# Which small, lazy words do you hate most?



## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

_--- edited... no self-promotion (book covers, web links, mentioning your book/blog/etc.) in posts outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread. future posts containing self-promotion will be deleted without notice._

EDIT Sorry about posting this in the wrong place, everyone. Looked to be a popular thread too. But if you can't see what I'm talking about, it's pointless going on.


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## Maud Muller (Aug 10, 2010)

When I _got_ to your blog I realized some of my writing might have possibly _had_ a problem. Thanks so much.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Eileen Muller said:


> When I _got_ to your blog I realized some of my writing might have possibly _had_ a problem. Thanks so much.


LOL. Nothing but a pleasure, Eileen. That's Cookie's Book Blog, though.

_--- edited... no self-promotion (book covers, web links, mentioning your book/blog/etc.) in posts outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread. future posts containing self-promotion will be deleted without notice._


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## Aaron Pogue (Feb 18, 2011)

Mine is "very," for a lot of the reasons you gave for "had." It tends to produce exactly the opposite of the desired effect.

If you say, "Jake was tired," a reader tends to think, "Oh, Jake was tired." If you say, "Jake was very tired," it naturally triggers the question, "_How_ tired," which leads a reader to doubt the narrator.

I've gotten to the point I only use it in dialogue, and only when I'm willing to let the speaker undermine his own emphasis.


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## Chuck Heintzelman (Feb 18, 2011)

I had like totally got into that blog post 

My lazy words are: "that", "very", "about" ... and "And then"


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

I think, in a vernacular voice, or in dialogue, a lot of your problem phrases work. "She had it coming" -- cliche? Maybe. But that construction is used a lot in common speech. I agree with the point about tired or lazy writing -- but if you're consciously trying to capture the language of the day, you'll often find yourself there.


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## BethCaudill (Mar 22, 2011)

I over use 'just' and 'that' when writing my drafts.  I try to weed out most of them before going into the submission phase.


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## aaronpolson (Apr 4, 2010)

I loathe "get" in all its incarnations...possibly has something to do with my day job as an English teacher.  (Teens overuse "got" like it's the only verb they are allowed.)


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I don't really think about it to be honest, maybe because I'm not a writer. You make some good points but equally, I also hate when authors are clearly trying TOO hard to use a bigger vocabulary and sound intelligent or more poetic.


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## Indy (Jun 7, 2010)

I loathe the phrase "way too" when used to describe an excess of anything.  If I see it in a work where the "too" happens to be spelled "to" then it's over.  I can't read it.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

history_lover said:


> I don't really think about it to be honest, maybe because I'm not a writer. You make some good points but equally, I also hate when authors are clearly trying TOO hard to use a bigger vocabulary and sound intelligent or more poetic.


I'm the opposite. I grew up in a time when writers and even radio programs intentionally increased your vocabulary. When my parents copy of Readers' Digest arrived I wanted the "Increase Your Vocabulary" section as soon as possible. I enjoy reading books that stretch my vocabulary. I learned what a merkin was not long ago and now I'm eager to find an occasion to work it into a conversation.

On the other hand, regional slang that cannot be found in any of my dictionaries is a nuisance. Shipping News with it's Newfoundland slang was irritating.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

patrickt said:


> I'm the opposite. I grew up in a time when writers and even radio programs intentionally increased your vocabulary. When my parents copy of Readers' Digest arrived I wanted the "Increase Your Vocabulary" section as soon as possible. I enjoy reading books that stretch my vocabulary. I learned what a merkin was not long ago and now I'm eager to find an occasion to work it into a conversation.


I didn't say there was anything wrong with increasing one's vocabulary in general. What I said was that I don't like when authors try too hard to _force_ a big vocabulary into a written work. If big or uncommon words are inserted seemingly just for the sake of looking smarter, it's like the author is trying to show off. Equally, if an author is trying to force a bigger vocabulary than what they normally have... well, it's like when Joey in Friends got a hold of a thesaurus.

I also think it depends on the genre. Different writing styles for different types of stories. I don't want a huge vocabulary inserted into an action or thriller novel - I want to read it fast and I want the story to quite literally cut to the chase! Difficult to do when you're getting bogged down by looking up words. There are other genres in which a more poetic writing style thrives... but again, if it feels forced, it doesn't work.



> On the other hand, regional slang that cannot be found in any of my dictionaries is a nuisance. Shipping News with it's Newfoundland slang was irritating.


