Comments on: Well, um, actually, you know, it’s literally like this

By: Helen

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:19:38 +0000

Oops. I’m a major offender. I think my future posts will halve in length.

I will confess to another biggie whilst here; endlessly run-on sub-clauses. I always want to fit more into one sentence than will fit. I don’t know why, full stops are not rationed.

p.s I have just read your post on recycling old posts. I think this qualifies as an eternally relevant topic.

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By: Lainie

Mon, 25 May 2009 03:18:09 +0000

This is a great post – so necessary and helpful. I appreciate the reminder to avoid “extremely” and “very.”
I’d add that exclamation points are rarely necessary, and using multiple exclamation points is the written equivalent of teenage girls at the mall shrieking. Don’t do it. My public enemy number one, though, is misusing “it’s” and “its.”

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By: Margaret Wright

Thu, 14 May 2009 16:36:05 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with everything that’s been said. I think words like “actually” and “basically” are sometimes used as verbal time-fillers or space-holders. But when you hear news reporters on prestigious national stations saying “you know” every ten words and prefacing every statement with “basically”, not to mention regularly using incorrect words or making grammatical errors, it’s hard to resist doing the same — it’s become part of our national speech pattern!

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By: cynthia

Wed, 13 May 2009 16:13:53 +0000

You are reading my mind – I’ve fallen into the habit of sprinkling these words in both my speech and writing. I just spent 30 minutes editing my last post because I tend to write conversationally, which isn’t always good. That and I use hyphens liberally.

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By: Patricia

Wed, 13 May 2009 16:12:30 +0000

I do use “in fact” and very occasionally “actually” when I am giving feedback on my online astronomy students’ homework. In those cases I am using “in fact” after a weaker statement such as, “No, gravitation doesn’t increase with distance. In fact it decreases with the square of increasing distance.” As for “actually,” I use that when I’m pissed that a student didn’t do the work. As in “You have to actually do the calculation…”

In my case, I think I often tend to write very formally and with the use of an extensive vocabulary that not everyone shares. When I was a six year old reading my father’s pulp science fiction mags, I would often come across words I didn’t understand. I looked them up rather than complain about their use. Nowadays the opposite seems to be the fashion.

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By: delia

Wed, 13 May 2009 16:09:41 +0000

add the words Honestly?(with the?) and Basically…
“You Know” what “Really” bothers me about the great blog post? “I Mean” I “Actually” don’t like the CAP’S used through out the post, it “Literally” drove me nuts to be shouted at… “Basically” I would not have done that…”Honestly?” that’s one of the things I relate to ‘scratching the chalkboard’ when used…so once I submit this comment it will come up in CAP’S…Honestly? this was a great posted subject!

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By: Alyson B. Stanfield

Wed, 13 May 2009 14:49:20 +0000

Glad to see everyone has a sense of humor!

Stacey: “Basically” is another good one.

Lauren: It looks like there’s a compatability issue b/t TypePad and IE right now. Good heavens! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Any way I can convince you to switch to Firefox?

Liza: I KNOW. Writing isn’t usually the problem. I’m most fearful of what comes out of my mouth.

Becky: My nieces and nephews say “actually” a lot. That will get your attention!

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By: becky nielsen

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:36:22 +0000

Great post! It’s so hard to self monitor speech, but a worthwhile struggle. And even as I write, I can feel myself chafing to add unnecessary words.

We had friends over one evening and I thought it was so funny to hear their 3 year old using the word “actually” – now I’m thinking this poor child will just have that much more ingrained habit to purge from her speech!

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By: liza myers

Wed, 13 May 2009 04:00:05 +0000

Great Alyson! Now I’m nervous about writing ANYTHING! Tweeting is a perfect exercise for determining what’s essential in effective communication. In tweeting we prune, hone and remove extra words and modifiers. Such fun! Good challenge!
Even on TV and radio, bad language use is the norm.

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By: Lauren

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:25:52 +0000

Is that kind of like when people write in all capitals all the time? (haha)

What’s up with the text on your blog today Alyson?

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