IKEA Words
Disclaimer: No editors were harmed in the making of the following paragraph.
At the end of the day, writing is a pain in the neck. You use every fiber of your being to think outside the box, but you get stuck in the mud. Every word feels like it’s on the tip of your tongue. To get the ball rolling, you reach for cliches — the low-hanging fruits of language — and your article becomes as dead as a doornail, as flat as a pancake. If you want your writing to show signs of life, start speaking from your heart. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you write, but if you go the extra mile, you might uncover a diamond in the rough.
That paragraph averages over two cliches per sentence. There’s no original language — just regurgitated, store-bought stuff. It’s like eating a frozen pizza and a pint-sized tub of tapioca pudding for dinner. Maybe that paragraph felt good going down, because every word was familiar, but what did you learn from it? How would you summarize it? Is it memorable?
That paragraph is full of ready-made phrases, which make your writing stale and leave your reader feeling uninspired. Write of Passage Editor and Cohort 7 alum Andrew Plainview coined the term “IKEA Words” to describe this type of language. (What an apt and unconventional metaphor!)
We’re all guilty of using cheap language sometimes. Like IKEA furniture, it’s quick and convenient. It’s minimal and efficient, and everyone (kind of) knows what you mean. But IKEA Words handicap your prose. It matters what words you use and what comparisons you make. Your word choice is the difference between delighting your reader and sending them skimming through your work. Even if you have a Nobel-Prize-level idea, it will feel unoriginal and fall short of its potential if you use IKEA Words.
IKEA Words fall into three main categories: cliches, idioms, and euphemisms.
- Cliches are ubiquitous, pithy phrases, like “better safe than sorry” or “no pain, no gain.”
- Idioms are specific phrases that make literally no sense unless you know their assigned meanings: “Go break a leg.” “I quit cold turkey.” “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
- Euphemisms are sayings that mask otherwise inappropriate or emotionally difficult topics: “He passed away.” “We had to put the dog down.” “They did the rumpy pumpy.” (That last one’s British.)
Now that you’re aware of IKEA Words, you’ll notice yourself reaching for them when you write. But don’t beat yourself up about it. As you’re drafting, just put the IKEA Words in brackets. Then, while you’re editing, swap them out for something more unique and surprising. Brainstorm a clever alternative to an overused cliche, search for a niche idiom, or make up your own euphemism.
Sorry for serving you an endless buffet of lazy language at the start of this email. But there’s good news: Maybe now you’ve lost your appetite for IKEA Words.
