7 phrases you should never write
September 4, 2008 by Shane BorerPosted in: "Seemed like a good idea at the time", Special report, Tech failure
It doesn’t matter if they’re e-mailed, put on a memo or included in the company handbook: If your co-workers read these phrases, they’re only seconds away from losing their cool.
Certain phrases might seem like they’re part of the business vocabulary — but break them out, and others’ reactions will tell you they’re the worst possible choices. Here’s a list of the most annoying business terms, and the words you can use in their place:
- Instead of: “At this point in time,” use: “Now”
- Rather than: “I am of the opinion,” just say: “I think”
- Avoid: “Having said that,” and use: “So”
- Instead of: “It is incumbent on me,” use: “I must”
- Avoid: “We made an agreement on,” and shorten it to: “We decided”
- Rather than: “Prior to that time,” use: “Before,” and
- Instead of saying “You will find attached,” say: “Here is.”
Of course, there are plenty more. Be sure to read the full list of phrases you should avoid at all costs — unless you want to have an office mob form outside your cubicle.
Tags: Annoying co-workers, Business vocabulary, Company handbook, Memo
September 8th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Well, hurray! The suggestions noted above are just another step in bringing our collective IQ’s down another 30 - 40 points. I was going to elaborate, but if you don’t get it, you probably never will. Just go about congradulating yourselves on the propagation of the ‘weakest link’ practice.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Spell check is always helpful too! Congratulations!
September 9th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Valerie needs to take a pill. There is too much work related correspondence as it is. Make the things as short as possible so that the email can be easily read and remembered or deleted. On top of getting way too much e-mail half of it does not matter anyway. I would hate to waste a lot of time on a wordy e-mail that does not even matter anyway.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Valerie, would you rather appear intelligent or have someone actually READ and COMPREHEND what you have written? I fight the “wordy” battle on a daily basis reviewing articles my employer has written. I would much rather be understood.