My friends used to call me Conan The Grammarian. The team at Portent mocked me because I bought them all The Elements Of Style.

I’m a pretty flexible guy. But when it comes to business writing and marketing copy, I’m a stickler. I cringe when I get an email that contains “sort of” (pointless) or “powow” (offensive). I flinch when I read marketing copy that says “in a world where” (ugh) or “go” (flock, run, rush, are all better).

I won’t bore you with a long post. Here’s a list of words and phrases you should leave out of your business writing and (most) marketing copy, plus suggested replacements:

Click here for the Google Sheet.

Make a copy, or check back—I’ll update it now and then.

No need to thank me. This is for my own good.

In business? Get to the point.

In marketing? Get to the point with style.

Before you all grab your torches and pitchforks—I’m not suggesting these words are bad for creative writing. It’s, well, creative. Also, I’m not perfect. I’m sure if you go through all my past writing you’ll find lots of times I use these words. I’m not proud, but I’d do it again.