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[Mipe]

Say hi to Anyhow, Anyway's sister.

[Dustin Smith]

anywho isn't a word, but i use it. i probably shouldn't. anywho.

[BlueMoon]

"Actually"

[Mogget]

I over-use semi-colons and tend to have too many tangents (leading to lots of sets of brackets(also subclauses and - get this - dashes)).

That didn't have nearly enough tangents so I fixed it up a bit. But yeah, same problem here.

[Squibb_Wiggins]

I make these mistakes all the time, at least while writing. 

"In fact"
"Actually"
"the reason is because" <-- just plain wrong.
"basically"

Strangely, I don't make these same mistakes while speaking.  Although my behaviour, in-person, is quite eccentric for other reasons. 

These are common filler words. If you really want to learn to stop using them (and about writing in general), I would recommend reading "Getting the Words Right" by Theodore A Rees Cheney. Its one of the great bibles of writing that I think everyone needs to own, even if they don't write creatively.

I agree with you 100% on "the reason is because". Just the redundancy of the phrase irritates me.

[AlexDJones]

"Well"
"...as it were."

[Blodyavenger]

• However
• Anyway

• Well

• But

• ...(yes, I use '...' too much)

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

what would be a replacement for "actually"? i mean, i can't think of any other word that fulfills its role: it means that something is true despite what one might expect or think.

e.g. 'actually, peppermint tea is not a true tea'

i can't think of an alternative way to say 'peppermint tea is not a tea, despite what you might expect' except, of course, "despite what you might expect", which is worse than "actually".

[Zecks]

in fact?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

hmm -- that could work, although that sounds worse to me than actually. besides, sometimes what you're talking about *are not* facts

for instance:

"actually, ff4 is a better game than ff6"

vs

"in fact, ff4 is a better game than ff6"

the latter makes no sense, because you're not talking about facts, but evaluations

[Zecks]

yeah i didn't think about opinions because most people state them as opinions

[Feral_P]

hmm -- that could work, although that sounds worse to me than actually. besides, sometimes what you're talking about *are not* facts

for instance:

"actually, ff4 is a better game than ff6"

vs

"in fact, ff4 is a better game than ff6"

the latter makes no sense, because you're not talking about facts, but evaluations

Most times it's superfluous.
You could just say: '(I think) ff4 is a better game than ff6.

[TaintedFork]

I don't personally use this very often, but when other people do, it bugs me to no end.

• "Needless to say..."

That seriously has to be the most pointless, superfluous phrase we have in this language. I can't think of any instance in which using this may actually help you construct your sentence/prove your point (well, that is, except for in this post...).

As evidenced by the last sentence above, I, too, have problems with ellipses and parentheses. I've started moving away from parentheses but instead have been using the dreaded dash - It's horrible! - to make my statements.

[RCIX]

I use ellipses, parens, and well, the words Anyway/Well way too much (like this).

Anyway.... :D

[dangerousday]

what would be a replacement for "actually"? i mean, i can't think of any other word that fulfills its role: it means that something is true despite what one might expect or think.

e.g. 'actually, peppermint tea is not a true tea'

i can't think of an alternative way to say 'peppermint tea is not a tea, despite what you might expect' except, of course, "despite what you might expect", which is worse than "actually".

You could omit "actually" entirely, leaving the sentence as "Peppermint tea is not a true tea." You can trust the reader or listener to get that you're expressing an idea that goes against expectations. Adding "actually," "in fact," or something similar sounds condescending, since it implies that you don't trust them to get it.

As for expressing an opinion, I'd avoid using objective phrasing like "FF4 is better than FF6." Instead, how about, "I enjoyed FF4 more than FF6 because..."

I need to stop using "just". I also need to break up long sentences into shorter ones that are easier to digest!

[Bree]

Totally, I need to actually stop saying words like actually and totally. I totally forget how frequently I actually use them.

[C.D Buckmaster]

(1st post! No more lurking for me)

I overuse "which".

I also used had a bad habit of referring to characters impersonally with pronouns or with generic titles like "the man".

[:^)]

"I think this is blabla...",
"I think that blabla...",
"...blabla, I think.",

I always say I think things, when in fact I KNOW. It makes me feel stupid sometimes. But I guess I'm just trying to be humble.

I do this.

EXAMPLE

NO_CONFIDENCE MAN> I THINK MAYBE, ER... YOU SHOULD...
SUPER_FIANCE            > WHAT?
NO_CONFIDENCE MAN> UHHH...
SUPER_FIANCE            > GET IT OUT. JUST TALK TO ME.