₦airaland Forum

People don't have the time or the attention span to read any more words than necessary. You want your readers to hear you out, understand your message, and perhaps be entertained, right? Here's a list of words to eliminate to help you write more succinctly.

1. That
It's superfluous most of the time. Open any document you've got drafted on your desktop, and find a sentence with "that" in it. Read it out loud. Now read it again without "that." If the sentence works without it, delete it. Also? Don't use "that" when you refer to people. "I have several friends that live in the neighborhood." No. No, you don't. You have friends who . Not friends that.

2. Went
I went to school. Or the store, or to church, or to a conference, to Vegas, wherever it is you're inclined to go. Instead of "went," consider drove, skated, walked, ran, flew. There are any number of ways to move from here to there. Pick one. Don't be lazy and miss the chance to add to your story.

3. Honestly
People use "honestly" to add emphasis. The problem is, the minute you tell your reader this particular statement is honest, you've implied the rest of your words were not. #Awkward

4. Absolutely
Adding this word to most sentences is redundant. Something is either necessary, or it isn't. Absolutely necessary doesn't make it more necessary. If you recommend an essential course to your new employees, it's essential. Coincidentally, the definition of essential is absolutely necessary. Chicken or egg, eh?

5. Very
Accurate adjectives don't need qualifiers. If you need to qualify it? Replace it. "Very" is intended to magnify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. What it does is makes your statement less specific. If you're very happy? Be ecstatic. If you're very sad, perhaps you're melancholy or depressed. Woebegone, even. Very sad is a lazy way of making your point. Another pitfall of using very as a modifier? It's subjective. Very cold and very tall mean different things to different people. Be specific. She's 6'3" and it's 13 degrees below freezing? These make your story better while also ensuring the reader understands the point you're making.

6. Really
Unless you're a Valley Girl, visiting from 1985, there's no need to use "really" to modify an adjective. Or a verb. Or an adverb. Pick a different word to make your point. And never repeat "really," or "very" for that matter. That's really, really bad writing.
If you are visiting from 1985? Please bring the birth certificate for my Cabbage Patch Doll on your next visit. Thanks.

7. Amazing
The word means "causing great surprise or sudden wonder." It's synonymous with wonderful, incredible, startling, marvelous, astonishing, astounding, remarkable, miraculous, surprising, mind-blowing, and staggering. You get the point, right? It's everywhere. It's in corporate slogans. It dominated the Academy Awards acceptance speeches. It's all over social media. It's discussed in pre-game shows and post-game shows.
Newsflash: If everything is amazing , nothing is.

8. Always
Absolutes lock the writer into a position, sound conceited and close-minded, and often open the door to criticism regarding inaccuracies.
Always is rarely true. Unless you're giving written commands or instruction, find another word.

9. Never
See: Always.

10. Literally
"Literally" means literal. Actually happening as stated. Without exaggeration. More often than not, when the term is used, the writer means "figuratively." Whatever is happening is being described metaphorically. No one actually "waits on pins and needles." How uncomfortable would that be?

11. Just
It's a filler word and it makes your sentence weaker, not stronger. Unless you're using it as a synonym for equitable, fair, even-handed, or impartial, don't use it at all.

12. Maybe
This makes you sound uninformed, unsure of the facts you're presenting. Regardless of the topic, do the legwork, be sure, write an informed piece. The only thing you communicate when you include these words is uncertainty.

13. Stuff
This word is casual, generic even. It serves as a placeholder for something better. If the details of the stuff aren't important enough to be included in the piece? Don't reference it at all. If you tell your reader to take your course because they'll learn a lot of stuff ? They're likely to tell you to stuff it.

14. Things
See: Stuff.

15. Irregardless
This doesn't mean what you think it means, jefe . It means regardless. It is
literally (see what I did there?) defined as: regardless. Don't use it. Save yourself the embarrassment.

Whether you're ghostwriting for your CEO, updating a corporate blog, selling a product, or finishing your doctoral thesis, you want to keep your reader engaged. These 15 words are a great place to start trimming the fat from your prose. Bonus? You’ll sound smarter.

1st of all, wipe your screen then clean the keyboard.
After that, if you can open the laptop then unplug and replug the hard drive, I think the laptop probably fell or something similar.

If you do that and it still doesn't work, then find some else's hard drive to make sure that your own hard drive isn't the problem.

Enypie:
I know. Gimme a chill one that isn't for liars.

Because you're so pretty i'll manage and buy #50 bobo for you.

Enypie:
Gimme too.

No, it's only for liars

sinistermind:
Don't think so, I got it from a friend.

Ok thanks

sinistermind:
Don't think so, I got it from a friend.

Ok thanks

sinistermind:
Don't think so, I got it from a friend.

Ok thanks

slyIsaac:
Davido is a tout wanna-be .....
Don't you know anything at all?

Nope, he's an actual tout, money is just helping him small.

sinistermind:
Yes it did, suppressed my appetite and has no side effects.

Would I be able to get at any pharmacy?

frostland:
dis is 1hell of a big lie

Thanks for the elaborate explanation of why it's a lie.

slyIsaac:
Nairaland has dealt with tis already....


African parents don't need to prove nothing.... A loud voice, Big bank account.... N of course Koboko... Is all you need to get perfectly groomed child

If that were true Davido would not be a tout right now.

1. First of all, you won't ever have to worry about getting pregnant, you will never experience the fear and anxiety of having to tell your parents, "I'm pregnant.." or "I got my girlfriend pregnant".Pregnancy should be a happy announcement after marriage.
Wrong, even married folks can have unwanted pregnancies, especially if they care about family planning


2. You will never have to worry about getting "STD"[Sexually Transmitted Disease].
Wrong again, if you get married to a philandering A-hole you still run the risk of get an STI, marriage isn't magic, it is never perfect.


[b]3. You'll be free to grow emotionally, psychologically, intellectualy and spiritually.
Now this is rubbish, it's like you are saying that virgins are the most emotionally, psychologically, intellectually and spiritually(whatever that means) mature, so I guess that every world leader, internationally acclaimed scholar, Inventor e.t.c are all celibate?


4. You will feel good about yourself, knowing that you didn't give in to your partner pressure.

Lol, this is for people getting pressured into sex, if you don't want to have sex for your own reasons fine, not because of this ignorant write-up


5. By not falling into "the sex-trap" , you're building your psychological strength and self-esteem.
Self-esteem? lol, tell that to the guy or girl that's getting relentlessly teased about being a virgin, this advice doesn't make sense


6. You will be setting an example for others, siblings, friends and people around you, showing them that sexual activity can be avoided.
I guess you're now sharing your sexual activities or lack thereof with everyone around you then, ok


7. You will be protecting your own reputation, no lady wants to be known as "Loose" or "Olosho", no guy wants the reputation of being a "Stud" or "Maniaks".
lol, nawa o, having sex doesn't make you an olosho or loose, and being a virgin doesn't stop people from calling you one either, that's the world we live in and yes guys want the reputation of being a stud I have no idea what maniaks mean. It's like you're living in a different universe, probably the effects of celibacy


8. You will known for certain that he or she cares about you for who are and not just for your physical person.
Can't argue with this one, but some guys are very very patient, ladies take note.


9. You will be free to channel your energies into healthy activities such as Reading, Studies, Sports, etc.
Yes, like a sexually active person has never excelled in anything.
According to this Bill Gates must have been celibate before he became the richest man in the world same goes for Dangote and i'm sure Usain Bolt doesn't have sex in other to conserve his strenght for running.
You speak like sexually active people are just busy having sex all day long.


10. The last buh not least... You will learn not confuse love with sex.Sex can be spontaneous and brief (A One Night Stand).Love takes time to grow and lasts forever.
Yes, don't confuse love with sex people!, but how are you supposed to learn how to differentiate between two things if you have never experienced one?

Op sex is not evil, it's a natural part of human development, the only reason people like you see pre marital sex as bad is because of religion.
The only advice i agree with on pre marital sex is Practice safe sex, anything else is nonsense.

sinistermind:
Slim k

Please how do I get it? you said it worked for you?

sinistermind:
There is a limit to which I can lose weight. Talking about clothes, I still get nice clothes. Though I was disturbed about the way I was getting fat, then I used a drug that helped and i'm just fine wit the way I am now and i' far from lepa.

What drug is that?

When my aunty was Prisons boss her convoy was just hers and another o, I don't understand what someone is doing with a twenty car convoy.
You can know a corrupt public servant by how many cars are in his/her convoy.

After following the instructions above, scan your PC with smadav also, full scan to take care of the Trojan that's infected it from your tablet, otherwise any other USB storage device you plug in it would suffer the same fate.

asuustrike2009:
The N100 is for service fee

Obviously, but I don't know any other Bank or service that deducts money for airtime credit, this is new.

Interested in Awka

blackweaver:
Op, while i don't have any issue with what you have written, you were only quoting your source after all, I do have issues with your source. They mention a list of the top 10 phones, they do not give any information about the list or any references to corroborate their information. Anyway i did a little search of my own and discovered that the bolded part is wrong. The Nokia 5230 which ran symbian series 60 5th edition sold nearly as many if not more phones as the 6600. In fact in the following link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/01/26/the-20-bestselling-mobile-phones-of-all-time/
the 6600 is ranked 6th while the 5230 is ranked 5th
Also on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_mobile_phones
both phones are ranked the same.
Like I said, I don't have any issue with your post, my issue is with your source.

Other links with lists of top selling phones are as follows:
http://www.buymobilephoneinsurance.com/blog/top-20-best-selling-mobile-phones-of-all-time
http://www.technobezz.com/the-20-best-selling-phones-of-all-times

and some of these links didn't even feature the 6600

I guess I should have researched more, it seems that the Nokia 5230 is actually the best-selling smartphone of all time.

But you'll agree that any source that doesn't include the 6600 is inaccurate.

0ubenji:
Am appalled u've to resort to insults to prove points in an intellectual debate
U ofcuz shud knw I am makin no comparison of both fone sales within d confines of same production period..
U need to digest ur co-debater's points to counter it intellectually
Both fones were produced at different technology periods
..Now my point..which u've refused to grasp is dis..
Irrespective of the times both fones were made..
The fmr is expected to make more sellin units than d latter due to various reasons of which pricing is a factor..
I don't wanna resort to insults..buh as learned as u seem to be..u shud knw dat pricing is a very key factor in the marketability of smartphones,,no mata aw sophisticated the commodity is..
I was only makin sure u the OP takes dat into cognizance..dats all
Another reason d nokia cud sell as much; then, if I may add is market dominance
D competition was not stifled in d technology market like dat of today..
Mobile fone technology was more or less a one-way street wit nokia then..which cud av enhanced such massive sales..
Pls..mk it a point of duty to throw points in debates..not insults..it'll help u learn

I never insulted you, and you came off as a fanboy, and that ticked me off.

And fact still stands, the Nokia 6600 is the best-selling smartphone to date, you could argue about pricing and market dominance but it's still why it is, nobody is saying it is better than an IPhone, we're just saying that in It's lifetime it sold better than any other smartphone.
This is just a matter of numbers.

0ubenji:
aw e no go sell pass iPhone and samsung
u don forget price factor?
one iphone 5 wud buy nearly a dozen of dat nokia mehn

They stopped making this phone before the 1st IPhone was released, so it what you're saying doesn't even make sense.

Ossaifamous:
This was a phone I always try to buy but when I go to market with 18000 .. I go just tire cause thephone was like 32000 back then

Lol, I bought it for about 25k then, big boy levels, with brothers in arms and real football 2005/

martineverest:
op know the difference btw smartphone and feature phone.. We never had smartphones in 2003, but feature phones

Lol, you're trying to school me on something you obviously are the ignorant about.

This isn't even a matter of opinion, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices were some of the 1st smartphone OS and till today Symbian still does a few things better than your Android and IOS like multitasking.

EMPEROR032:
I HAVE INNOSON UMU IS OK,VERY COMFORTABLE.

Would it possible to post pics? and how much was it?

I'm interested in buying Innoson.

Edit: I got some pics from another thread.

Mrbigman1:
Thi phone wey dey pack virus like lawma

No be small o, lol, I remember now.

Lalasticlala come and smile small.

I had this phone back then and I loved it.