{"id":79,"date":"2015-01-19T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T17:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2015\/01\/19\/the-throwaway-and-overused-word-lis\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:42:35","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:42:35","slug":"the-throwaway-and-overused-word-lis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/the-throwaway-and-overused-word-lis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Throwaway and Overused Word List"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nA lot of editors have a list of words they prefer not to see
\nat all, prefer to see as little as possible, or prefer to be spelled or used
\nonly in certain ways.  At PBG, our
\ncurrent list is fluid, simply because sometimes, the wrong word can be used the
\nright way. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nA few of the throwaway phrases I tend to eye with suspicion,
\nand then edit out (or not):<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nTo tell the truth<\/div>\n
\nTruth be told<\/div>\n
\nAccording to<\/div>\n
\nHard to believe<\/div>\n
\nGoing to go<\/div>\n
\nAlong with the fact<\/div>\n
\nOf all people<\/div>\n
\nAnything but<\/div>\n
\nWhat on earth<\/div>\n
\nIn the first place<\/div>\n
\nIn order to<\/div>\n
\nIn particular<\/div>\n
\nNot to mention<\/div>\n
\nNo doubt<\/div>\n
\nI\u2019ve got to (and its buddies – We\u2019ve got to, You\u2019ve got to) <\/div>\n
\nAs well as<\/div>\n
\nAs it was<\/div>\n
\nAt least<\/div>\n
\nThat\u2019s for sure<\/div>\n
\nNot a word<\/div>\n
\nSo in truth<\/div>\n
\nAll along<\/div>\n
\nUp to this point\/At that point<\/div>\n
\nAfter all<\/div>\n
\nAs far as<\/div>\n
\nLike I said<\/div>\n
\nA done deal<\/div>\n
\nThe whole thing<\/div>\n
\nHard to believe <\/div>\n
\nWorked out well<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOverused words I tend to glare menacingly at and then edit
\nout (or not):<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nInstead<\/div>\n
\nActually<\/div>\n
\nAlmost<\/div>\n
\nAlthough <\/div>\n
\nBecause<\/div>\n
\nReally<\/div>\n
\nStill<\/div>\n
\nThough<\/div>\n
\nUsually<\/div>\n
\nLike \u2013 often used in place of \u2018as if\u2019<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSpellings we agreed upon at PBG, despite American
\nthesauruses (thesaurasii?):<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOK<\/div>\n
\nAll right (not alright)<\/div>\n
\nSneaked (not snuck)<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAnd if you choose to use British spellings:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHonour<\/div>\n
\nColour<\/div>\n
\nMoustache<\/div>\n
\nNeighbour<\/div>\n
\nRumour<\/div>\n
\nFlavour<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAnother one I look at carefully is the word, \u2018realized.\u201d  Usually, when I see it, the sentence is
\npassive.  One can activate the sentence
\neasily.  Example:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAs James turned the corner, he realized the house was in flames.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nA better way:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nJames turned the corner.  The house
\nwas in flames<\/i><\/b>.   <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAs with all things, writing and editing is subjective.  Should the phrase or word be perfect for the
\nsentence, or the character, I will leave it in. 
\nSuch a phrase that often gets left in is \u201cgoing to go.\u201d  When it is written as dialogue, it is natural
\nin American speech.  If it is repeated by
\ntwo or three characters in speech, I sometimes edit one out for readability.  Used in a telling sentence, it\u2019ll most likely
\nbe edited out.  <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

The \u2018find\u2019 function (under the edit tab) in MS Word can be quite useful
\nin giving authors a chance to edit before turning in a submission. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lot of editors have a list of words they prefer not to see at all, prefer to see as little as possible, or prefer to be spelled or used only in certain ways.  At PBG, our current list is fluid, simply because sometimes, the wrong word can be used the right way.  A few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}