5/6/12

Tameri Guide for Writers: Words to Avoid

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WordsandPhrasestoAvoid
Wheneditingamanuscript,somewordsdeservetodienot

design

always,butusually.(Ifyoumissthehumoroftheprecedingsentence,

marketing

youwontafterreadingthisdocument.Thesentencecontainsabasic

forteachers

grammarerror,astyleslip,andseveralvaguewords.)

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Thewordslistedinthetablebelowappearinorderofpopularity.
Formoreonwordstoavoid,readourguidetowordusageand
abusage.
anyinfinitive(towalk)
about
all
almost
always
anxiously
believe
eagerly
every

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ourrates

PutZestBackin
YourLife.Meeta
Charming
UkrainianLady.
Hookup!
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DateSexy
Mexican
Women
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andSinglesSite.
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feel
finally
frequently
got
just
merely
nearly
need
never

GetGoodat
SpeakingEnglish.
TakeOurFree
EmailCourse.7
Days.
www.deepenglish.co

ConqueringBabel
Claire
Handscombe
New

not
often
only
so
that
thepublic
then
very

TheSecretLifeof
Pronouns
JamesW.
Pennebake...
New
PracticalGrammar
andComposition
ThomasWood
New

Verbs

MLAHandbookfor
Writersof
Research...
ModernLanguage
As...
New$18.33

Avoidanyuncertainwordsorphrases.Thetwothatappear
frequentlyinacademicpapersareIfeelandIbelieve.
believeChangesentencesthatstartwithIbelievetostatementsof
certainty,especiallyinacademicorbusinesswriting.Youdonot

PrivacyInformation

wantreaderstoquestionyourviewpointordoubtyourconclusions.

havegotYouhavesomething,withoutthegot.
feelYoudonotfeelanopinion.Feelshouldbereservedfor
physicalcondictionsandactions.

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SpeakEnglish
Fast

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ReferenceGuide
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Wordsandphrasesabusedwiththegreatestfrequencytopthelist.

aboutus

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Ukrainian
Ladies

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Adverbs

Recommend
Send

Whenusedasmodifiersofverbs,adverbsareambiguous.Ifhe
quicklyran,thenjusthowfastdidherun?Adverbsdonotanswerto
whatdegreeorextent,despitewhatgrammariansmightsay.
Adverbsoftimeareoverused.Writerslittermanuscriptswith
wordssuchasfinallyandthenbecausepeopledosoinspeech.

UkraineGirls
forYou

Notandotheradverbsofmannerareeasyforwriterswhileit

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photosandemails.
1000'sonlinedaily
tryitfree!

befoundinmostcases.

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requireslittleefforttousethesewords,betterwordsorphrasescan
veryWhileveryisintendedtomagnifyaverb,adverb,ornoun,it
lacksprecision.Veryisseldomessential.(Now,whatswrongwith
seldomintheprecedingsentence?)
notNotisanadverbmeaninginnomannerortonodegree.
Wediscouragewritersfromusingnotandnegativewordsformed
usingtheprefixesirandunwhenpossible.

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Tameri Guide for Writers: Words to Avoid

never/alwaysAbsoluteseitherlockawriterintoapositionor
givetheappearanceofconceit.Usethesewordswhentheabsoluteis
acommandorinstruction.
Alwaysmakesurethenuclearreactorchamberissealed
properly.
often/frequentlyIndividualshaveuniqueopinionsofwhat
constitutesfrequentlyoroften.Suchmeasuresoftimearematters
ofperspective.
almost/nearlyApproximationsshouldbeusedsparingly.Use
almostornearlywhenaprecisemeasurementisunrealisticin
fictionorimpossible.
anxiously/eagerlyAnxiouslyimplieswithanxietyand
eagerlyimplieswithanticipation.Bothareweakadverbsthatcan
bereplacedbybetterdescribingasituation.
Shewaitedanxiously.
Shesatwaiting,bitingherlipandlookingaroundthe
room.
only/merelyCondescendingwhenusedtodescribeanoun.

WeakLinks
finallyWhendescribingaseriesofevents,thewordfinally

ScottandSusanarebothon
Twitter.Followusforthe
latestupdates.

indicateslazinessonthepartofthewriter.Finallyimpliesan
exhaustionordistastefortheseries.
then/nextWhenrecountingevents,thenandnextareweak
transitions.Tryeliminatingthenwithspecificreferencestotime,
location,orlistcharacteristics.
AswedrovedownMainStreet,wefirstsawSmallville
Hardware.Then,acrossthestreetwasMasKettle,a
popularrestaurant.Next,wesawabar,thepostoffice,and
abarbershop.FinallywereachedCityHall.
AswedrovedownMainStreet,wefirstsawSmallville
Hardware.AcrossthestreetwasMa'sKettle,apopular
restaurant.Passingthenextblock,wesawabar,thepost
office,andabarbershop.CityHallgreetedusattheendof
thestreet.

Adjectives
Writersmustrememberthatadjectivesarerelativetoareaders
experiences.Describingacharacterastallwithoutspecifyingaheight
allowseveryreadertoimagineadifferentmeasurement.Some
writersprefertoallowaudiencesalotoffreedom,butdoingsocanbe
dangerous.
amazing/wonderful/etcAvoidoverstatinghowspeciala
person,thing,oreventis.Romancenovels,inparticular,overuse
thesewords.
big/small,short/tallRemembereachreaderhasaunique
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5/6/12

Tameri Guide for Writers: Words to Avoid

perspectivefromwhichheorsheviewsotherpeople.Giveprecise
descriptionsofcharacterswhenpossible.
all/everyAllandeveryimplyabsolutequantities.
perfectNothingrealisperfect.However,onemakesexceptionsfor
perfectscores,perfectangles,andtheperfecttenseofverbs.

Nouns
thepublicThepublicseldomthinksoractsasasingleunit.Whena
politicianclaimsthepublicwantssomething,questionwhatthe
politicianisclaiming.
needTherearefewneeds,butwantsanddesiresareplentiful.You
needfood,thoughyoumightwantchocolate.

Prepositions
about(adv)Usethephrasewentaroundorasimilarphrasethat
moreclearlyindicatesasenseofdirection.(prep)Whenused
colloquiallyinthephraseshowabout,whatabout,andnot
aboutto,killthephraseandrewritethesentence.
Whataboutgoingtothepartylater?
Shouldwegotothepartylater?

FiftyShadesofGrey
ELJames
New

FiftyShadesDarker
ELJames
New

WordUsageStylebookGrammarWordstoAvoidWritingTerms
WritingEditingFormatting

Writer:C.S.Wyatt
Updated:17Feb2012
Editor:S.D.Schnelbach

Copyright2011C.S.Wyatt&SusanD.Schnelbach

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