Punctuality Rules!

MM: Overused Vocabulary

MM: Overused Vocabulary

mangled2

One of the most basic tips for good writing: Don’t over-use the same word and don’t use hackneyed phrases that have been used so much they become cliche.

I notice this the most in my “casual” writing, things like e-mails to friends, comments on blogs, and the like. One of these nights I really need to pull out my thesaurus and remind myself of some other, better, lesser-used superlatives like “striking,” “keen,” “awesome,” “meritorious” or “smashing.” You know, to be able to write something a little snazzier than “It’s so pretty!” when I see a beautiful hand-knit by a friend.

The problem is that words like “pretty” and “nice” have been so overused that any strength they originally had has been diluted, leaving them insipid, weak shadows of their former selves . . . but, isn’t that a sad thing to think about any word? Can’t you just picture them, sitting in their recliners, their canes and walkers nearby, reminiscing about the days when they were the words to use? The strong, active, cut-to-the-chase words that everyone wanted to voice?

“I wasn’t always just ‘Nice,’ you know, I used to mean all sorts of things! Wanton. Coy. Punctilious. Well-bred. Now I’m just a worn-out old catch-phrase.”

When, no doubt, the word “Gay” says, “You think you’ve got problems? I used to mean happy and merry, and now I’m a political land-mine. Woo hoo. Hurray for me. I remember when I was just a nice word . . . oh, sorry, buddy,” as the word “Nice” winces, “I didn’t mean you.”

All while “Like” is sitting in the corner, twitching . . .

(Inspired by an old post on my knitting blog.)

13 thoughts on “MM: Overused Vocabulary

  1. Gillian

    Reading your posting, and even more, deciding to comment, makes me figuratively sit up straight and pull on my thinking cap for grammar and vocabulary. I definitely have more trouble with finding the right, most fitting word.

  2. Melissa Donovan

    This is a super cute post. Another overused word… amazing. I hear it so much that there’s nothing amazing about it anymore. I’m a frequent visitor to dictionary.com; it has a handy dandy online thesaurus, which is ALWAYS open when I’m writing — not so much to help me find words as to save time that would otherwise be spent twirling my pen and running through the vocabulary that lives inside my head. 😉

    Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Why Great Writing (and Good Grammar) Matters Online

  3. --Deb Post author

    Really? That’s so awesome! Isn’t the internet cool? I mean, it’s just so great….

    (giggle)

  4. J

    I hear ‘literally’ a lot, and even when they do mean ‘literally’, as opposed to ‘figuratively’, it’s not necessary to the sentence. Also, ‘actually’ and ‘so’. These are just crutches, I suspect, and I hear them a lot on cooking shows of all places.

    J’s last blog post..Apple Spring Rolls

  5. --Deb Post author

    That’s one of those frequently used AND misused words that drives me nuts. “I literally jumped into the air for 20 seconds, I was so surprised.” Oh, really? Such talent!

    I tend to use “really” far too often. And, I’m told, “theoretically.” As in, “You know, theoretically, we could invite 20 people to the house.” I suppose I like to hedge my bets–I’m not saying we SHOULD invite that many people, but it would be possible.

  6. --Deb Post author

    It’s scary, isn’t it, how many examples there could be? Not even counting those four-letter words that are the favorite descriptions of far too many people who don’t seem to know any others at all . . . though not, of course, the folks who read this blog!

  7. Rob O.

    I work with a guy who uses “basically” so often I wince. Sadly, he applies this to descriptions that’re anything but basic.

    Yeat another co-worker liberally peppers his verbal conversations with “evidently,” yet he clearly has no concept of the actual meaning of the word. Were something to be “evident,” there’d be little point in mentioning, right?

    Okay, okay, I’m probably just as bad in some way that I’m not even aware of. I do know that I tend to overuse the privilege of starting sentences with “And” and the use of the em dash to break up ideas. So, evidently, I’m basically going to have to work on that. Ouch!

  8. --Deb Post author

    My mother tells me I use “theoretically” a lot. I think it’s my way of overcompensating for a bossiness-tendency. I don’t want to tell people that they SHOULD do something, but that, you know, theoretically, they COULD…. (grin).

  9. Rob O.

    Yeah, I knew that starting sentences with “and,” “or,” or “but” is no longer forbidden, but I do tend to want to overuse that.

    I also get a little hung up on starting sentences with prepositional phrases. I try to avoid doing so although I’m not certain whether that’s still a no-no. It’s sometimes a tough thing to avoid and not have your writing sound stiff.

  10. --Deb Post author

    Yes, but this way you won’t feel so guilty about starting with “and.” (grin) AND it’s better to start with a prepositional phrase than end with a preposition, right?

    (Answer: It depends whose rules you’re following.)

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