That Word you Hate!

ZannaPerry · Aug 7, 2007

I'm taking a wee break from writing because I figured the best way to come back to it is to just be free from it for a couple of days. Writers work in all sorts of different ways, but I always write better when I take a break and then come back to it...

With that said, what made me take a break was that I just couldn't get out what I wanted to say. Words that didn't belong and kept getting in my way.

So, this is a topic about all those WORDS you HATE when it comes to writing. Words that just won't go away!

Here is my list of words I can't STAND when writing:

That
Before
Didn't
Could
Would
But - at the beginning of a sentence
And - at the beginning of a sentence
So
Walk
Look
Stood
Quiet
Should!
To
It

I'm sure I could go on and on, but I am having trouble sounding unique when it comes to putting words together. And some words you just can't avoid, but I don't like to have them in every single sentence. My mind feels like mash potatoes right now.........

What is YOUR list of words YOU HATE?

blacbird · Aug 7, 2007

Rejection.

caw

HourglassMemory · Aug 7, 2007

You know what helps? Thesaurus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It helps ME a lot. I feel like..oh this word is used so much everywhere!
So I use this.
http://thesaurus.reference.com/

I don't have words I hate, really... I've never thought about it enough to develop some sort of feeling towards them...or read enough, for that matter.

I usually jump to other words if I feel it's overused, which might be the only opinion I have on words.
I don't HATE them lol.

Roger J Carlson · Aug 7, 2007

k_obsessed said:
Here is my list of words I can't STAND when writing:

That
Before
Didn't
Could
Would
But - at the beginning of a sentence
And - at the beginning of a sentence
So
Walk
Look
Stood
Quiet
Should!
To
It

Actually, I love those words, so I over-use them. Mores the pity. Add to those: is
isn't
am
are
aren't
was
wasn't
were
will
would
won't
has
had
have
be
been
do
don't
did
didn't
does
doesn't
by
being
seem
seems
exist
exists
appears
make
makes
show
shows
occur
occurs
get
got
went
put
some
many
most
that
very
extremely
totally
completely
wholly
utterly
quite
rather
slightly
fairly
somewhat
suddenly
all of a sudden
loose

and not to mention the phrases:

kind of
sort of
the reason for
past history
this is why
end result
it is possible that
the possibility exists
for all intents and purposes
there is a chance that
is able to
has the opportunity to
past memories
future plans
sudden crisis
past history
terrible tragedy
as a matter of fact
quite frankly
all the time
white as a sheet
as soon as possible
at the very least
down in the dumps
in the nick of time
keep your mouth shut
hat in hand
made a run for it
exact same
same exact

bt_author · Aug 7, 2007

I know what you're getting at my fellow IC lover. In my first draft of just about anything, these are the words I look for to edit out immediately

Then
as

and from your list

That
Before
But - at the beginning of a sentence
And - at the beginning of a sentence
So
To
It

Scrawler · Aug 7, 2007

I'm going with seem/seemed and very

ZannaPerry · Aug 7, 2007

Oh, that word...

As...

I really don't like it! :rant:

I do have an thesaurus! Plenty of them....but you can't look in there to find a different word for "to" or "couldn't."

RRK · Aug 7, 2007

Definitely "that." Also, "a little" and "as if" come up far too often.

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 7, 2007

I can't, in all good conscience, join this hate fest.

I love words. All words.

If I was you all, I'd be careful. Angry word kharma's gonna get you.

Chasing the Horizon · Aug 7, 2007

'Actually'
That word annoys me to no end.

Carmy · Aug 7, 2007

"Gotten" I tend to toss novels when I come across that word.

I hate it, hate it, hate it!

ZannaPerry · Aug 7, 2007

"And then" also bugs me...

MerryDay · Aug 7, 2007

She or He.

I am forever changing pronouns to names to pronouns and back again. I hate being repetitive, but you don't have any choice with those!

TheKnightWhoSaidNi · Aug 7, 2007

I will just speak up to say how much I hate one particular word:

'Bosom.' - I hate this word. It's outdated hillbilly-grandma jargon, like "Mah lawdy, that gurl be looking old enough to have bosoms." I have never used it EXCEPT to illustrate how much I hate it. God willing, I never will.

