15 words you should stop using

WANT to sound smarter? All you have to do is drop these 15 words from your conversations. Yep, it’s really that simple.

WOULD you like to sound a bit cleverer?

Experts have come up with some really simple hacks for making your e mails, texts and letters sound a lot smarter.

Career advice experts at The Muse have come up with a list of words they recommend you drop from your vocabulary.

Not only will doing so help you write more succinctly, it’s also guaranteed to make you look smarter. Honestly.

1. That

Nine times out of ten, you can ditch ‘that’ from a sentence and it will still make perfect sense.

They also recommend you use ‘who’ rather than ‘that’ when referring to a person.

2. Went

We have so many verbs at our disposal in the English language — why settle with boring old ‘went’?

What about walked, or ran, or danced, or flew?

Come on now, don’t be lazy ...

3. Honestly

People often use the word ‘honestly’ to make them sound more earnest.

Trouble is, telling your reader this particular statement is honest implies the rest of your words aren’t.

4. Really

Usually there’s really no need to add ‘really’ to a sentence.

Asking someone if they’re ‘sure’ and asking someone if they’re ‘really sure’ is likely to get the same response.

They also recommend never repeating ‘really’.

That’s really, really bad writing.

5. Very

In the same way really is often redundant, ‘very’ also tends to fail in its attempt to spruce up a sentence.

Why not use a more interesting adjective instead?

If you’re ‘very happy’, be ecstatic.

If you’re ‘very sad’, be devastated.

‘Very’ is also subjective — something that is ‘very long’ to one person could be fairly short to someone else.

How long’s a piece of string? Be specific.

6. Amazing

If there was ever an overused word in the English vocabulary it’s ‘amazing’.

Everything from someone making you a cup of tea to witnessing the Taj Mahal is ‘amazing’ these days (or sch-mazing if you’re Nicole Scherzinger).

It’s meant to convey “great surprise or sudden wonder”.

Remember, if everything is ‘amazing’, nothing is.

And don’t get us started on amaze-balls ...

7. Absolutely

Unless it’s ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, it’s pointless.

Something is either necessary or it isn’t.

So why not just use ‘necessary’?

8. Always

According to our linguistic gurus, absolutes lock the writer into a position, sound conceited and close-minded and can open the door to criticism regarding inaccuracies.

‘Always’ is rarely true, so unless you’re giving written instructions, you’re better off using an alternative.

9. Never

Given ‘never’ is the opposite of ‘always’, same rules apply.

10. Literally

Yet another overused, pointless little word.

‘Literally’ means literal, as in, what you’re saying is as it sounds.

It is literally raining means, it is raining.

You don’t need to literally validate it.

11. Just

Unless you’re using it as a synonym for fair or impartial, don’t bother — it only serves to weaken a sentence.

12. Maybe

‘Maybe’? Why ‘maybe’?

Don’t you know what you’re talking about?

Unless you want to sound uninformed, steer clear.

13. Stuff

Ahh ‘stuff’. Possibly the vaguest word in the English language.

WHAT STUFF?

14. Things

WHAT THINGS?

15. Irregardless

This means the same as regardless.

- This story originally appeared in The Sun

Originally published as 15 words you should stop using