April 07, 2005
Forbidden Blurbs

In the spirit of Matt Groening's Forbidden Words, I hereby forbid the following modifiers from all promotional and book-blurb copy that I write in the next 12 months:

moving
luminous
evocative
stunning
richly
brilliant
nail-biting
lofty
unforgettable
tender
vibrant

Also going out the door: the phrasing "that will change (his/her/their/its) lives forever."

Note to self: there is no way in hell you are going to pull this off.

Posted by BT at April 07, 2005 12:43 PM
Comments

more adjectives and adverbs:

grace/graceful
fierce/fiercely
fierce grace

searing
aching/achingly
deft/deftly

wise
spare

haunting

and what about the verbs?

weaves
interleaves
limns (of course)
crafts
etches
evokes
embroidered

and the ever-lovin' "deftly woven tapestry."

Ack, all words you'd find in personal ads of the middle-aged and midwestern.....

Posted by: ming on April 7, 2005 07:48 PM

bittersweet

Posted by: BitterScott on April 8, 2005 09:26 AM

incredibly

Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on April 8, 2005 11:08 AM

and no more goddam one-word restaurants, ESPECIALLY those followed by DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS of what teh word is, hoping to capitalize on some very slim tendril of double-entendre!

to wit:
location (yes, this really is a new place.)
tenement
craft
lassi
bed

Or you will gain my COMPLETE AND UTTER DISDAIN AND CONTEMPT.

Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on April 8, 2005 12:47 PM

How many copywriters does it take to change a lightbulb?

A vast and teeming horde, stretching from sea to shining sea!

Posted by: Scraps on April 8, 2005 03:43 PM

It goes without saying, but this is a great list.

Posted by: James on April 14, 2005 05:24 PM

But we need 'luminous' , unless you're actually going to be allowed to say 'revoltingly overwritten'. And don't forget 'exquisite', also a helpful consumer alert.

Posted by: rxb on April 18, 2005 10:51 PM