Well, Barry Davret, I’m sure all editors have had writers who use a word or phrase excessively, and I promise you we can know you, like you, and trust you — and still be honest. As you point out, we’re all guilty of this.

One of my favorite authors just LOVES “each and every one,” which really does grate on me. Pick two of the four words! He also loves “that being said,” or “as I said before,” and yes, I do a search/find for all those to save my soul and my sanity — and his writing.

Other than those issues, he is an excellent writer.

But it’s a wise person who checks for words that pop up repeatedly in his or her writing and see if there are some synonyms that would also work.

Congrats to your editor for helping you look and sound as smart as you are!