Zoombie · Aug 7, 2007

Shoulder, mostly because I can't say it without it coming out as soldiers.

Williebee · Aug 7, 2007

Honestly.

that and any variation of "I'm not going to lie to you" or "To tell you the truth".
I've found that anyone who says that repeatedly ... isn't.

Devil Ledbetter · Aug 7, 2007

Hope To The Horizon said:
'Actually'
That word annoys me to no end.

Aww, that's my 6-year-old's stutter word. I hear a-a-a-a-actually about 27 times a day.

Shady Lane · Aug 7, 2007

kind of, sort of, practically, basically

Nothing ever is when I write it. It just sorta is.

Novelust · Aug 7, 2007

'Vertiginous.' It is the Yellow Dye #5 of words, a thing that shouldn't be found anywhere in nature.

There was a guy in one of my Creative Writing class that used it constantly. I felt as though we did him a disservice by never staging an intervention.

swvaughn · Aug 7, 2007

I hate the word 'juicy'. Could barely stand to type it just now.

I don't know why. I just do.

Also, I continue my quest in search of a synonym for 'the'. There are far too many 'the's in my manuscripts.

Shady Lane · Aug 7, 2007

Oh, and I freak out when I have to use the word "it" in a ms. I just hate hate hate hate it. Don't mind it in casual writing (as you can see I've used it a thousand times here....) but it makes my frickin skin craw in my ms. I don't know why.

mscelina · Aug 7, 2007

Irregardless..particularly since it's not a real word at all.

In my writing--any word that ends with an -ly. I have a serious and/then/but problem as well. I can't eliminate all of them, but I certainly try. I spend most of my rewriting time breaking up compound sentences and backspacing over adverbs.

Lady Esther · Aug 7, 2007

I hate "really"

I find it in my WIP too much, and I know there's a better word/phrase to use.

EriRae · Aug 7, 2007

mscelina said:
Irregardless..particularly since it's not a real word at all.

I used to work in a collections office next to a guy who used that word all day long with delinquent customers..."Irregardless, your bill was due on the 20th!" Um...doesn't that mean with regard, then, if it's irregardless? Was he trying to be nice to them?

I put in another post that I hate the words "sucks" as in "That sucks!" and "gay" as in "That's so gay." But I used both of those words in the rewrite after I posted that, so I have to take it back. I don't hate those words. Sometimes they work. They make me cringe, but it's what my characters wanted. I think they did it to piss me off...

Xx|e|ph|e|me|r|al|xX · Aug 7, 2007

Shady Lane said:
Oh, and I freak out when I have to use the word "it" in a ms. I just hate hate hate hate it. Don't mind it in casual writing (as you can see I've used it a thousand times here....) but it makes my frickin skin craw in my ms. I don't know why.

Xx|Shoot, "it"s a pronoun for one of my characters in a future book (unless I can come up with something better; but if I do, that kind of...doesn't work for the story, anyway, because they're trying to make the "it" out to be a "thing"...D:>).

Anyway, my most hated words at the moment are:

Flurry - not like a snow flurry, though. I love that. But "he said in a flurry of emotion" kind of thing. I've never used such verbage before, but it's been stuck in my head and I've had to use it over and over again.

whirling on me in a flurry of attempting to lighten the mood

That's how it got out subconsciously earlier today. I've yet to find the energy to fix it. It sounds so very stupid...that stupid word. XD
[sub]I'm thinking "he exclaimed in an attempt to lighten the mood, whirling on me...in a flurry." *dies*[/sub]

Also, "chuckled", "giggled", and "laughed". "Laughed" implies an outright "LOL"--that's not what they're doing. But "giggled" is too cutesy--they may be immature in some respects, but they're laugh is a tad more mature (most of the time). Chuckled works well. But dang it, they do it so much! They laugh at the stupidest things, and it's always a "chuckle". Oh, bugger. :rant:

|xX

That Word you Hate!

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