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0 I read an article that said you should avoid certain words in writing such as really, you, feel, think, as, a lot, sort of, kind of, like, just, used to. I think the intention is to be more direct and succinct. My problem is not so much my writing but the spoken word, I'd like to improve my spoken vocabulary by replacing common empty words or phrases with more intelligent descriptions. But what words should you replace them with without sounding pretentious? Is there a valuable guide out there on the interwebs that would help someone improve their speaking skills in this manner? synonyms vocabulary resources share | improve this question asked yes...