The Stuff Things Are Made Of
On the first day of class, my 9th grade social studies teacher, Mr. Litivich, listed on the blackboard certain words we were not allowed to use. They mainly consisted of non-politically correct terms. A few, however, were words that he thought displayed laziness and lack of focus on the part of the speaker.
We were not allowed to use the words “stuff“, “thing“, or “um“.
“Stuff” and “thing” should always be substituted with the actual stuff or thing, he said. And while thinking of the appropriate words to use -- instead of using “stuff” or “thing” -- we better not delay with “um ... um ... um”. He'd prefer we remain completely silent.
To say the least, this on-going exercise definitely improved our speaking and thinking skills. How many good speakers do you know of who use “stuff”or “thing” or utter “um ... um ... um” while searching for the right words to use?
When I arrived at college, professor Samuel Pickering reiterated such sentiments in my Short Story class. This time the focus was on writing.
I've seen “stuff” and “thing” in enough articles to warrant this post. Not using these words is one of the easiest ways to improve the quality of your work, whether written or oral.