"Your smile's enchanting, even when you're livid."... Is what I would like to say. But instead, it comes out as speech tainted with simpler language.
It's like, a sentence without a simile.
or ummm good, wait bad. It's a bad thing.
And just like that, a desire to be quirky takes over the will to verse fluently.
I use adverbs and filler words because it's casual, effortless and habitual. It also takes a lot of discipline to not.
I hope I'm not the only one that's bothered by the way they speak. Perhaps I can ask a friend to catch me, but what's the chance that others will remember if I'm forgetful?
I have been thinking of building an app that will ping me whenever I say these phrases ("like", "good", "interesting", etc.) Of course, none of the data should ever leave your phone, heck, none of it should even be recorded.
The big BUT is that it's pretty rude to converse with an earbud on. I guess you can ping a smartwatch, but a proper solution should use AR glasses. Just overlay an alert when you use inept words. It's natural and polite. Moreover, we can overlay replacement words while you're in conversation so you can learn from your mistake in real-time.
For example, being "mad" conveys little information. Are you offended? Incensed? Bitter?
You're more than just pretty; you're radiant.
I love language, and I hope you loved reading this.
- Curtis
P.S. It's been half a year since I started Sleepovers at the Office. Thank you so much for reading all of these editions! I have a blast writing them, and I hope they've brought some kind of value to your life.
P.P.S. The word substitutions from this newsletter came from this article: https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/overused-words-english-translation. There are a lot more substitutions for overused words in there so take a look :)
#22: Measuring Emotional Weight | #24: A Tool for Reminiscing and Persuasion