I’m passing along this post from Christopher Witt entited “Words to Avoid.” It’s a good thought-starter for those of us who speak for a living.
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Words to Avoid
I always love lists of overused, trite, important-sounding words. The list from Lake Superior State University (found here) holds these words (rightly) up to ridicule:
- Shovel-Ready
- Transparent/Transparency
- Czar
- Tweet
- App
- Friend as a verb
- Teachable moment
- In these economic times….
- Stimulus
- Toxic assets
- Too big to fail
- Bromance
- Chillaxin’
- Obama-prefix or roots
My least favorite phrase — it’s been around a long time — is “to make a long story short.” I appreciate the concept, but in my experience people who use the phrase are merely pausing in the middle of a boring recitation to catch their breaths. They then continue making a long story longer.
What phrase or word irks, irritates, or rankles you?