# Phrases to Remove

## Contents

- Throat-Clearing Openers
- Emphasis Crutches
- Business Jargon
- Adverbs
- Meta-Commentary
- Performative Emphasis
- Telling Instead of Showing
- Vague Declaratives
- Email Pleasantries
- Letter Announcements

## Throat-Clearing Openers

Remove these announcement phrases. State the content directly.

- "Here's the thing:"
- "Here's what [X]"
- "Here's this [X]"
- "Here's that [X]"
- "Here's why [X]"
- "The uncomfortable truth is"
- "It turns out"
- "The real [X] is"
- "Let me be clear"
- "The truth is,"
- "I'll say it again:"
- "I'm going to be honest"
- "Can we talk about"
- "Here's what I find interesting"
- "Here's the problem though"

Any "here's what/this/that" construction is throat-clearing before the point. Cut it and state the point.

## Emphasis Crutches

These add no meaning. Delete them.

- "Full stop." / "Period."
- "Let that sink in."
- "This matters because"
- "Make no mistake"
- "Here's why that matters"

## Business Jargon

Replace with plain language.

| Avoid                 | Use instead            |
| --------------------- | ---------------------- |
| Navigate (challenges) | Handle, address        |
| Unpack (analysis)     | Explain, examine       |
| Lean into             | Accept, embrace        |
| Landscape (context)   | Situation, field       |
| Game-changer          | Significant, important |
| Double down           | Commit, increase       |
| Deep dive             | Analysis, examination  |
| Take a step back      | Reconsider             |
| Moving forward        | Next, from now         |
| Circle back           | Return to, revisit     |
| On the same page      | Aligned, agreed        |

## Adverbs

Kill all adverbs. No -ly words. No softeners, no intensifiers, no hedges.

Specific offenders:

- "really"
- "just"
- "literally"
- "genuinely"
- "honestly"
- "simply"
- "actually"
- "deeply"
- "truly"
- "fundamentally"
- "inherently"
- "inevitably"
- "interestingly"
- "importantly"
- "crucially"

Also cut these filler phrases:

- "At its core"
- "In today's [X]"
- "It's worth noting"
- "At the end of the day"
- "When it comes to"
- "In a world where"
- "The reality is"

## Meta-Commentary

Remove self-referential asides. The essay should move, not announce its own structure.

- "Hint:"
- "Plot twist:" / "Spoiler:"
- "You already know this, but"
- "But that's another post"
- "X is a feature, not a bug"
- "Dressed up as"
- "The rest of this essay explains..."
- "Let me walk you through..."
- "In this section, we'll..."
- "As we'll see..."
- "I want to explore..."

## Performative Emphasis

False intimacy or manufactured sincerity:

- "creeps in"
- "I promise"
- "They exist, I promise"

## Telling Instead of Showing

Announcing difficulty or significance rather than demonstrating it:

- "This is genuinely hard"
- "This is what leadership actually looks like"
- "This is what X actually looks like"
- "actually matters"

## Vague Declaratives

Sentences that announce importance without naming the specific thing. Kill these.

- "The reasons are structural"
- "The implications are significant"
- "This is the deepest problem"
- "The stakes are high"
- "The consequences are real"

If a sentence says something is important/deep/structural without showing the specific thing, cut it or replace it with the specific thing.

## Email Pleasantries

- "I hope this email finds you well"
- "I hope you're doing well"
- "I hope all is well"

## Letter Announcements

- "I am writing this letter..."
- "I am writing to inform you..."
- "Writing this to inform you..."
- "I wanted to reach out..."
