Ok death is harsh.
What I mean is… I need a nice, long vacation from these overused — sometimes incorrectly used — words.
You know how it is. You come across a word that just works. And you start using it again and again and again. It becomes your go-to word. You use it so you don’t have to actually think of something more descriptive, more clever, more creative. Before you know it, it’s basically meaningless.
Guilty.
I NEED to stop mindlessly uttering these in 2026…
Goodbye to…
- Intentional / intentionality
- Aesthetic
- Luxury
- Classic
- Elevated
Intentional is at the top of this list for a reason. It’s basically a fancier way of saying something is “on purpose”. Think about that… Especially as a creative person, how much do we do NOT on purpose? It’s almost rhetorical. It better be on purpose. Otherwise, wtf are we doing?!?
I believe overused words become a thing because we get lazy and don’t want to have to elaborate. We like an expedited version. But instead of being a quicker (less wordy) way to make our point, it becomes vague and makes us sound unoriginal.
Ok, so I’ve identified the words I’m going to (try to) stop using. But now what?
Instead…
I need to skip the overused word altogether, and replace it with a more thorough description. For example, why is it intentional? There has to be a reason you chose that title / that font / that design / those flowers / those colors / those photos… Tell the people!
Another example: “I love the aesthetic” turns into, “I love how fun and bright this is!” …or whatever description would be appropriate.
In Conclusion…
Enough’s enough. I hereby challenge myself to expand my vocabulary in 2026 and be more mindful of the words and descriptions I use, especially when describing designs and projects with clients. I need to be more intentional.
Haha just kidding, last time, I promise.
by Angela
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