I disagree... when used appropriately, regional slang adds realism. Again, it shouldn't be inserted just for the sake of showing off how knowledgeable you are about regional slang. But if your character is from a place that uses a lot of regional slang, it would be unrealistic not to use it.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

history_lover said:


> I don't really think about it to be honest, maybe because I'm not a writer. You make some good points but equally, I also hate when authors are clearly trying TOO hard to use a bigger vocabulary and sound intelligent or more poetic.


Yes, I'm always irritated when I run across an obvious case of elegant variation, or a big word where there is an obvious simpler one. On the other hand, when a writer goes to great lengths to use only the simplest words, and many of them when a single more difficult word will describe precisely what he means, I conclude he's either ignorant or writing down to me. I don't know which is worse.


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## 41352 (Apr 4, 2011)

something/someone, that, very, somewhat (I swear! lol) and... "and".
I'm sure I've got more, but can't remember now.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Whether reading or writing I have an aversion to the word "very".


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## mscottwriter (Nov 5, 2010)

Stuff.

I tell my students words like that are composition swear words.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

It's not a matter of artificially using large words but of ridding one's writing of words that don't do anything. Most of the words like that are small. Very and just are good examples. What is the difference in hot and very hot? Darn if I know and neither will a reader although I might say that in dialogue if the character would.

The word I refuse to allow in my writing isn't all that small though. I loath "suddenly". 'Suddenly, a shot rang out.' As opposed to what? Slowly, a shot rang out?


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## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

history_lover said:


> I didn't say there was anything wrong with increasing one's vocabulary in general. What I said was that I don't like when authors try too hard to _force_ a big vocabulary into a written work. If big or uncommon words are inserted seemingly just for the sake of looking smarter, it's like the author is trying to show off. Equally, if an author is trying to force a bigger vocabulary than what they normally have... well, it's like when Joey in Friends got a hold of a thesaurus.
> 
> I also think it depends on the genre. Different writing styles for different types of stories. I don't want a huge vocabulary inserted into an action or thriller novel - I want to read it fast and I want the story to quite literally cut to the chase! Difficult to do when you're getting bogged down by looking up words. There are other genres in which a more poetic writing style thrives... but again, if it feels forced, it doesn't work.


I get much less annoyed with vocabulary-stretching writers on Kindle, where it's no much easier to look up words. I recently read _Cutting For Stone_ and would have been pretty annoyed if I had to run to the DTB dictionary every time I encountered an unfamiliar word. But Kindle made it fairly painless, and the big words were used precisely and accurately, so I found the experience more enlightening than frustrating.


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## Patricia (Dec 30, 2008)

I hate "snorted".


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Patricia said:


> I hate "snorted".


Okay, but then how are the characters to raise the white powder to their noses?

"She sniffed elegantly at the sparkling clean glass straw," doesn't quite have that Burroughs grit about it.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

JRTomlin said:


> The word I refuse to allow in my writing isn't all that small though. I loath "suddenly". 'Suddenly, a shot rang out.' As opposed to what? Slowly, a shot rang out?


But even worse is "all of a sudden". Aaaargh!


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## Kathleen Valentine (Dec 10, 2009)

Aaron Pogue said:


> Mine is "very," for a lot of the reasons you gave for "had."


Whenever I finish a manuscript I set up searches for "very", "just", and "even" and kill as many of them as I can. "Had" is another bad boy.


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## Sean Thomas Fisher (Mar 25, 2011)

In the early draft of a WIP, I often overuse "and", "but" and "then". 
But then again, that's not always true and I'm grateful for that.


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## Shelia A. Huggins (Jan 20, 2011)

I try to cut "that." The word seems to sneak into my writing when I'm not looking. I also try to cut adverbs and instead, focus more on the action.


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## Mcfergeson (Apr 3, 2011)

I'm working on an SF story, and looking over what I've written so far, I noticed that I have a weird habit of using the word 'just' way too often.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Susan in VA said:


> But even worse is "all of a sudden". Aaaargh!


Cringes. Very true.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

aaronpolson said:


> I loathe "get" in all its incarnations...possibly has something to do with my day job as an English teacher. (Teens overuse "got" like it's the only verb they are allowed.)


I totally get that.


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

I tend to hate all the ly words, because they're kind of lazy.  Grumpily, sadly, happily, lazily, quickly, surely, really, those kinds of adverbs drive me crazy, because I like to see description instead of TELLING. 

I try hard to root them out of my writing.  My worst lazy words: but, and, JUST, as, be, suddenly, really...

Very is out of my vocabulary.  My first English teacher beat it out of me.


