paragraph

Forbidden Words

So, very, really, just, well, pretty

all forms of “get” (get, got, getting, gotten, gets, etc)

all forms of “seem” (seems, seemed, seeming, seemingly, etc)

contractions (can’t, won’t, it’s)

a lot (or its alternate form which is not a word-alot)

one as a pronoun (One would have to look very high to see a shooting star.)

1 st person pronouns (I, me, my, mine, us, we, our, ours, etc)

2 nd

person pronouns (you, your, yourself, yours, y’all, youins, etc)

All forms of “be”: am, is, was, were, be, being, been, are

All forms of appear, become, remain, stand, allow

Do not use coordinating conjunctions at the beginning of sentences - FANBOYS

Replacement verbs… any verb that is obviously a replacement for any FW. (Be careful with

words like “obtain” and “contain” and “exist”)

I will be adding to the list occasionally. You will need to fix any and all forbidden words in your

papers along the way.

Sometimes it is easy to remove them: That IS a VERY nice shirt. = That IS a nice shirt. = That shirt

has an interesting design on it. = While contemplating the interesting design on John’s shirt, the

main character wondered at its color scheme’s connection to his new role as office manager. (Ok,

perhaps the last sentence is a bit pretentious, but I hope my point is clear.)

Please note that this list is in no way a complete list of words that are empty and meaningless. The

point of avoiding these words in your writing is to start to write in a more academic, higher standard

than the modern spoken speech. Your familiar lexicon for locution or circumlocution uses many

useless words and phrases to say something that may need to be much more direct. In academic

writing, it should not sound like your spoken speech.

This list of words is not “mine.” I have only borrowed from other schools, both high schools and

colleges. You can do a simple web search for useless, forbidden, or empty words to find other lists

that are VERY similar or even more extensive. Read the next two sentences that I “borrowed” from

http://www.lincoln.edu/mhs/owl/empty.html

1. Your readers' time is very valuable. It is important that you do not make them read a larger number of words than is really necessary.

2. Your readers' time is valuable. Don't make them read more words than necessary.

Note: the point here is conciseness not forbidden words. You can say more with less most of the

time.

Last pointer: try not to use words that have little meaning – adverbs and adjectives that have no

really point to make (good, great, awesome, wonderful, too, etc.) Get to the point. What is the

difference between an ice cream that is good and very good?