46 Words and Phrases to Stop Using, Courtesy of LinkedIn
Want to improve your writing by leaps and bounds and get much better at communicating who you are and what you do? Two of LinkedIn’s most popular Pulse articles this year include a very comprehensive list of words and terms that are so overused, they have become meaningless – and annoying.
I have to say that these two writers are my heroes – I really could not agree with them more. Ready to find out what words and phrases they (and I) cannot stand?
Stop Using These 16 Terms to Describe Yourself
Do you write things about yourself you would never have the nerve to actually say?
Although Jeff Haden is not technically talking about copywriting, this blog posts lists the top words that might look good on paper when describing you or your company but sound ridiculous and inauthentic saying out loud in real life. They include:
Innovative
World-class
Authority
Results-oriented
Global-provider
Motivated
Creative
Dynamic
Guru
Curator
Passionate
Unique
Incredibly
Serial entrepreneur
Strategist
Collaborative
Stop Using These 30 Phrases at Work
Are your meetings buzzing with so much management lingo that you find it hard to get to the real meaning of what is being said? The problem I have with these phrases is that they sound so pretentious and often are counterproductive because they irritate people so much and deflect from the real meaning.
In a similar article, Bernard Marr put together a list of the “most irritating jargon phrases” that he would like very much to ban. They are:
Going forward
Drill-down
End of play
Touch base
It’s on my radar
No-brainer
Best of breed
Low-hanging fruit
Reach out
Dive deeper
Think outside the box
Positive momentum
On my plate
At the end of the day
Run the numbers
Touch points
Keep your eye on the ball
Back to the drawing board
Get the ball rolling
Bang for your buck
Close the deal
When the rubber hits the road
Shift paradigm
Move the needle
Game-changing
Move the goal post
Value added
Win-win
Across the piece
All hands on deck
Strip these words out of your work vocabulary, and you are automatically a better writer.
What would you add to the list?
