--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She kept . . . using the, well, the quote…" description: "\"“She kept . . . using the, well, the quote L-word itself several times without irony or any evident awareness that the word has through tactical over-d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg" --- # She kept . . . using the, well, the quote L-word itself… ![“She kept . . . using the, well, the quote L-word itself several times without irony or any evident awareness that the word has through tactical over-deployment become trite and requires invisible quotes around it now at the very least.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg) > ““She kept . . . using the, well, the quote L-word itself several times without irony or any evident awareness that the word has through tactical over-deployment become trite and requires invisible quotes around it now at the very least.”” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Overusing a cliché term without awareness can make it feel stale, requiring extra framing to convey meaning. **In simple terms:** Clichés become trite without awareness. Key Takeaway Use language consciously. Themes language cliché awareness communication literature Mood analytical critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - editing - public speaking - media analysis Key Concepts semantic saturation irony authenticity Questions to Reflect On - When does repetition become effective? - How can you revitalize overused terms? A Different Perspective The critique may dismiss intentional stylistic choices that serve a purpose. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Invisible Quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisible-quotes-5761794/) [Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept/) [Quote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quote/) [Quote Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quote-word-4089043/) [Word Tactical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-tactical-5761793/) ## Related quotes > [“It seems every time I try to add a quote, some word comes out wrong. No, I am not dyslexic, I just have fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-hotaling/it-seems-every-time-i-try-to-add-a-quote-some-word-comes-out-wrong-no/) [Kerry Hotaling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-hotaling/) > [I always kept my expectations in life very tame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-gadsby/i-always-kept-my-expectations-in-life-very-tame/) [Hannah Gadsby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-gadsby/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She kept laughing all the way to her car, but I couldn’t move.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tijan/she-kept-laughing-all-the-way-to-her-car-but-i-couldn-t-move/) [Tijan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tijan/) > [My mother sent me to speech classes, but the other kids still teased me. I was shy. I stooped. Instead of talking, I kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colman-domingo/my-mother-sent-me-to-speech-classes-but-the-other-kids-still-teased/) [Colman Domingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colman-domingo/) > [I hit Damian Fuller with a left hook that left him laid out for 30-45 minutes. They brought oxygen to him, they couldn't wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-corrales/i-hit-damian-fuller-with-a-left-hook-that-left-him-laid-out-for-30-45/) [Diego Corrales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-corrales/) > [I wanted to be champ of the world, but I kept hoping something would happen to Frazier. I didn't want to fight him. Nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-foreman/i-wanted-to-be-champ-of-the-world-but-i-kept-hoping-something-would/) [George Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-foreman/) > [People kept asking, 'What's your market?' I've got no idea at all other than me, an eleven year old kid in a 56-year-old body.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graeme-base/people-kept-asking-what-s-your-market-i-ve-got-no-idea-at-all-other/) [Graeme Base](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graeme-base/) > [It is interesting that Nehru fought and kept saying that if you break India into languages, there is no end to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shekhar-kapur/it-is-interesting-that-nehru-fought-and-kept-saying-that-if-you-break/) [Shekhar Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shekhar-kapur/) > [“But as long as he kept on caring, nothing could touch the freedom of his inner thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-engdahl/but-as-long-as-he-kept-on-caring-nothing-could-touch-the-freedom-of/) [Sylvia Engdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-engdahl/) > [What I love most about Her Majesty is that she has kept hats alive in people's minds for more than 60 years. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/what-i-love-most-about-her-majesty-is-that-she-has-kept-hats-alive-in/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“man she loved. Of course, one decision didn’t banish all the other doubts, but if she kept her gaze on God’s plan for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/staci-stallings/man-she-loved-of-course-one-decision-didn-t-banish-all-the-other/) [Staci Stallings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/staci-stallings/) > [I was in high school and I had an independent album out, and we kept sending that out, and I was doing shows. