Word Rant

       

                Do certain words grate on you? When you hear them used, or misused, do you cringe? There’s a term in the writing world called “weasel words.”  A weasel sucks the guts out of an egg, leaving an unbroken shell – a useless look-alike egg. A weasel word, like an empty egg, is actually useless and needs to be deleted whenever it pops into one’s prose. Can you find the weasel word in the last sentence? Which word could be eliminated without changing the meaning of what I wrote? I’ll give you a hint: I actually hate that word and whenever I hear it I actually want to scream.
            I was listening to the evening news and the reporter was talking about a house fire. He mentioned the name of a person who “actually” lived in that that house. Hold the phone! Stop the presses!  He actually lived in that house!!!!!????? As opposed to what? Not living in the house? 
            I think “actually “ is a 99.9%  useless word.  “The cookie actually tasted good.” Change that to “The cookie tasted good.” I could go on forever (actually???) but you get my drift.
            Are there words or expressions that drive you up the wall? My husband hates “At this point in time.”  He maintains the “in time” is totally unnecessary – weasel words.
            There, I ranted and actually feel better.