Resolutions and stuff or something
A few years ago, Fierce Brosnan and I started picking up on the way people couched sentences when they weren’t comfortable owning their opinions. Specifically, the endings “…or…” and “…so…” were all-too-common.
“Do you want to eat Chinese, or….?”
“I’m gonna go to the store, so…”
I didn’t use them much, but becoming acutely aware of them ensured that I never would. However, recently I noticed that I’ve developed a different bad habit: adding the phrase “or something” or “and stuff” to the end of a sentence.
“Maybe he just missed the bus or something.”
“Let’s have everyone meet at Grassroots for drinks and stuff.”
Agh!
So, although all self-improvement efforts are a continual process and have nothing to do with the calendar year, be it resolved:
- No more ending sentences with “or something”
- No more ending sentences with “and stuff”
For the record, the major, long-term communications battles currently underway include:
- Pause before answering a question
- Minimize filler words and phrases. Beyond “um” (Model UN nearly erradicated that in college), this includes sentence starters like “I mean,…” and “Yeah…”
- “Yes, and…” more conversations instead of re-directing them
- UPDATE: no more using the word “try” or any variation. Period. It has no meaning.
Merry Christmas and Happy Manischewitz.
