Lately, when I think someone's behavior is crazy, I'll say, "That's koo koo roo." I've been saying it to the point of overuse, which got me thinking about other phrases I over use. Like when I sign off on the phone with H, a lot of times I say, "Rock on," before I hang up.
I also use the word "crazy" way too much. But that's probably because I've been dealing with an insane person and some crazy situations. Nonetheless, I should break out my thesaurus and shake it up.
As writers, we have to be really careful about using a word or phrase too much. In a very early draft of my WIP, the brilliant Sarah Laurenson pointed out that I'd used the word "bolt" a zillion times. Savanna bolted out of bed, down the hall, across the lawn. She bolted more than lightning. And when I did a "Find and Replace" I found that the word appeared over 60 times in the manuscript.
Oops.
So even though speaking is completely different than writing, I'm going to find some synonyms for "koo koo roo" and "crazy." Because even though there's plenty o' crazy to point out, I need to point it out in a different way.
What words or phrases are you repeating like crazy? (Oops. I did it again. See? I just wrote "crazy.")
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
You say crazy all the time - I guess mine is Fuk Sake. I suppose I need to clean my mouth out with some soap - crazy right?
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, I probably say No to my kids and puppy more than I should. :)
ReplyDeleteI also call my dogs and kids "baby" too much, too...my hubby is babe, the rest "my babies".
I confess, I say "eh?" frequently. ...and here I thought it was a myth until I started keeping track.
ReplyDeleteI also trail off small talk sentences with "so..." and then nothing. I'm trying to stop that, but I can't seem to, so...
And "cool beans". What the hell is that? Where it came from I have no idea, but I say it a lot on msn.
I say 'dude' way too much. And I'm not a surfer or under 20 anymore.
ReplyDeleteProbably -- cool
ReplyDeleteUh oh. I hope this post isn't subconsciously related to the fact that you happen to be reading pages that include the word "weird" waaaaaay too many times. Because I did a search-and-replace on that. There aren't so many "whole" things in the story now, either. Or events people mention "in the first place." Anyway, I think we're all susceptible.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't know such kind of words. You can see that I don't repeat myself... here ;).
ReplyDelete"Well that's just crazy talk". I use that one a lot. Some of the new phrases that the kids are using these days are starting to get on my nerves. Like; "What's the french? Toast. My oldest son likes to use that one. So I started coming back with "What's the fudge? Brownie. He got the message.
ReplyDeleteHmm...probably "cool". When I write the word "just" sneaks in all the time. Everything's just this and just that...
ReplyDeleteI need to confess that the phrase I like to use "he talks nut and he does not what he is talking about"
ReplyDeleteAdrienne, I have that "just" problem too!
ReplyDeleteThe phrase I'm using a lot lately is "no worries." I both like it and hate that it probably sounds either (a) cooler than I am or (b) so last week. (Of course, so last week is pretty also so last week.)