Never Use These Six Words

Here are six words you should never use in contests, promotions, ads or press releases:
- first
- only
- biggest
- smallest
- best
- greatest

There is always someone ready to point out something that is newer, bigger, smaller, better or greater.

Hi BL:

Nice post - I am rushing over to our pitch and creds decks to make sure none of those words are in there. Yikes!

TO'B

true, use those 6 and the mind races to disprove.

Yup. Long time pet peeve of mine. This is what I call "unfounded superlatives" or cotton candy marketing.

The one that really gets me, and is especially prevalent in the tech sector, is the utterly meaningless "a leading...", or worse, "the leading...". Leading how, exactly?

Great list, BL! And the accompanying image can't be beat. :)

Great post! Short and to the point.

I've got one to add: VERY. It's verbal filler, and it usually signifies that something better can be used in its place.

You left out 'unique'.

Thanks for the reminder!