Support for Indie Authors discussion

Someone brought this up in a Facebook group I'm in and I thought it was a fun topic.

List a word or a few, or a phrase or a few, that you're tired of hearing. This can be words and phrases that have gotten popular to the point that they've become too commonplace, phrases or words people constantly use wrong, etc. The only thing I ask is do not call out specific people and if you're tired of seeing certain words and phrases in books, don't give the name or title.

Also, please only attack the poorly used words, etc. Don't use this as a platform to mock others for political ideas and so on. Thanks.

Here are a few of my current pet peeves:

Literally - Often misused or an unimportant filler word.

"Kids today would never understand..." - Usually spoken by people my age and generally implies that there's absolutely no way anyone younger could learn something about things in the past.

In these unprecedented times / In these uncertain times / We're all in this together / The new normal - 'Nuff said.

Awesome - This one has been on my nerves for decades, now.

Wait, what?
It is what it is.
In this day'n'age.

Subverting expectations.

I'll second Dwayne on literally and also add basically as well, because there's just no need for it, most of the time.

The other one that bugs me is like, in the way where people throw it in after every third word and it's just completely pointless.

(I'm now realising these are all things that Judge Judy complains about too, so that makes me feel much older than I actually am! lol)

I'm now a bit worried because two of my wip's country bumpkins, lovely characters, use 'like' and 'awesome' (only occasionally though - just to give the flavour of their speech).

Both intensely annoy me when I hear it elsewhere.

The word I despise is 'smirk'. When I see it more than a couple of times in a book, it ruins the book for me. Just typing the word it grates on my nerves.

Another one that irks me is 'shot dead'. There are other words like killed, murdered, etc. This is a favorite of the media and ever time I hear it I want to reach out an smack them on the head.

Awesome...me bad. I use that with my younger kids because they know what it means.

'You know' is another little phrase we hear a lot and no, I don't know or I wouldn't be listening to you. It is one of those little sneaky phrases that pops into your vocabulary when you try to explain something.

"Awesome - This one has been on my nerves for decades, now."

I quite agree. For a society which works so hard to expose every thing and find it kewl and acceptable, the idea that I am in AWE of a pizza, a parking place, or a fatuous comment by some brain-dead "celebrity" is a bit nauseating.

B.A. wrote: "The word I despise is 'smirk'. When I see it more than a couple of times in a book, it ruins the book for me. Just typing the word it grates on my nerves."

Oh, I like a good smirk myself, but I'm with you on 'you know', even though I'm sure I'm as guilty as anyone for using it at times. You're quite right when you say it just sneaks in unnoticed. I do work as an audio transcriber and it's amazing how often people say it, over and over and over in one sentence sometimes. I'm sure they don't know they're doing it!

I find that "impactful."

This is really more a pet peeve than an over-used phrase …

When someone one is said to have "graduated high school" or "graduated college."

NO! You can not graduate a school because a school cannot be graduated. You graduate FROM a school.

Drives me nuts. Especially because I'm now hearing it used that way on National Public Radio in sponsor messages and even from NPR reporters.

Another one that irks me is simply … well, it's redundant … Imagine a reporter talking to someone who has lost their home to a flood after a storm dropped like 20 inches of rain in half an hour, an event that the reporter tells you has never been recorded before … and then goes on to say "Locals have never seen anything like it."

DUH!

Oh how right you are, Micah, (and others!).

I think my television is fed up of my correcting its grammar. And it's getting worse.

I know, right?
Pump my tires.
Lo and behold.

to gift someone or to be gifted something by someone. NO! The gave it to you!

Tasked. As in to be tasked with. I don't know why this one annoys me but it does.

B.A. wrote: "The word I despise is 'smirk'. When I see it more than a couple of times in a book, it ruins the book for me. ..."

Crosses B.A.'s name off a list of potential beta readers for my work in progress... hee hee...

W. wrote: ""Awesome - This one has been on my nerves for decades, now."

I quite agree. For a society which works so hard to expose every thing and find it kewl and acceptable, the idea that I am in AWE of a ..."

It really hit me some years ago when a commercial for [famous cereal] showed a kid with a [lame prize] shouting out, "Awesome!" and I smirked (for B.A.) and wondered what that kid thinks awesome really means.

It's the misused words that annoy me and I wrote a chapter on this in one of my books. Examples include: exotic, decimated, ass, chronic, acute, disinterested, fulsome, homophobia, Islamophobia, noisome, pornography, redundant and practicable.

