10 Words That We Need To Get Rid Of While Conversing

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” – Albus Dumbledore

Like the old maestro said, words truly are capable of doing magic. In our world, every war has started with words, and words ended them. Words are what enables us to begin anew, or make something cease altogether. Language was invented for one reason after all, and words, the chief component of languages, can make conversations into beautiful monuments.

Or break a conversation into dust, leaving it bereft of meaning and power. And these 10 words weaken our messages, making the conversation not good enough for what we want to convey. Getting rid of a word from your conversation is a minuscule step, but it brings on effects much larger.

1. Whatever

We use this word so frequently to shut a conversation or to shrug it off – to show that we do not care. But ‘whatever’ has been voted as the most irritating word of all in the English language. According to a US poll, it is the most hated word among all age groups!

 

2. Just

“‘Just’ wasn’t about being polite: it was a subtle message of subordination, of deference,” says tech veteran Ellen Leanse, who has formerly worked for both Apple and Google. She noticed with horror that not only was ‘just’ used by women mostly, it also put them in a position of timidity. The question is why should women, even while conversing, put a man in a dominant position?

 

3. Like

‘Like’ is an extensible word that has the habit of interjecting itself in places where it is, like, completely unnecessary. I mean, like, why do we need to use like so much? Like as if we cannot converse without using this word, even if we don’t need to!

 

4. Very

As writer N.H.Kleinbaum in her famous novel Dead Poets Society said, “avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy.” And so it is. Very is a word used to magnify the effects of a certain word. But why use very when our vocabulary is perfectly capable of supplying the exact perfect word to convey the intensity of your feeling?

 

5. Honestly

‘Honestly’ is an extremely common word we use in our regular conversations, not realizing the harm it is doing to our credibility. Though we mean to assure the listener about the factual basis of what we are about to say, this word, on the other hand, arouses suspicion in him, undermining what we are saying!

 

6. Literally

Generally, when we use the word ‘literally’, what we mean is the exact opposite. ‘Literally’ is used to signal that for once we’re not exaggerating; but are we not? This word makes its presence felt when we feel we need to establish that something of proportion is true, and only shows how insecure we are about what we say.

 

7. Actually

According to The Wire ‘actually’ is a very sneaky word. While we can laugh at ‘literally’ we cannot actually determine what the position of ‘actually’ is. If anything, it is quite condescending, as by using this word we reduce the significance of what the other person just said while putting our own words above theirs.

 

8. Retard/retarded

When we call something as a ‘retarded’ or a ‘retard’ we mean to call that something insane, ridiculous or stupid. But we do not realize many of those with intellectual disabilities are defenseless to this word, as are people with physical disabilities. While we are busy hurling a simple insult to somebody we know, we are insulting a large number of people we don’t!

 

9. Gay

In early times, the word ‘gay’ meant merry or happy. With time, this word went through a significant evolution and became the word to describe a group of people with a certain sexual orientation. But recently this word underwent a derogatory change, where ‘gay’ is used to refer to something that’s disliked, useless or stupid, which is immensely hurtful to the LGBT community, whom we bully by using this word!

 

10. Slut

Slut, a synonym for prostitutes albeit derogatory, is a common slur in our society, used to describe women. Often, its variations are used to describe objects as well (thus, a low-neck dress becomes slutty). But this word only heightens the negativity surrounding female sexuality, because let’s face it, prostitution is a profession above all. And just because someone is using her vagina instead of her hands to earn a living, doesn’t make it bad!

With great power comes great responsibility, choose your words wisely.

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