# English Phrases to Remove

## Throat-Clearing Openers

State the content directly. Remove these:

- "Here's the thing:"
- "Here's what/this/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"

## Emphasis Crutches

No meaning. Delete.

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

## Business Jargon → Plain Language

| Avoid | Use |
|-------|-----|
| 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 |

## AI Vocabulary (High-frequency, overused in post-2023 text)

Additionally, crucial, delve, emphasizing, enduring, enhance, fostering, garner, highlight (verb), interplay, intricate/intricacies, key (adjective), landscape (abstract), pivotal, showcase, tapestry (abstract), testament, underscore (verb), valuable, vibrant.

Also cut: "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".

## Adverbs to Kill

All -ly words: really, just, literally, genuinely, honestly, simply, actually, deeply, truly, fundamentally, inherently, inevitably, interestingly, importantly, crucially.

## Meta-Commentary (remove self-referential asides)

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

## Collaborative Communication Artifacts (chatbot traces in prose)

- "I hope this helps"
- "Of course!" / "Certainly!"
- "You're absolutely right!"
- "Would you like..."
- "let me know"
- "here is a..."

## Knowledge-Cutoff Disclaimers

- "As of [date]"
- "Based on available information"
- "While specific details are limited/scarce"

## Performative Sincerity

- "creeps in"
- "I promise"
- "This is genuinely hard"
- "This is what X actually looks like"

## Vague Declaratives (announce importance without specifics)

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

Replace with the specific thing.