As someone who talks for a living, I try to be very aware of the word choices that I make. That means that I have three or four different replacements for certain words or phrases. Instead of “I don’t know”, I will say “I’m not 100% certain.” Instead of “wrong”, I will say “incorrect.” And in most cases, I avoid the word “actually” entirely, choosing to use “in truth”, “in fact”, or a good ol’ “if truth be told.” The A-word has been so warped by misuse that it has become shorthand for “gatekeeping jerk”, especially if you add “Um” to the beginning, leading to today’s verily, forsooth, as a matter of fact query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) also likes “indeed”, though many of my friends and co-hosts use it as well, asking: Are there any non-offensive words or phrases that you nonetheless choose not to use due to subtle connotations, such as “actually?”
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A lot, I feel like. First and foremost is probably “in my opinion”. Like, who’s opinion you expect it to be? Bob’s from next door, I just felt like typing it even if its not what I think at all?