/sci/ - Science & Math

Some common verbal pathologies that annoy me:

1. So, … (thoughtlessly at the beginning of every sentence)

2. Indeed, <banal restatement or amplification of the effete language in the previous sentence, else a point whose emphasis does not benefit the reader>

3. a kind of <something that is not “of” any relevant “kind” but is simply the precise thing the speaker is describing>

4. a sort of (see previous)

5. using “motivate” as though it is synonymous with “present evidence for” to make the next few otherwise uninteresting slides of your powerpoint more… (see next)

6. compelling (used as though someone told a robot what figurative language was)

7. …right? (at the end of every sentence. A specious rhetorical habit and a verbal crutch of countless modern academics)

The ABSOLUTE state of the social sciences