31 Words and Phrases You No Longer Need

Close your eyes. Imagine words as people in an office setting. The verbs scurry about, active and animated, getting things done. The adjectives and adverbs conjure ideas and images in the marketing department. But there’s always that one guy. See him? He’s over by the water cooler, leaning against the wall. He’s omnipresent, and yet nobody really knows what he does. He may be hanging around, but he sure doesn’t seem to be pulling his weight.

That One Guy could represent any word or phrase that always shows up in our writing but doesn’t contribute anything. Here’s a list of thirty-one words and phrases you need to take off your payroll this year.

Slacker Words and Phrases

At all times

Watch out for flabby phrases at all times.

Each and every

Look for filler words in your writing each and every day daily.

As yet

We don’t know as yet whether we’ll succeed.

In order

Eliminate excess verbiage in order to clean up your writing.

Basically, essentially

These words basically don’t add value. They’re essentially useless.

Totally, completely, absolutely, literally, actually

Without filler words, your writing will be totally fabulous.

Very, really, quite, rather, extremely

These very common words are really not useful. They’re rather dull.

Simply

Simply Don’t use this word often.

Pretty

It’s a pretty good idea to use this one sparingly, too.

Just

If your sentence works without it, you just don’t need this word.

That

This is a word that you should only use when you need it for clarity.

Up, down

We don’t care whether you stand up or sit down to write, just write cleanly!

In the process of

We’re in the process of learning to remove wordiness.

As a matter of fact

As a matter of fact, Your skills have improved.

All of

All of Your readers will enjoy reading cleaner copy.

As being

You’ll be known as being a proficient writer!

Being that

Being that Because you’re the best writer in your class, you’re sure to get good grades.

During the course of

During the course of the writing lesson, we learned some new tricks!

For all intents and purposes, For the most part

For all intents and purposes, Our writing has improved.

Point in time

You don’t need to use filler words at this point in time now.

Every word needs to have a purpose in your writing, and there are plenty that don’t contribute anything but clutter. Now that you have a list of common offenders, how many more can you think of? Leave a comment!

Everyday vs. Every day

• Everyday is an adjective we use to describe something that’s seen or used every day. It means “ordinary” or “typical.”
• Every day is a phrase that simply means “each day.”

Compound words, like anytime and any time, sometimes don’t have the same meaning as the individual words they comprise. It’s a case of the whole being different from the sum of its parts. Everyday and every day are like that—everyday (with no space) doesn’t mean the same thing as every day (with a space). In speech, however, they do sound the same. No wonder it’s so easy to confuse them with each other. What does each phrase mean and how do you use them?

Difference Between Everyday and Every Day

The everyday vs. every day dilemma is not an uncommon one. These two words suffer from the same problems as anytime and any time, or anyone and any one—compounds can be a source of much confusion. So let’s see how we define and use everyday and how we define and use every day.

Everyday

Everyday (as one word) is an adjective. Thesauruses list average, mundane, ordinary, and standard as synonyms. “Everyday clothing,” then, refers to the ordinary clothes you wear on regular days, as opposed to outfits designated for special events or holidays. Occasionally, people use everyday as a noun—it’s a shorthand way of referring to their everyday routines.

Every Day

Every day means “each day.” The easiest way to remember this is to think about the space separating the two words. Because of that space, “every” is simply an adjective modifying the word “day.” If you paired every with any other word, it would mean each—every day means “each day”, just like “every word” means “each word.” There’s nothing more to it.

If you’re still having trouble distinguishing between everyday and every day and you don’t know when to use which, you’ll be alright as long as you remember that in every day you can easily replace “every” with “each.” So, if you’re talking about how often you wear green pants, you’d say “I wear green pants every day. It still makes sense if you replace “every” with “each”: I wear green pants each day. On the other hand, you can’t say “I wear pants eachday” because there’s no such word.

