Leah Peters, a sociology student, learned about the use of taboo words the hard way. In the first year of college, she was struggling with the grades of her assignments.
When she tried figuring out what the problem was, she found that her teacher had circled multiple random words with red ink. On asking her teacher, she discovered that those circled words were actually taboo words that aren’t supposed to be used in assignment help writing.
There are countless students like Leah who use taboo words that affect their grades. The taboo words or phrases can be anything too informal, vague, or subjective. Read on to gather more ideas about the hardest taboo words and how to avoid them in your papers.
Types of Taboo Words with Examples
You’ll find a list of taboo words divided into different types in the categories mentioned below.
· Too Informal
Academic writing is essentially more formal in approach than the writing we come across in non-academic materials (including in web pages or blogs). Academic writing is more formal than the language we use when we normally speak.
For instance, words like a bit, a lot of, contradictions like can’t or won’t are considered too informal for a dissertation or any other academic paper. So, when writing a sentence you can replace a lot of with several or multiple. Similarly, you can change isn’t to is not or can’t to cannot.
Some words or phrases are often acceptable in some contexts, but when applied at the beginning of a sentence, they turn out to be too informal. Proper transition words can be applied to replace such words at the beginning of the sentence or completely remove them. In the case of informal taboo word examples, you can consider replacing also with moreover/furthermore, or replacing so with, therefore.
· Too Vague
Using too many vague terms makes your academic paper sloppy and may cause people to interpret it in different ways. Always ensure that your writing is as specific as possible. For example, you can replace words like stuff, things with problems or evidence/details respectively.
· Too Unsophisticated
Excessive use of random and simple terms can make your writing feel less serious, so you must not overuse them. It’s also better to switch phrasal verbs with their one-word alternatives.
That said, some of the phrases and terms stated below do have a place in academic writing. For instance, writing “Table B presents an overview of…” or “Figure 4 indicates that…” from time to time alright fine. Remember that more complex words aren’t necessarily better than shorter words: good academic writing must be concise and use varied language.
· Too Exaggerated
Academic writing happens to be direct and uncomplicated most of the time. Some adverbs of frequency (like always and never), superlatives (like best or greatest), and intensifiers (words that are used to emphasize, such as very) often tend to be dramatic.
They may not be entirely incorrect, after all, you’re making a significant claim when you say something is perfect or never happens. These words do sometimes add value, but it’s wise to use them sparingly.
· Too Subjective
Some phrases and terms highlight your own bias. For example, if you mention that something will obviously happen, you’re indicating that you think the occurrence is too obvious and you’re not stating a fact.
Elaborating on your opinion is acceptable in several sections of a thesis and in specific types of academic text (like personal statements and argumentative or reflective essays). However, in many cases, you need to be careful when using words and phrases that are too subjective. You should let the facts speak for themselves, or emphasize your point with a less biased approach.
· Generally Unnecessary
You should aim for making your academic papers as concise as possible. Don’t include words and phrases that don’t add any meaning to the sentences, even if you think they provide your writing a more refined feel.
For example, instead of writing “the research paper has got six chapters”, write “the research paper has six chapters.”
· Generally Incorrect
Some words and phrases are often used inaccurately, even by native speakers of a language. If you continue to make such mistakes, you may start assuming they are correct. But it’s vital that you don’t repeat them while writing your papers.
You must also remember that some of these mistakes are connected to things we all frequently mishear. For instance, we often think the speaker is saying would of instead of would have.
Other Tips on Use of Taboo Words
You must also avoid incorporating words and phrases that fall in the following categories:
- Clichés: These are excessively used expressions like thinking outside the box, or at the end of the day.
- Jargon: Technical terminologies that the laymen wouldn’t be familiar with.
- Abbreviations used regular conversations: Like fridge, photo, TV etc.
- The language with gender-biased: Like firemen, sportsmen
Endnote,
Academic writing happens to be more formal and concise. Hence, the use of taboo words or phrases is often frowned upon. These words hamper the effectiveness of the written text by introducing unnecessary, vague, informal, exaggerated, or inaccurate elements.
Gain insights on the Taboo Words from the Writers at MyAssignmenthelp.com
Whether you’re working on an essay or a dissertation, the one thing that remains constant in every type of academic document is the use of language. You probably know that academic writing calls for a formal tone and style of writing. But what many of you may not know is how to use the right to make your papers come across as formal. This is when availing of the assistance of MyAssignmenthelp.com always pays off well.
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