Writing Standards Knowledge Pack Files

Banned Phrases

Categorized lists of phrases that signal AI-generated writing. Sourced from stop-slop.

Throat-Clearing Openers

Delete these entirely. Start with the actual content.

• "Here's the thing:"
• "Here's what [X]"
• "The uncomfortable truth is"
• "It turns out"
• "The real [X] is"
• "Let me be clear"
• "Can we talk about"
• "I want to talk about"
• "I've been thinking about"
• "There's something nobody talks about"
• "We need to talk about"
• "Let's be honest"
• "If I'm being honest"
• "The truth is"
• "Here's what most people get wrong"

Emphasis Crutches

These try to make a point land harder. If the point is good, it doesn't need the crutch.

• "Full stop." / "Period."
• "Let that sink in."
• "This matters because"
• "Make no mistake"
• "Here's why that matters"

Business Jargon → Plain English

Jargon	Replace with
Navigate	Handle, manage
Unpack	Explain
Lean into	Accept, embrace
Landscape	Situation, field, area
Game-changer	Significant, important
Deep dive	Analysis, close look
Circle back	Revisit, return to
Leverage	Use
Utilize	Use
Facilitate	Help
Optimize	Improve
Streamline	Simplify
Synergy	Cooperation, combined effort
Ecosystem	System, network
Paradigm	Model, approach
Holistic	Complete, full

Adverbs to Eliminate

Cut these or replace with stronger verbs. AI text uses adverbs as filler.

Almost always cuttable:

• Really, just, literally, genuinely, honestly
• Simply, actually, deeply, truly
• Fundamentally, inherently, inevitably
• Interestingly, importantly, crucially
• Essentially, basically, ultimately
• Significantly, dramatically, remarkably

Filler phrases built on adverbs:

• "At its core"
• "In today's [X]"
• "It's worth noting"
• "At the end of the day"
• "When it comes to"
• "In a world where"
• "The reality is"
• "In the grand scheme of things"
• "For all intents and purposes"
• "By and large"

Meta-Commentary

The writer commenting on their own writing. Delete.

• "Hint:"
• "Plot twist:"
• "Spoiler alert:"
• "But that's another post"
• "X is a feature, not a bug"
• "The rest of this essay explains..."
• "Let me walk you through..."
• "Before we go further..."
• "I'll explain why in a moment"
• "As I mentioned earlier"
• "As we'll see"

Performative Emphasis

Trying too hard to sound casual or authentic.

• "creeps in"
• "I promise"
• "They exist, I promise"
• "Trust me on this"
• "I can't stress this enough"

Telling Instead of Showing

Declaring the nature of the content instead of demonstrating it.

• "This is genuinely hard"
• "This is what leadership actually looks like"
• "actually matters"
• "truly important"
• "This is the kind of thing that..."

Vague Declaratives

Statements that sound profound but say nothing specific.

• "The reasons are structural"
• "The implications are significant"
• "The stakes are high"
• "The consequences are real"
• "The impact cannot be overstated"
• "This changes everything"
• "Everything is different now"

Sentence Starters to Avoid

These are common AI sentence openers. Restructure the sentence.

• All Wh- words at paragraph start: What, When, Where, Which, Who, Why, How
• "So" at paragraph start
• "Look," at sentence start
• "Now," at paragraph start
• "See," at sentence start
• "Again," at sentence start