Fluffy, overused words are the drunk party guests of writing

It’s National Word Nerd Day, the perfect excuse to call out fluffy, pet peeve words that are a writer’s equivalent of drunk party crashers.

These drunk party guests are the overblown words that show up too often in news releases, on websites and in articles adding no substance to the writing. Examples of these trite and overused words include unique, revolutionary, innovative, groundbreaking, unprecedented – you see them so often they just become white noise.

These fluffy words are like obnoxious party crashers, stumbling in drunk and decked out in bedazzled outfits. They hijack conversations with indulgent, overblown language, causing others to tune them out. In doing so, the drunk crashers completely miss the point of the gathering—to engage in meaningful connections.

The same thing happens when a writer overuses these fluffy words. The reader tunes out and misses the connection the writer is trying to make.

Practical reasons to stay away from these words

• They are overly subjective. These words can mean different things to different readers.

• They force journalists or editors to do extra work to substitute other words in their story.

• They are imprecise and vague especially when overused or applied without clear context.

Can these drunk party guests be tamed?

Do these words/phrases add to your message or are they the drunk party guests whose presence is just annoying?

• Groundbreaking/revolutionary/unprecedented – Are you certain it’s never been done before?

• Premier/one-of-a-kind – Is it quantifiably first/only?

• Proud/delighted/thrilled to announce – Are these fluffy words appropriate for a business communication?

• Innovative – Is it really original and new?

• Unique – is it really like no other? And remember unique means one-of-a-kind, so something can’t be “kind of unique.”

• Prestigious/exceptional – As compared to what? Or is it your opinion?

• Best/most/only – Are you sure? And if it is best/most/only, explain why that matters to your audience.

• Think outside the box/At the end of the day/Splitting hairs – These cliché statements lose their impact because they’re used so frequently.