I will probably get some heat over validating the use of “as per” in business correspondence, but it truly doesn’t bother me. There are, however, some words that make writing sound dated (and I don’t mean “so last week.”) Using these words in your writing can make it sound “turn of the century before last.” So can over-using floating quotation marks, but I’ll talk about that next week.
While it’s true that everything comes back in style eventually — even poufy hair, for goodness sakes! — I don’t think we’ll see these words hitting the top of the keyword lists any time soon.
Hence - I used this the other day — and immediately realized how horrible it sounded. As far as arrogance, it’s worse than starting a sentence with “And.” If you’re tempted to use “hence,” substitute “that’s why…” and see if it doesn’t sound better. Sure, it breaks the rule of “two words where one will do,” but it sounds less snobbish. I can say this because I’m guilty of using hence myself.
Per se – This fluffy filler word has such a vague meaning, it can make even the strongest sentence sound weak. Dictionary.com defines it as: “by, of, for, or in itself; intrinsically.” Synonyms include “essentially.” If you feel compelled to use “per se,” you are probably equivocating. I like this example from Yahoo answers, which exemplifies how weak the phrase is. “I’m not saying I hate him per se, it’s just he really annoys me most days.”
If you’re tempted to use the phrase “per se,” think about this: “You shouldn’t always avoid the phrase, but it could weaken your writing and probably isn’t necessary, per se.”
Whence – The most prevalent use of this word comes in the phrase “from whence he (or she) came.” Substitute “where he came from,” or even “where she hailed from.” Yes, you’re ending a sentence with a preposition, but it’s better than sounding like one of America’s Founding Fathers.
Thus - A few friends mentioned this as one of the words that really gets to them. People use it when they want state how something should be done, i.e., “this way.” You can use the words “like this” with the same result.
“Thus” is also used as a substitute for therefore or consequently. It’s hard to use this word in a sentence and not sound arrogant. Even worse is “thusly,” a cringe-worthy “-ly” word if I’ve ever heard one. According to thefreedictionary.com, thusly isn’t even a word.
Avoiding Archaic Language
In keeping true to my title, I’ll tell you how to avoid these words: Delete them. In most cases, you don’t need them, and you don’t need a substitute either. Read the sentence without the word or phrase. If it doesn’t convey your true meaning, re-word the sentence. If you still can’t avoid one of these archaic words or phrases, use a modern adverb to get your point across.
Avoid These Words, Too
In researching this article I found this fun list of archaic words you won’t have to work too hard to avoid. When was the last time you heard someone use “swith” or “swink” in a sentence? (Although I’m thinking we could coin “switter” as the next social media marketing term.)
What archaic words or phrases do you wish people would avoid in writing or speech?
*Chuckles* I use “aye” in chatting. As residing on the list of archaic words, perhaps I should substitute “yes” instead.
Archaic is good…I took Latin in high school and college. Can’t get more archaic than that!
Yoicks?!!We can’t use yoicks anymore? I may forget and use it erelong; hence, a new low grammar rating. (“That’s why” really doesn’t do the work of “Hence” sometimes.)
lol Linda Johnson
Linda,
Thank you for my laugh for the day! I have to agree about Hence… “That’s why” I use it sometimes, myself.
(Don’t tell anyone, but I also like to begin sentences with “And…”)
Why do you persist in perpetuating the myth that one is not to end a sentence in a preposition when writing in English? From whence does this injunction come? (Or more logically: ‘Where does this come from?’) Are you unaware that this is a misunderstanding — a non-rule in English — miguidedly carried over from Latin (which English is not based upon)? Notice the use of a preposition at the end of this sentence? Is it really necessary to keep perpetuating this bugaboo, encouraging people to tie themselves in knots in their ridiculous attempts to avoid the dreaded sentence-ending preposition? If you’re going to claim to be some sort of expert on grammar you might want to get your facts straight. God knows, people are making a hash of the legitimate rules of English; they don’t need false ones to ‘from which to shy away’.