Examples: Everyday and Every Day in Sentences

It’s sweaty foot season, so this week on Kinja Co-Op, we’re on the hunt for the best everyday men’s socks. —Lifehacker

For most Brazilians, everyday crime is a much more imminent threat than terrorism. —The New York Times

But the real point is this: You need to think and act like you are selling your business, every day. —The Globe and Mail

But people do it all across the globe every day. —The Huffington Post

 

Hyperbole

Hyperbole (hi-PER-buh-lee) is language that is obviously exaggerated and not meant to be taken literally. Writers often use hyperbole for emphasis or to be funny.

Hyperbole: The Best Thing Ever

You can find hyperbole in plenty of English idioms: She’s asked a million questions. You could have knocked me over with a feather. He’s as quiet as a mouse. Now I’ve seen everything.

Where and When to Use Hyperbole

Hyperbole, like metaphors and similes, is a type of figurative language. In fact, metaphors and similes often incorporate hyperbole. When done right, hyperbole can make your writing livelier and more engaging for readers. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

Many people heard Jeremy shouting when the spider landed on him. The entire tri-state area could hear Jeremy shouting when the spider landed on him.

Both of these sentences mean that lots of people heard Jeremy. But the hyperbole in the second sentence places particular emphasis on Jeremy’s volume. Of course it’s impossible for one person’s shout to travel for hundreds of miles—the point is that Jeremy was really freaking out about that spider.

Beware the Hyperbolic “Literally”

Sometimes, people use the word “literally” in a figurative sense to amplify an already hyperbolic statement. But unless your teacher has asked you to go out and, say, harass a cranky grizzly bear, This homework is literally killing me! is just a hyperbolic way to say that your homework is harder or more abundant than you’d like. Although this usage is widespread and even accepted by some dictionaries, it’s generally a good idea to avoid it because many readers find it annoying. In the example above, you can even get rid of “literally” without sacrificing the hyperbole: This homework is killing me!

What Were the Most Common Email Mistakes of 2017?

How’s your email game? Are people happy to correspond with you, or are they leaving you hanging?

The quality of your email communication can significantly impact how you’re perceived by others (especially in business). And though we all do our best to write like a boss, grammatical errors still creep in.

Fortunately we can learn from our own (and others’) mistakes. So as the year wraps up, let’s take a moment to reflect on the fifteen most common email mistakes made by Grammarly users in 2017 and find out what we can all do to step up our email game in 2018.

1Misspelled Words

Sometimes we make spelling mistakes because it’s difficult to type on tiny touchscreen keyboards. Other times we’re just not sure how a word is spelled.

Either way, misspelled words were by far the most common email error in 2017. Good thing Grammarly’s here to catch these pesky errors in your browser and on your iPhone.

2Repeated Words

The runner up for most common error? Repeated words.

I love watching movies, but going to the movie theater is very expensive. When I want to see a movie, I usually just rent one.

Things can get tedious when you use the same words over and over and over. . . Energize your writing by employing synonyms instead of the same word repeatedly.

Struggling to think of an alternative word? Do a quick thesaurus search for inspiration!

3Vague Words

No one enjoys a bland meal—or bland writing. Spice up your writing by avoiding bland, nonspecific words like:

• Good
• Nice
• Awesome
• Greatly

Even a simple change such as “We had a lovely meal” instead of “We had a nice meal” can make a big difference.

Use these nine easy tips to improve bland writing.

4Misspelled Names

Misspelling a place name can be embarrassing (it’s “Albuquerque” not “Albaquerque”).

Misspelling the name of a hiring manager or potential client can be horrifying (it’s “Kathryn” not “Katharine,” but you didn’t care enough to figure that out).

Always do your due diligence to make sure you have the correct spelling. And, just in case, here’s how to salvage your credibility after misspelling someone’s name.

5Not Capitalizing the First Word in a Sentence

We’ve grown so used to the informality of texting that it can be easy to forget most emails (especially for work communication) still require proper capitalization and punctuation.

