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5 words to strike from your vocabulary

February 13, 2013 @ 9:19 am

Buyers, sellers, agents take note . . .

Forbes conducted an informal poll of communication experts and career advisers to discover the biggest turn-off words.

These words are most commonly used as fillers, qualifiers, and jargon. Among the words to strike from common use:

  • Like -The word shows incompetence and poor communication skills.
  • Never - It "eliminates even the possibility of an idea -- it can be discouraging and naive," according to Forbes experts.
  • Innovative - This has become an overused buzz word.
  • Probably - It's tentative and doesn't reflect confidence.
  • No - Nobody wants to hear "no," so try replacing it with "I wish I could," experts note.
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Comments (8)


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  • monkeyal wrote...
    Please add the words
    February 13, 2013 1:37 pm
    'absolutely', 'out of the box', and 'yeah'.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • letsgetonwithit wrote...
    And
    February 13, 2013 2:35 pm
    "It is what it is" hate that one.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    I'm clinging to "no"!
    February 13, 2013 3:43 pm
    My very first word and STILL my favorite! On a side note; rather than eliminating words from our vocabulary, perhaps we should be castigating the social media set for dumbing down our written language with all thier LOL's and such.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleJack wrote...
    Here's one I can't stand:
    February 14, 2013 5:32 am
    "At the end of the day ..."
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ellenr wrote...
    and...
    February 14, 2013 11:25 am
    physicality
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    and of course,
    February 14, 2013 11:00 pm
    Hopenchange - The word reminds people of incompetence and poor political skills.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Regularjoe44 wrote...
    My stomach turns when I hear...
    February 16, 2013 11:10 am
    "Let me be clear" or "make no mistake". The previous certainly never is....and the later regularly happens.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    how about
    February 18, 2013 6:49 am
    it depends on what the meaning of the word is....is......
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }