76 Phrases You Should Avoid

From the Washington Post:

1. At first glance
2. As a society (or, “as a nation”)
3. Observers
4. TK is not alone
5. Pundits say (or “Critics say”)
6. The American people (unless in a quote)
7. The narrative (unless referring to a style of writing)
8. Probe (as substitute for “investigation”)
9. A rare window (unless we’re talking about a real window that is in fact rare)
10. Begs the question (unless used properly – and so rarely used properly that not worth it)
11. Be that as it may
12. It is important to note that
13. Needless to say
14. [Anything] 2.0 (or 3.0, or 4.0…)
15. At a crossroads
16. Outside the box/Out of the box
17. TK is a favorite Washington parlor game
18. Yes, Virginia, there is a TK
19. Underscored
20. Midwife (as a verb that does not involve childbirth)
21. Call it TK
22. Pity the poor TK
23. Imagine (as the first word in your lede)
24. Palpable sense of relief
25. Rorschach test (unless it is a real one)
26. The Other
27. Effort (as a verb)
28. Gestalt/Zeitgeist
29. Little-noticed (that just means the writer hadn’t noticed it)
30. Hastily-convened
31. Ignominious end
32. Tightly knit community
33. Rise of the 24-hour news cycle (it rose a long time ago)
34. Remains to be seen
35. Feeding frenzy/feeding the frenzy
36. Double down
37. Dons the mantle of
38. Hot-button issue
39. Face-saving compromise
40. The argument goes (or its cousin, “the thinking goes”)
41. Shutter (as a verb)
42. Paradigm shift (in journalism, all paradigms are shifting)
43. Unlikely revolutionary (in journalism, all revolutionaries are unlikely)
44. Unlikely reformer (in journalism, all reformers are unlikely)
45. Grizzled veteran (in journalism, all veterans are grizzled – unless they are “seasoned”)
46. Manicured lawns (in journalism, all nice lawns are manicured)
47. Rose from obscurity (in journalism, all rises are from obscurity)
48. Dizzying array (in journalism, all arrays make one dizzy)
49. Withering criticism (in journalism, all criticism is withering)
50. Predawn raid (in journalism, all raids are predawn)
51. Sparked debate (or “Raised questions”)
52. Ironic Capitalizations Implying Unimportance Of Things Others Consider Important
53. Provides fresh details
54. But reality/truth is more complicated (oversimplify, then criticize the oversimplification)
55. Scarred by war
56. Shines a spotlight on (unless there is a real spotlight that really shines)
57. TK is no panacea (nothing is)
58. No silver bullet
59. Shifting dynamics
60. Situation is fluid (code for “I have no idea what is going on”)
61. Partisans on both sides
62. Charm offensive
63. Pushback
64. Going forward
65. Stinging rebuke
66. Mr. TK goes to Washington (unless a reference to the actual movie)
67. The proverbial TK (“proverbial” doesn’t excuse the cliché, just admits you used it knowingly)
68. Fevered speculation
69. Oft-cited
70. Iconic
71. Growing body of evidence
72. Increasingly (unless we prove in the story that something is in fact increasing)
73. Tapped (as substitute for “selected” or “appointed)
74. Any “not-un” formulation (as in “not unsurprising”)
75. There, I said it (more self-important than “voicey”)
76. To be sure