You can grab a quick refresher on capitalization rules here.

6Passive Voice

Passive voice is grammatically correct but is stylistically frowned upon in formal #writing. #grammar pic.twitter.com/zB4n7lDuvs

— Grammarly (@Grammarly) December 21, 2015

In most situations, using the active voice in lieu of the passive voice will bring greater energy and clarity to your writing.

. . . But occasionally the passive voice is the more appropriate choice.

Not sure how to identify the passive voice or when it’s okay to use? Here’s everything you need to know about using the passive voice correctly.

7Missing Comma Before a Conjunction

Some of us overuse commas, and some don’t use them enough. Commas can greatly affect the meaning of a sentence, so mastering their use is a worthwhile skill.

Here’s a refresher on common rules of usage and how to use commas in complex sentences.

Some people have strong feelings about the Oxford comma and it’s not hard to see why. #punctuation pic.twitter.com/QCtAKA47l4

— Magoosh SAT & ACT (@MagooshSAT_ACT) November 4, 2017

8Sentence Ends Without Punctuation

How the Internet killed the world’s most important #punctuation mark. Sigh… https://t.co/IZXnYj5QPe by @em_dash3 Fault of #socialmedia? @elainasaunt @styleguide @guardianstyle @econstyleguide @ProofreadJulia What’s your view? pic.twitter.com/k8xo1DvO5v

— Alison Benney (@ParisFitness) November 17, 2017

While a period (full stop) used in a text message can imply anger or harshness, this is not the case with email.

Keep your credibility (and make your meaning clear) by punctuating the end of your sentences. Period.

9Proper Noun Not Capitalized

Knowing which words to capitalize can be confusing! I’ve been a copywriter for several years and I still double check capitalization rules. Get clear on proper nouns and how to use them with this quick guide.

10Empty Phrase

Are your sentences full of hot air?

Phrases like “as a matter of fact,” “in a manner of speaking,” “clearly,” and “generally” may seem polished, but they’re unnecessary and end up cluttering your writing.

Streamline your writing by cutting out these thirty-one words and phrases you no longer need.

11Numerals Instead of Words

Did you know it’s not always appropriate to use a numeral (1, 15, 5,000)? Sometimes the correct route is to spell a number out (one, fifteen, five thousand).

Here’s a quick guide for when to spell numbers and when to use numerals.

12Unclear Antecedent

Sansa and her sister Arya often fought as children, which was difficult for her.

In the example sentence it’s unclear which sister found their quarrels difficult. Keep your writing crystal clear by clarifying which antecedent (Sansa or Arya) the pronoun (her) refers to.

Want to learn more? Check out the basics of antecedents here.

13Comma Splice

She forgot to use a conjunction, the sentence was incorrect.

A comma splice occurs when you join two independent clauses with a comma and no conjunction.

Here are some examples of common comma splices to watch out for, plus how to fix them.

14Missing Comma After Introductory Clause

As Joanna reviewed her Weekly Writing Update she realized her lack of comma use.

Unfortunately, this is often the top error listed in my Grammarly Writing Update each week. Don’t make the same mistakes as me. Learn how to properly use commas with introductory clauses.

15Wordiness

Is verbosity hurting your writing? Overly long sentences may confuse and bore your audience.

You can improve readability and clarity by streamlining your writing or breaking your mondo sentences into multiple sentences.

Check out these great tips for cleaning up your dirty writing, getting to the point in everything you write, and purging unnecessary words from your emails.

Further Reading

Dig into these articles and become an email master:

• An Editor’s Guide to Writing Ridiculously Good Emails
• 17 Email Etiquette Rules to Know and Practice
• How to Make a Clear, Assertive Point Over Email
• 7 Brilliant Tips on How to Proofread Emails

What will you do to uplevel your email communication in 2018?

