Every December, I share my top platters, posts and more from the past year. “Remember December,” as I’ve dubbed it, is primarily a time of frivolity and fun, but also a stretch of weeks that sometimes finds me waxing philosophic and, too, sharing specific blog-related resolutions. Long ago, for instance, I vowed to shed certain words and phrases that pockmark many of my posts. “However,” “in other words” and “in short” are a few; “for example,” “for instance” and “that said” are more. Like many year-end vows, however, I failed to follow through for more than a month. I gave in to rote thought, in other words. I still do.
That said, there have been instances when I foreswore certain words and phrases and, aside from a few slips, succeeded. When I leapt from the virtual pages of the Patch to WordPress in 2014, for instance, I began digging through my archived Old Grey Cat website (1997-2006) for old missives that I could recycle. I was appalled by the profanity I found. What I once thought read as hip emphasis—an equivalent of an exclamation point, if you will—came across as unnecessary and, worse, crass. I gave up swearing then and there.
Other overused words of mine, especially in print, include “wondrous” and “sublime.” A few years back, they popped up in my reviews more often than not. I’ve tamed my reliance on them since, I think, though occasionally give into my whims.
Beyond those, I can’t think of any word or phrase that I routinely use—in either my online or offline lives—that I’d give up. None. Nada. Zip. Well…okay. I’d give up “nada.”
The Old Grey Cat 
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