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Last month The Washington Post released a list of 150 "verbal crutches, stock phrases, filler words, cliches and perpetually misused expressions" that the writers of its Sunday Outlook section try to avoid.
For professional communicators who - like our team at Lovell - spend a lot of time writing, the list of "Things We Do Not Say" is a good reminder of what lazy writing can look and the importance of choosing clear, descriptive words and phrases.
Here are a few of my favorite offenders from the list:
- Be that as it may
- Needless to say
- Begs the question
- At the end of the day
- The new normal
- Raised questions
- Poster child
To read the full list, visit the Washington Post story at this link. Additionally, the Oxford Dictionaries "Language matters" blog provides a list of common cliches, as well as tips for eradicating them from your writing.
What cliches do you dislike the most? Tell us about it in the comments section.
Erin George is a Senior Account Supervisor at Lovell Communications. You can view more of Erin’s blogs here. Connect with Erin at erin@lovell.com or @ErinLawley.