anyone else! In fact, in this post, I cross out all the times I use the words that I am thus ranting about. I’m not saying to NEVER use these words again, just to reduce their usage so that when you do say something is awesome, it is, in fact … awesome. :) (Thanks for the huge compliments, by the way!)
You use a variation of the word/phrases below. You can find them in your twitter feed:
“Nice!”
“Love it!”
“boo!”
“yayyyy!”
“LOVE. love love love.”
“Brilliant”
In general, these need to stop as well:
“FML!”
“#humblebrag”
“Anyone.Who.F**king.Uses.Periods.After.Every.Word!”
Aww, what’s wrong with those words? They convey meaning with such economy. Surely it would suffice to just be more thoughtful about how we use them. Don’t waste words – conserve them.
Nice post, Sarah. I agree with most of them and identify with almost all. Especially, ‘word’ and ‘kinda’. Another one of my favorite (not really) is “rad” as in radical. Thanks for complementing my new jacket, but I don’t think it’s radical ;)
Anyway, have a good day!
Thanks for this good reminder to watch our language.
Just as vicious as filler words or cliches of language, though, are what Roy Peter Clark calls “cliches of vision.” It’s tough to recognize when we’re thinking tired thoughts . . . or to know what to do when we realize this.
Your list is very good, but easy to catch with a little practice. The tough part is to catch the overused, meaningless, or generic ideas that hamstring our writing. For that (and for our language), may we all find a cruel editor!
I agree — and I should have been more clear. It’s not that all of these words are bad, it’s that they are overused way too often. Some of these need to be toned down. Often, we use them because we are too lazy to think of better words that more accurately describe what we want to say!
Exactly!
Paul – thanks! You are correct. I wonder what the right tools are to catch cliches of thinking. I like to call this “disruptive thinking” or ways to get out of context and see the world again with new eyes. Some of the most important things we can do are to keep learning, and to travel. Every time I learn a new language (even math, computer programming, French, Spanish), it teaches me more about my current cognitive frameworks. Every time I travel, it shows me more about the world at home and abroad, and I am able to improve and edit my thinking that much more.
Epic post.
Haha, someone must say it! :) I do agree with you on this post, but what about rhetorical or leading questions? I must say that most “Top 10” lists simply just disappoint. Like Kawasaki’s Alltop site.
Very well said. I found the same to be true: when I studied Greek, I learned much also about the English I’d been speaking, writing, and taking for granted all those years. As I travel now, I learn through fresh frameworks to understand the systems I live in at home. It may be harder to catch cliches of thinking since they lurk in worded disguises that vary from speaker to speaker, but the evidence may be judged in the way people live their lives. The consequences of their thoughts lead to the giveaway: cliched or fresh living?
Love your site, Sarah!
Seriously. This is, like, the most freaking awesome and epically bold post I’ve ever read by someone who’s amazingly passionate about social media. I totally get what you mean. Literally. I just kinda feel like this is pretty much the most outstanding blog ever. Know what I’m saying? Word.
Regarding other terrible phrases, what about, “It is what it is”?
The use of “ironic” when “coincidental” is meant almost causes me to scream.
And have you noticed “you know” (or “ya know”) becoming a common space filler? It’s neck-and-neck with “I mean”. Yes, I assume you mean it or you wouldn’t be saying it!
I’ve also realized in the last several years that every artist is on a “journey”. Really? Where are you going??
Thanks for this heartfelt list! And now it is time to find another word that means “rant”!!
Yes, I agree. Thank you for the link to the beautiful words. Skimmed them quickly, and found my reaction to several rather interesting. (Might have been because these words aren’t over-used or mis-used), e.g. I grinned at the work”Lilt” because I immediately had an image of the Goombas (in the movie “Mario Brothers”) swaying in the elevator to the music. I always loved watching that movie with my boys when they were young.
Sarah:
Count me in as a fellow “word ranter”. We don’t share exactly the same perspective on the overused, ridiculous or imprecise, but it’s clear many folks need to get a handle on their speechifying from time to time.
Here are a couple of comments of my own on the subject:
http://bluntinstrument.ca/?p=29
http://bluntinstrument.ca/?p=352
Reading your post made me think there might be hope after all.
Can I add – “24/7” and “it ticks all the boxes”? Both of these are over-used and now meaningless (and annoying), as is “thinking outside the square”. All have moved into cliche.
One phrase I notice getting too much airtime is “any time soon”. News reporters use this crutch to end their pieces when they’ve left their smart pants at home: “This weather won’t be clearing up any time soon”, “…you won’t see savings at the gas pump any time soon”, “…don’t look for this to be resolved any time soon”.
Thanks for this post!
I love a good rant and am in agreement with yours. Redundant verbiage doesn’t age well & takes forever to die. These words and phrases become the banter of the banal, tossed around like bland glitter celebrating the commonality of the mundane. Words degrade as people sleep walk past their meaning, and there in lies my angst: people. On the other hand, mangling the English language can be creative genius with the right intention, Cockney for example. If slang were a person I’d kiss it right on the lips. It is colorful, visceral, a true creative expression with no rules. I do love to indulge in such language mutilation, I confess. And every now and then I pay homage to the oldies that played out long ago, “the bees knees”, ”geez louise’, ect. They have an innocent rhythm I appreciate against today’s lack luster utterances. I couldn’t bear those saccharin sweets being mainstreamed and the unlikely pairing of, “it was literally the bees knees”!
I enjoyed your article!
Here’s a couple:
“Dude” is dead. At least hasn’t been breathing in my circles.
How about “fierce”? That had a good run but I think it’s totally outy…:)
How about linguistic nonsense as a pet peeve? “We have one of the most nuanced, elaborate languages–a complex blend of German, Anglo, Saxon, Roman, Celtic, and multiple other influences.”
1) English is nuanced and elaborate, but “most” nuanced and elaborate? Total BS. How many languages are you able to compare English to, and what is your basis of comparison?
2) The evolution of English has been strongly influenced by contact with other languages–but this makes English normal, not unique (French is a complex blend of at least German (Frankish), Celtic, Latin, and even, to some extent, English (gasp!).)
Seth, thanks for pointing this out: you’re right; I certainly need to edit the language I use here and will delete “most,” as I am not professing to be a linguistics expert.
I am basing this off of several books I’ve recently read — “The Story of English,” Bill Bryson’s “The Mother Tongue,” and others, although it’s a hobby of study and not my full-time profession. I personally am familiar with French, German, Spanish, and English, but not yet the Oriental languages and my understanding of Latin is very dusty. (In short, I have quite a bit still to learn.)
English as we know it today has one of the largest vocabularies due to the blending and mixing over time (related to warfare and power struggles, as well as increasing trade and mobility). The beauty in the English language is the seeming redundancy of multiple words to describe the same phenomena, allowing for more shadow and nuance in our ability to describe what we are doing. It also makes it one of the more difficult languages to learn, as well.
In all that I write, much of it is self-directed; this is certainly the case with this post. I am challenging myself, firstly (and secondly, others!) to use additional words and not get trapped in the banalities of meaningless expressions. As you can see in the edits, above, I’m constantly checking and correcting myself.
Keep the ideas coming!
Ya’ll seem pretty uptight. Embrace the overuse. Be amused by it, Dude.
Dear Sarah,
I love (and I really mean it when I say love) this post – at the risk of you hating me for writing this – This really needed to be stated, thank you for doing it with humor and insight.
Many hugs to you,
-Bern
The word “passion(ate)” needs to die. Over-used and completely meaningless.
“Dreams”, too.
Loved the rant.