Transcripts

Erik Wensberg:
Perhaps my least favorite word in the English language is "frustrated"- it is used to describe any unpleasant emotion.

Erik Wensberg, editor and author of the book Modern American Usage, A Guide…

It is a word that people reach for first when they see no point in naming an actual human emotion: anxiety, worry, impatience, and it says nothing.

So, when you use the word "frustrated" you probably mean something else. And another word Erik isn't wild about….

"Focus"- "focus" is the great snooze word of our time. Everyone focuses, nobody looks, nobody concentrates, nobody pays attention, everyone focuses. And "focus" has become so wildly overused that the mind immediately turns off.

And Erik really doesn't like the word "like".

That's everybody's un-favorite word and it is the universal hiccup, the universal "ah". They, like, can't put a sentence together without, like, inserting a word that means nothing like, like. It's the new pause to figure out what you're going to say next.

At somethingyoushouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.