8 Scrumptious Words to Describe Your Thanksgiving Dinner

Chefs are like writers—always combining the elements of their trade to create new works of art. How else do you think we got ice cream made with liquid nitrogen? When it comes to describing food, some writers stick to common words: delicious, tasty, yummy. But eating is a multisensory experience. Here are some scrumptious food adjectives to appeal to all our senses.

Toothsome means pleasing to the taste. But the mention of teeth conjures up thoughts of how food feels in your mouth. For some, the appeal of potato chips is in the delightful crunch. Many disdain cereal after milk changes its texture. Which foods please your palate and your teeth?

Ambrosial derives from ambrosia. You might know it as a sweet fruit dessert, but it was first the name of the food of the gods of Greek mythology. Now, anything especially delicious or fragrant is ambrosial. Can you think of a snack that smells and tastes divine?

Redolent refers to having a pleasing odor. Writers often use it for foods that are naturally fragrant, such as garlic, herbs, and citrus fruits.

Nectarous foods have the sweet, delicious taste of nectar or resemble it in appearance. Rarely, the adjective is spelled nectareous or nectarean. However you spell it, the food it describes is delish!

Sapid dishes are agreeable to the tongue. Sapid also means flavorful. Yes, it’s a rather mild compliment to give, but praise is praise.

Aperitive means stimulating to the appetite. You may know the related French word, apéritifs: appetite-boosting alcoholic beverages such as pastis, champagne, or dry sherry. Fragrant spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, and fennel are aperitive. That’s why the smell of highly spiced foods may make your stomach rumble.

Many of the adjectives in this article are defined in the dictionary using the terms “agreeable” or “pleasing”.

Piquant is no different. In particular, piquant meals are pungent, sharp, biting, or tart—in a good way. To give you an idea, peppery, zesty, and highly seasoned are among the synonyms of this flavorful word.

Herbaceous fare often smells amazing. Rosemary, mint, and other aromatic herbs are responsible for the mouthwatering odors. In addition to their smell and taste, herbs offer health benefits. Research from the National Academy of Sciences suggests that oregano, for example, is helpful in fighting inflammation.

How was your last meal? Perhaps before reading this article, you would have been content to describe it as delectable. But after considering how eating activates the senses, can you think of a better adjective? Why not surprise your host at the next dinner party you attend with an adjective that reflects how multidimensional the food is!

3 Performance Review Examples You Need to See

Few tasks among a manager’s responsibilities stir up as many mixed feelings as writing performance reviews. We’ve scoured expert resources to bring you examples of how to communicate your company’s needs and encourage productivity without breaking morale.

It’s easy to extol an employee’s virtues, but things get tougher when you’re faced with assessing their challenges and keeping your feedback constructive. How will you find a way to discuss areas where your employees need improvement without raising their defenses?

Employees aren’t often thrilled about the performance review process, either. Employee engagement company TINYPulse surveyed over one thousand professionals and discovered that 37 percent think the process is outdated, and 42 percent feel that managers leave important elements out of their reviews due to bias. Nearly a quarter said they feared performance reviews, and the trend was especially strong among millennials, who also said the process stressed them out.

via GIPHY

Although face-to-face feedback on a regular basis is an important tool for encouraging and motivating your team, the written review gives both the employee and manager something concrete to refer to. Let’s take a look at how to write a review that celebrates great performance and clearly communicates needed improvements.

What Is a Performance Review?

There are many types of performance reviews, and they differ from company to company. Some have grading systems. Others have question and response formats. Some are expected to be free-form. Whatever the case, commenting with clear, positive language is the key to keeping the review goal-focused and productive.

Most reviews will include your evaluation of the employee’s performance in areas such as:

• Quality and accuracy of work
• Ability to meet established goals and deadlines
• Communication skills
• Collaboration skills and teamwork
• Problem-solving skills
• Attendance and dependability

How to Keep Your Performance Reviews Constructive

A bit of psychology goes into writing a performance review that leaves both you and the employee feeling that the experience was valuable. This is where clarity of language comes into play. Let’s look at an example of the same critical feedback, one written with a negative tone, the other growth-focused and positive.