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Count me in as another "just" abuser. Sigh.

Funny, but I JUST blogged about this because I keep seeing "olive-skinned" characters, and I'm like, NO ONE is the color of an olive. Olive OIL, maybe...

But that said, I know what writers are getting at when they say that. Sometimes those lazy phrases become a sort of shortcut that readers understand without questioning, you know?

Kristan

_--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2011)

Dara England said:


> Whether reading or writing I have an aversion to the word "very".


Did you have an English teacher named Dave Price, too?

That word was scrapped from my vocabular for the longest time. Mr. Price called it the ultimate lazy word because there is always a better choice than saying something is "very" pretty, "very" hard, "very" funny, etc.

I'm not as obsessive about it as I once was. I even use it now once in a while.


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## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

Andre Jute said:


> Yes, I'm always irritated when I run across an obvious case of elegant variation, or a big word where there is an obvious simpler one. On the other hand, when a writer goes to great lengths to use only the simplest words, and many of them when a single more difficult word will describe precisely what he means, I conclude he's either ignorant or writing down to me. I don't know which is worse.


In most cases with fiction the correct word is not simple or multi-syllable but the right word for the POV character, the word that character would actually think or say. Some characters are erudite, others, the opposite.

My pet peeve is the word, "look" as in _He looked to the woman_. It's used very often, especially with beginner fiction, and it's so lacking in specificity. _He peeked at_ or _he stared at_ would so much sharper, for example.


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## Maud Muller (Aug 10, 2010)

I've been reviewing the draft of my latest novel and it looks like I have a problem with "when" and "that", but also with "smiled" and "shrugged".  Wish I didn't spend so much time editing. Seems like I hardly have any time to write anymore.


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

'ya'. I hate it with a passion...


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## KerylR (Dec 28, 2010)

That, just, and a bit are the bane of my writing existence.  This is where the find function on word is your friend.  I use it and then read the whole thing over, yet another time, deciding on each iteration of the word.  

As for the "suddenly, a shot rang out" I always took that to mean "unexpectedly, a shot rang out" as opposed to there was something strange about a bullet exiting a gun quickly, or the story takes place in some bizzarro world where sound usually moves slowly but in this particular example it just zipped along.  Still, suddenly is the wrong word for the job.


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## Steve Emmett (Mar 31, 2011)

Slowly. There are much better ways to write. I also had my fill of chuckling when I read Twilight.


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Actually. I use it unnecessarily with distressing frequency.


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

Maybe a word like 'walk'.   Walked how?  There are many ways to walk.  Your character can stroll...saunter...stride...traipse, tramp, tread... These more specific words create a visual for the reader.
And sometimes 'walk' is exactly the right word.  

Joan


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

KerylR said:


> That, just, and a bit are the bane of my writing existence. This is where the find function on word is your friend. I use it and then read the whole thing over, yet another time, deciding on each iteration of the word.
> 
> As for the "suddenly, a shot rang out" I always took that to mean "unexpectedly, a shot rang out" as opposed to there was something strange about a bullet exiting a gun quickly, or the story takes place in some bizzarro world where sound usually moves slowly but in this particular example it just zipped along. Still, suddenly is the wrong word for the job.


"That" is a conjunction which is very difficult to avoid without sounding like a grammar ponce. The previous sentence illustrates my point!


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## Anne Maven (Apr 18, 2011)

"Like", "thing" and "that it is"...I have to keep from over using those. Oh! "those" as well!


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## geniebeanie (Apr 23, 2009)

My least favorite is  "and."


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## Todd Young (May 2, 2011)

StaceyHH said:


> Actually. I use it unnecessarily with distressing frequency.


Have to agree. It's my pet hate. People have to say it all the time, even on TV news. It's as though something can't have just happened. It has to "actually" have happened.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

All these little words have a place and time. Lobbying against them doesn't really help.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Jon Olson said:


> All these little words have a place and time. Lobbying against them doesn't really help.


Yup, give up, let the weeds run riot.

Nobody objects to the words listed when they are used in their right place, Jon. What we're talking about is the lazy use of these all-purpose words when there is a better word readily to hand. It impoverishes the language.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

Until I met my publisher, I started too many sentences with 'and' or 'but.' Now I see how weak they are and it bugs me to read them. I also don't like to see "he said" or "she said" after almost every piece of dialogue. If well structured, I can usually tell for myself who's talking and the he/she said bit becomes annoying.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Like, don't get me started on how much I despise the word "like".


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