It’s gotten so commonplace that most people don’t give it a second thought. Go to a convenience store, CVS, McDonalds, you name it, make a purchase and most assuredly the pleasantry you’ll receive upon completing the transaction is “have a good one”.

Have a good what? A good day? Good evening? Good vasectomy? Have we gotten so lazy (sorry, economical for the PC crowd out there) with our words that saying “have a good day” is such a burden? Perhaps so.

Now before you go off on me as being a complete old fogy from the “sir” and “ma’am” school, here’s my frame of reference with the “have a good one” phrase. Back in my high school days about a quarter of a century ago, it was a common expression for guys to say to other guys. Believe me, it had nothing to do with wishing one’s comrades a pleasant day. Okay, maybe it did, for the good one actually referred to your next sexual conquest.

Basically, “have a good one” was “hope you enjoy your next tumble in the backseat with Betty Lou”–even if you knew darn well your buddy had a better shot at having an actual good day.

Fast forward to present day and you can imagine why I’m troubled when the senior/teen cashier at Stop and Shop tells to me to “have a good one”.

Okay, so maybe everybody doesn’t have locker room banter as a frame of reference. I can appreciate that. Yet in an age where having simple, cordial service is nearly impossible, you can’t go one visit to a store without even the most snotty service person telling you to “have a good one”.

Not that we all wouldn’t enjoy a good one, that’s really nobody else’s business. But wouldn’t it be nice if all you “have a good one” service people would just finish the sentence. Wishing people a good morning, afternoon or evening is always good form.

Looking to tighten up the copy on your Web site or in your next sales letter or press release. Take a look at the number of times you use the word “that”. Nine times out of ten, it’s quite easy to take “that” out and have the sentence read just as well. Maybe even better.

For example:

Mary may want to limit the size of the gift so that the gifted interest is too small to constitute majority control of the business (more than 50 percent).

Now, without the “that”:

Mary may want to limit the size of the gift so the gifted interest is too small to constitute majority control of the business (more than 50 percent).

Did the sentence’s meaning change at all? Nope. In fact, taking “that” out makes it read a little better.

Now, for one small sentence, removing one word is not such a big deal. Over the course of an entire piece or Web site, it can make a big difference in readability.

Too many excess words can wear the reader out after awhile. Taking “that” out is one easy step to creating a better flow to your words.