Negative:

Jill is always distracted and finds it difficult to meet project deadlines.

This comment is both hyperbole (Jill isn’t always distracted; otherwise, she’d never get a single thing done!) and a generalization. Starting any piece of feedback with “You always do X” is bound to raise a person’s defenses and create negative feelings. It’s also not actionable. If distractibility is hardwired into Jill’s nature, how will telling her what she already knows help her improve?

Positive:

A focus on prioritizing tasks early in the day will help Jill eliminate distractions to better meet project deadlines. I recommend we touch base briefly each morning to set daily progress goals.

This sort of feedback tells Jill that she needs to work on prioritizing and meeting goals, but it also offers a solution—a daily check-in to help her establish priorities.

Assume that most employees want to do the right thing. Unless Jill’s wasting time posting selfies on Instagram, it’s likely she’s well aware of her problem with meeting deadlines and wants to get better. Rather than pointing out the obvious (Jill struggles to prioritize), it’s important to offer a solution that will work for both of you.

Inc.com provides more examples of what not to write in any employee’s performance review. The Muse offers advice for giving honest feedback that won’t damage your relationship with your employee.

Three Performance Review Phrase Examples

Now that we’ve examined the psychology behind phrasing criticisms constructively, let’s take a look at some sample text from employee reviews.

1 The Good Performer

The first is a positive appraisal from the Snagajob blog:

Samuel exceeds expectations in the role of a sales associate. He adapts to change easily, works well under pressure with a positive attitude and is detail-oriented. Samuel goes beyond the call of duty by seeking out and following up on additional responsibilities, and contributes frequently to department meetings.

2 The Adequate Performer

This more critical take, for an employee who meets expectations but doesn’t reach for higher aspirations, comes from Bright Hub:

John meets manager expectations in the role of trainer. He adapts to ever-changing client demands and works effectively under pressure. John maintains a positive attitude and acute sense of detail, but often at the expense of effective time management. John demonstrates adequate communication skills and completes all requested tasks and required responsibilities. He is very considerate of other team members and works well independently or collaboratively. John shows great aptitude for leadership, but he doesn’t seek out additional professional development opportunities.

3 The Underperformer

Writing negative reviews that are both honest about the employee’s underperformance and motivational in a way that encourages improvement is a challenging task. LearnThat.com gives an example of constructive feedback for an employee whose frequent tardiness is limiting his potential:

When Jack is engaged in his work, he can be a very effective member of our team. Unfortunately, there is too often a time when Jack is late to work and not fully engaged until an hour into the workday. Over the next 3 months, we’d like Jack to focus on his attendance, be on time each day and ready to work at 8:00, and be the effective team member we require.

Think of giving critical feedback like making a sandwich. The criticism (Jack is often late) should be sandwiched between a positive comment (he can be a very effective team member) and some specific steps to help him improve (Jack should focus on attendance and be ready for work at 8:00 a.m. each day).

Writing performance reviews requires managers to be specific with their feedback, stay constructive, and provide solutions to help the employee grow. Pay careful attention to writing clearly, with a positive tone, and soon you’ll be writing performance reviews your employees won’t have to dread receiving.

This Is the Best Way to Write a Memorable Restaurant Review

A great restaurant review can point you toward your new favorite spot—or help you avoid a dining disaster. Review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor have an abundance of restaurant reviews to browse, but if you spend any time on these sites you’ll notice not all reviews are helpful.

Some reviews are positive, but are so vague that you question their legitimacy. Some might have helpful information, but are so poorly written they’re unintelligible. And other submissions read more like a personal rant than a restaurant review.

Think you’re ready to share your own two cents? Don’t let your review fade into the background of mediocrity! In today’s post we’re sharing how to write a restaurant review that’s captivating, memorable, and useful for your fellow diners.

