Phases of Phrases

Lately, I haven't had a conversation where I didn't say "Such is life." Before that, I was always saying "largely". And before that, it was "significant", then "vast", then something else. I always go through these phases where I continuously use one phrase over and over again.

In conversation, it is pretty unpleasant. For one thing, it becomes a catchphrase. People stop listening to what you say and just wait for the catchphrase to come out. Some people will laugh at it because they will realize you are incapable of avoiding it. Other people will get annoyed by it because it is repetitive and boring, but tends to sound like you think it is the perfect word to use each and every time you use it.

Sometimes you don't even realize you are using the same phrase over and over again until somebody points it out. After that, you should become very aware of it. Every time you are going to say it again, you will think twice about it. Eventually it will bother you as much as it bothers everybody else and you will phase it out.

In writing, it mostly works the same way. Repeating words is a major faux pas in writing. When audiences see the same word coming up constantly, they start paying more attention to the word itself instead of the actual content that you've written. However, because your writing stays there for you to see, you should be able to notice when the same words keep popping up. Even if you miss it during the writing, you should see it during revision.

Although it is a good idea not to use the same words too much, don't completely avoid them. Sometimes it is a good idea to use "largely" in your sentence. Just don't put it in every sentence. Also, if you go through enough of these phases, you will find yourself with a large archive of words in your head and ready to use. Cycle through all of those words you like using. They're good words and, by the time you go through all of the ones you like, enough time will have passed for it to be natural to reuse the first one. Just be careful you don't slip into a new phase in the process.