Dwayne, as long as 'smirk' isn't used every time you give their expression, I can handle it. I've actually read books where that was all the people did. After the 3rd or 4th one in a chapter I want to reach out and smack that smirk off their faces.

Storied, as in "This storied franchise/building, etc."

For some reason, in my last book my characters kept 'risking a glance' at something.

Like thirty times.

Luckilly I caught it and fixed it but that phrase is now on my forbidden list.

Another one that's really starting to bug me is 'antidisestablishmentarianism.'

I mean … WHY doesn't anyone use that word anymore? REALLY annoying!

[sorry, just showing off the longest word I know...Thanks, Blackadder!]

Overly used Words I am tired of hearing:

Sustainable / Going Green / Diversity / Tolerance / New Norm / The Community / Woke / Systemic / Hater / Racism / Hitler...


For contrast and emphasis, listen to the following:

Stewardship / Unity / Restoration / Compassion / Healing / Mercy / Love / Joy / Peace / Patience / Kindness / Goodness...

"It is what it is."

That grates on every last one of my damn nerves.

I think "pulse pounding" is funny. That's not the intent of whoever is using it, but it makes me chuckle.

Mark wrote: "Overly used Words I am tired of hearing:

Sustainable / Going Green / Diversity / Tolerance / New Norm / The Community / Woke / Systemic / Hater / Racism / Hitler...


For contrast and emphasis, l..."

I've got to the stage where I don't listen to the news on TV any more because they seem to use the same news and same wording day after day. I used to feel it was essential to watch. Not any more.

Anna, I agree. TV in general is a big waste of time. Give me a good book and i'm good. Most of the news isn 't even news and it's pretty much the same every day. I'll watch once a week and it doesn't even change that much in a week. As Mark wrote, the stress all the wrong things.

It's the same with the programs. Who cares what (insert famous family) are doing? The reality programs are all scripted, so why bother? TV is one of the most violent (including news channels) mind numbing, time wasting things out there today. You almost have to be hopped up on drugs to get anything out of most of the programming. The next biggest time wasters are the social media sites.

So, I so get where you are coming from. The news programs are some of the biggest instigators of violence by mainly giving the violent people a stage for their 15 minutes of fame.

B.A. wrote: "Dwayne, as long as 'smirk' isn't used every time you give their expression, I can handle it. I've actually read books where that was all the people did. After the 3rd or 4th one in a chapter I want..."

I just did a check and I was grossly overestimating how much smirking is going on in this book. Total smirks - 1.

Jeremy wrote: "For some reason, in my last book my characters kept 'risking a glance' at something."

That happens to me, too. Maybe not "risking a glance", but I do catch myself having characters do the same action over and over... like nodding. God, I love to make everyone nod. It's so bad that when I'm in editing, I will replace the word "nodding" with "[NODDING]" to show myself how out of control it is.

And, no, I do not write about bobbleheads.

Mark wrote: "Overly used Words"

My case - anything that's way too overused at a moment. Once it's forgotten again, I won't mind.

Holy Grail. As in, "Selling you the best hamburger is the Holy Grail of Greasy Joe's restaurant."

B.A. said: The news programs are some of the biggest instigators of violence by mainly giving the violent people a stage for their 15 minutes of fame.

Yup! Hope that's not anyone's bugbear!)

I don't like people being 'tasked' with a job.

This is a helpful thread as it tells us authors what to steer clear of.

I mean "at the end of the day" "when all`s said and done" "all things being equal" They all drive me nuts "at this moment in time" Do you mean now?

Oh yes, all of those!

Oh man, thank you for posting such a funny thread!

The first hero of my novel series smirks aaaaaall the fricking time, it's pretty much his default expression. Ha ha ha.

Let me think... Two words I hate are "cray-cray" <.< and "millennials" (I want to hit something when I hear this. I mean, it's a nonsense term no matter how much I look at it).

I also hate abridged words. It's as if the people who say them don't have enough brain power to mention the full word and have to resort to use just a fraction of it.

I'll confess that my characters nod and shrug alot (not necessarily at the same time), but I'm aware of it and am working on sensible alternatives.