Here’s How to Structure a Memorable Restaurant Review

1Set the Stage

Let readers know immediately that the review contains useful information and is worth reading. Open the review with an enticing line that promises an interesting payoff (whether delicious or dreadful).

Next, share some context. Why did you decide to try this particular restaurant? What time of day did you go? What size was your party? How did the waitstaff treat you? What was the ambiance like?

It may look like your average neighborhood pizza joint, but Acme Pizza is anything but!

I wandered in with two friends on a Friday night, and was immediately greeted by the friendly staff and incredible aroma of baking pizza. The restaurant was filling up quickly (it was almost 7:00 pm) but we managed to snag a table.

2Deliver the Main Course

How was the food? If a dish was “great,” be sure to describe why. What were the flavors, textures, and appearance like? Carefully select a few punchy adjectives for your descriptions—too few will leave your writing bland, too many will bog it down.

We ordered the garlic knots and two medium pies to share: the XX (pesto, artichoke, red onion, bacon, feta, mozzarella) and the XY (marinara, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mozzarella).

The garlic knots were little bombs of buttery, yeasty goodness, and the garlic was robust but not overpowering. When our pizzas arrived, our expectations continued to be exceeded.

The crust was crisp, flavorful, and chewy. The toppings worked together beautifully. The marinara and pesto were packed with flavor, and the mozarella had a great consistency and very little oil. By the end of the meal we were planning our next visit.

3Wrap Up the Takeaway

End with a punchy summary of why you think other diners should (or shouldn’t) visit the restaurant.

Don’t let appearances fool you—the decor may be divey, but the pies are fantastic. This place is perfect for groups or a casual date night.

5 Essential Tips for Writing a Memorable Restaurant Review

Now that you know the basics, follow these tips to ensure your reviews are always captivating!

1Take Notes (and Pictures!)

To write a vibrant review, you’ll want to capture your thoughts and experiences while they’re still fresh. Use your smartphone or notebook during the meal to jot down highlights and subtler details (e.g., the wait staff was welcoming and attentive, you enjoyed the agricole rum in your cocktail, the tiramisu was soggy and disappointing).

Happy November 8th AKA Cook Something Bold Day. �� by @slite_eats- homemade �� inspired by #difara pies. Cooking something bold today? Tweet and tag us! #difarapizza #difara #gordonramsay pic.twitter.com/18dQJp70L1

— Di Fara Pizza (@difara) November 8, 2017

2Get Specific

Avoid vague words and phrases like “The service was bad” or “The pie was great.” Instead, provide specific details like, “The server was friendly but inexperienced and botched our drink order” or “The lemon meringue pie had a wonderfully flaky crust, a tart and tangy filling, and dreamy melt-in-your-mouth meringue.”

3Be Fair

If you’ve visited a restaurant several times and only once had a bad experience, be sure to note this in your review. Everyone has an off night now and again.

. . .Also, if you love Korean cuisine and decide to try out the new Mexican-Korean fusion grill, please don’t write a review complaining how the bulgogi isn’t authentic enough.

4Don’t Rant

Parking was an ordeal, you suffered through a long wait for your table, then endured a careless server and over-priced, disappointing food.

Writing a one-star Yelp review about “THE WORST PLACE EVER” may feel cathartic in the moment, but vague, emotion-laden reviews don’t carry much weight.  

Instead, describe the specific details of why your experience was sub-par. This will help other diners make an informed decision on whether they should give the restaurant a chance—or a hard pass.

5Remember to Proofread

Want folks to take your review seriously? Be sure your spelling and grammar are on point. A review riddled with errors is likely to be written off, ignored, or even misunderstood.

Ensure you’re communicating clearly and professionally by using the Grammarly browser plug-in on your non-mobile devices, or download Grammarly’s mobile keyboard (iPhone; Android) when using Yelp, TripAdvisor, or other mobile apps.