The words we should avoid using.
By: Vanessa P
Tags: Language, Linguistics, Communication Skills, Marketing

Best/(or any superlative) + ever: unless it comes with facts to support your statement or you specify that it is your opinion, the combo best+ever should be avoided.

“This is the best Christmas ever!” — If this is the best Christmas ever, who will we cope with all the upcoming Christmases? They certainly won’t be as good as this one.

“This is the best Christmas ever in my opinion or this is the best Christmas to date.”

Normal: it is defined as conforming to social norms, the usual, typical, or expected state or condition. Trouble is social norms differ according to a lot of criteria. I personally think this word should be barred from our vocabulary as it forces square pegs to smooth their rough edges off.

“She braced herself to lead a normal life.” — What is a normal life?

Well-rounded: actually, I saw this word on a job ad where they specifically ask for a well-rounded candidate. The definition is someone who is skilled, capable, or knowledgeable in a lot of different things. That seems quite vague, which skills are we talking about?

Fresh: when it refers to food, fresh refers to newly baked, picked, or cooked foods. It usually means unprocessed and suggests a time when food is at its very best and hasn’t been travelling far or sitting too long on a shelf. But how recent are we talking about? 10 mins, a day, a week?

Ethical: a buzzword to justify good, right behavior. But the fact and the matter is “doing the right thing” means different things to different people in different organisations.

One example of an ethical dilemma would be the cost of a cure. Imagine you were in a situation where someone in your family was extremely ill. Your relative’s doctor says that there is an experimental medicine that might help your loved one. The medication costs £1,000 per month and health insurance will not cover the cost. You try to borrow money to pay for a course of treatment but are unable to do so.

When faced with a financial barrier to a potentially life-saving treatment for someone you love, would stealing money to pay for the medication be morally justified?

Do you feel it is ethical for the pharmaceutical company to charge so much for a medication that has a unique ability to potentially save people?

Essential/Non-essential: very subjective terms that gained popularity during the Covid-19 crisis. What is the basis of dubbing a business essential? Their economic impact, the social aspect?

Gender-reveal: there is a distinction between sex and gender. Gender is a social construct and an individual gender identity cannot be linked to their genitals. Therefore, should we start organizing sex-reveal parties?

“I don’t know”: saying “I don’t know” is lazy and clearly shows that you have disengaged from the conversation. It can also convey distrust and inability to adapt in the wake of new information.

You can use these options instead:

- “Why was he so upset yesterday?” — “Did you ask him?”. Replying with another question is a great way to buy time.

- “I just don’t know enough about it but here’s what I can tell you” allows you to reframe to a topic you are more familiar with.

- “Let me find out” shows initiative and willingness to help.

Rockstar/ninja/guru/wizard: how many times have you come across these terms on LinkedIn posts or job descriptions. Companies are trying to recruit prospective employees by jazzing up ordinary positions with exotic-sounding monikers.

I think out of the four above-mentioned, the worst is wizard because it implies that your workload relies on magical superpowers rather than your skills. That is pretty disarming.

How about using terms such as “talented, intelligent, bright”? Surely, the right candidates are the ones who don’t care so much about labels and get excited about the role itself and the opportunities offered.

I promise: unless it is something that you can actually deliver, it is better to avoid using these words. Promises are only as strong as the person who gives them.

Please: probably a word you were not expecting in this list. Far from implying that politeness is old-fashioned, there is no need to start every single sentence with the word please when you want to get something done.

Hate:

To be continued…