From the second section of Strunk and White’s English usage bible The Elements Of Style:
Omit needless words.
Harold Ross, the founding editor of The New Yorker, wrote in a memo to his staff, “The next writer around here who uses ‘upcoming’ will be outgoing.”
That’s a good word to put at the top of a list of needless, overused and annoying words and phrases. Here is the first dozen.
upcoming
absent (as a preposition)
area (as an adjective)
as it were
at this point in time
case in point
if you will
like (as an interjection)
ongoing
the likes of
that said
y’know
Edwin Newman of NBC News recalled the time a man he was interviewing told him, “Well, y’know, y’never know, y’know.”
The Rifftides staff solicits your suggestions for additions to the list.