Writing about "Stuff"

One thing that my writing students like to do to torture me is to write STUFF really big on my board. They know it’s one of my hate words.

Yes, I have “hate” words. There are certain words that I hate to see in writing, although please know now, every word has its place.

But because I am constantly looking at my student’s writing, there are some words I have come to hate.

Stuff is one of them. Its such a general word. Most of the time, students will use it a narrative story to describe what they are doing or what they are buying. They’ll use it like this: I went to the store, bought some stuff for the party, and went home.

In my head, I’m thinking about what kind of “stuff” they bought because no party is created equally. Instead of giving me lots of fun visual pictures of balloons, candles, and cake or fireworks, pinatas, and confetti, we are left with “stuff”.

Drives me crazy. Along with stuff, I have many other words I’ve added on my Rabe Hate list-

Got
Was
Is
Were
Are
Tweak-yes, I know this is random.

There’s a lot more, but I would love to hear what words bother you. What words do you hate to see in writing?