After Willis Gramwell finished teaching his last-period English class, he stopped at the furniture store to buy chairs and a table for his dining room.
He recognized the young clerk at the check-out counter. Her smile might have meant she had enjoyed being in his class. Or was she happy to be on the other side of the counter, graduated and free from his grammar rules?
“Mr. Gramwell,” she said, “would you like want to pay with like a credit card or cash?”
You can take the teacher out of the class, but you can’t take the teaching out of the teacher.
“Oh, like yes,” he said. “I’d like to like use my like credit card.”
Willis Gramwell walked out the door smiling, knowing his student would now be bothered by her overuse of “like.”
Pay attention to overused words and clichès. The more you notice them, the more they will bother you. Then they will naturally fade away, making room for better words.
