Avoid the Empty Phrase Trap

As writers we are told to avoid clichés, to come up with a new and better way to describe and characterize.

Here are some of my pet peeves:
• Irregardless. It’s just plain regardless.
• We’ll meet at 9 a.m. in the morning. As opposed to 9 a.m. in the evening?
• The good doctor. Maybe he’s a bad doctor.
• Very unique. Unique is a word unto itself. It doesn’t need any qualifiers. What is fairly unique? What's next: Uniquely unique?
• At this point in time. Where else would it be?
• At the end of the day. Probably a good phrase the first 5 times it was used, but now…sick of it!
• Think outside the box. Again a good one the first 10 times, but…
• I personally believe. As opposed to I impersonally believe?
• It is what it is. Huh?
• To be honest. That makes me think you might NOT be!

BBC's Magazine has posted a funny list of its readers' most hated cliché phrases.

To be honest and fair, going forward, this is basically something that, at the end of the day, we're likely to touch base about again.

Let's face it, the fact of the matter is that literally all of us succumb to the use of these stock phrases — even when bringing our A game and giving 110%.

What are your most hated clichés — and how do you avoid them?


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A native Montanan, Heidi M. Thomas now lives in Northwest Washington. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, is based on her grandmother, and the sequel, Follow the Dream, has recently been released. Heidi has a degree in journalism, a certificate in fiction writing, and is a member of Northwest Independent Editors Guild. She teaches writing and edits, blogs, and is working on the next books in her “Dare to Dream” series.