I feel compelled to reply when hearing "it is what it is". Well, of course. What else *could* it be?
When I first heard "cray-cray" it was during some award show (Oscar's or something like that). I remember thinking "this is what happens when celebrities don't have a script". I stand by that assessment to this day.
I'd also agree that there are times when the term "literally" applies, all other (frequent) applications rapidly cause me to turn my attention elsewhere (eg. Shoelaces? ...Check. Are my whiskers getting too long? I should go change the oil in the truck...).

Oh my. Where do I start?

-Where are you at?
-You know...you know or like
-At the end of the day
-Amount of people
-All things considered...

Brian wrote: "I'll confess that my characters nod and shrug alot (not necessarily at the same time), but I'm aware of it and am working on sensible alternatives.

I feel compelled to reply when hearing "it is wh..."

Do let us know what your sensible alternatives are!!!! Please.

Anyone hate lots of exclamation marks?

Anna Faversham wrote: "Anyone hate lots of exclamation marks?"

Back in the day, one of my English teachers commented a lot about my love of exclamation marks. Until he started mentioning it, I hadn't noticed I was doing it, but ever since I've been hyper-aware of it and so try to make sure I don't overdo it.

Brian wrote: "I'll confess that my characters nod and shrug alot (not necessarily at the same time), but I'm aware of it and am working on sensible alternatives."

As I revise and edit, I've found I've got a lot of nodding going on too, and a fair amount of shrugging (and dare I admit, smirking as well!) Definitely need to find some alternatives.

'Moving forward' is one I particularly loathe.
Starting a sentence with the word 'so' is pretty irritating, and for some unearthly reason everyone seems to be doing it.
'At this moment in time' is one that used to get used a lot, and is up there with the above.
'Proactive' is another pretty horrible word that gets banded about a fair bit, as is counter-intuitive - YUK!

B.A. wrote: "The word I despise is 'smirk'. When I see it more than a couple of times in a book, it ruins the book for me. Just typing the word it grates on my nerves.

Another one that irks me is 'shot dead'. ..."

Some words are appropriate in dialogue but not in the prose. "Awesome," for example, would be a good word is you were looking for a response for a Millenial or Teen character.

"At the end of the day," heard this years ago, and it is still being used. "You're not hearing me," when the listener is not agreeing with the sender. Beginning a sentence with "Actually." "We need to have a dialogue about this." ACTUALLY? I am tired of them.

"I could have told you that."
My response: "Then why didn't you?"

Thought of a couple more, just now.

"I love me some..."

"I was today years old when I learned..."

I suppose these are cute if you're five. If you're an adult, it just sounds stupid.

Dwayne wrote: "Thought of a couple more, just now.

"I love me some..."

"I was today years old when I learned..."

I suppose these are cute if you're five. If you're an adult, it just sounds stupid."

I hadn't heard those before.

Jim wrote: "I hadn't heard those before."

The first generally shows up in Facebook memes. If you have been able to successfully avoid those... good for you.

The second I hear quite often in different places. Not sure where you're from, but it may be a U.S. (maybe a Midwest) thing.

Dwayne wrote: "Jim wrote: "I hadn't heard those before."

The first generally shows up in Facebook memes. If you have been able to successfully avoid those... good for you.

The second I hear quite often in diff..."

Yes, fortunately, I haven't tested positive for Facebook. "Today years old ..." does sound like someone trying to be cute, as you said.

Brian wrote: "When I first heard "cray-cray" it was during some award show (Oscar's or something like that). I remember thinking "this is what happens when celebrities don't have a script". I stand by that assessment to this day"
LOL! I believe I would have thought something along those lines too.

Viola wrote: "Millenial"
*Haru's skin starts turning greenish*

Brian wrote: "I'll confess that my characters nod and shrug alot (not necessarily at the same time), but I'm aware of it and am working on sensible alternatives."

Anna Faversham wrote: "Do let us know what your sensible alternatives are!!!! Please."

I'm not Brian, but if I need to write "nod" more than once, I write "I repeat the movement" or "I assent with the head". Sounds sensible? The first can be used when you have to shrug twice too.

Does a character smoke or have some strange habit? It's always goods to have him or her act on that. "He crushed his cigarette under his boot."

I've exchanged a few nods and substituted a bit of playful dialogue in some cases. A hypothetical example....
"Did you empty the dishwasher like I asked?"
He replied, "Sure did. You don't mind that I put forks and knives in the same compartment, right?" He tried to conceal his grin, and failed.

More entertaining than a simple "nod".

Have we had iconic yet?

And thanks for the alternative shrugging suggestions.