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-was-in-high-school-and-i-had-an-independent-album-out-and-we-kept/) [Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/) ## More by David Foster Wallace > [“I felt more solidly composed, now that I was horizontal. I was impossible to knock down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-more-solidly-composed-now-that-i-was-horizontal-i-was/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/we-all-have-our-little-solipsistic-delusions-ghastly-intuitions-of/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It's no accident that in a bureaucracy getting fired is called 'termination,' as in ontological erasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-no-accident-that-in-a-bureaucracy-getting-fired-is-called/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Footnote: 79) The anchor is gigantic and must weigh a hundred tons, and -- delightfully -- it really is anchor-shaped, i.e. the same shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/footnote-79-the-anchor-is-gigantic-and-must-weigh-a-hundred-tons-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. The suppressed awareness that the whole reason ordinary people found celebrity fascinating was that they were not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-paradoxical-intercourse-of-audience-and-celebrity-the-suppressed/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“I am coming to see that the sensation of the worst nightmares, a sensation that can be felt asleep or awake, is identical to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-am-coming-to-see-that-the-sensation-of-the-worst-nightmares-a/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“He cranks the condo’s AC way down at night and still most mornings wakes up soaked, fetally curled, entombed in that kind of psychic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/he-cranks-the-condo-s-ac-way-down-at-night-and-still-most-mornings/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“If you’re subjected to enough great salesmen and salespitches and marketing concepts for long enough—like from your earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, let’s say—it is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/if-you-re-subjected-to-enough-great-salesmen-and-salespitches-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Why is the truth usually not just un- but anti-interesting?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/why-is-the-truth-usually-not-just-un-but-anti-interesting/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“She almost reminds the engineer of certain types in high school whom everyone adored because you sensed it made no difference to them whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-almost-reminds-the-engineer-of-certain-types-in-high-school-whom/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [To be, in a word, unborable… It is the key to modern life. If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-be-in-a-word-unborable-it-is-the-key-to-modern-life-if-you-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It is within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-within-your-power-to-experience-a-crowded-loud-slow-consumer/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The happy pleasure of the person alone, yes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-happy-pleasure-of-the-person-alone-yes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/there-is-such-a-thing-as-raw-unalloyed-agendaless-kindness/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Explore all 999 David Foster Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More Kept quotes > [I was in high school and I had an independent album out, and we kept sending that out, and I was doing shows. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-was-in-high-school-and-i-had-an-independent-album-out-and-we-kept/) [Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/) > [“man she loved. Of course, one decision didn’t banish all the other doubts, but if she kept her gaze on God’s plan for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/staci-stallings/man-she-loved-of-course-one-decision-didn-t-banish-all-the-other/) [Staci Stallings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/staci-stallings/) > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [What I love most about Her Majesty is that she has kept hats alive in people's minds for more than 60 years. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/what-i-love-most-about-her-majesty-is-that-she-has-kept-hats-alive-in/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [“But as long as he kept on caring, nothing could touch the freedom of his inner thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-engdahl/but-as-long-as-he-kept-on-caring-nothing-could-touch-the-freedom-of/) [Sylvia Engdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-engdahl/) > [It is interesting that Nehru fought and kept saying that if you break India into languages, there is no end to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shekhar-kapur/it-is-interesting-that-nehru-fought-and-kept-saying-that-if-you-break/) [Shekhar Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shekhar-kapur/) > [People kept asking, 'What's your market?' I've got no idea at all other than me, an eleven year old kid in a 56-year-old body.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graeme-base/people-kept-asking-what-s-your-market-i-ve-got-no-idea-at-all-other/) [Graeme Base](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graeme-base/) > [I wanted to be champ of the world, but I kept hoping something would happen to Frazier. I didn't want to fight him. Nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-foreman/i-wanted-to-be-champ-of-the-world-but-i-kept-hoping-something-would/) [George Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-foreman/) > [I hit Damian Fuller with a left hook that left him laid out for 30-45 minutes. They brought oxygen to him, they couldn't wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-corrales/i-hit-damian-fuller-with-a-left-hook-that-left-him-laid-out-for-30-45/) [Diego Corrales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-corrales/) > [My mother sent me to speech classes, but the other kids still teased me. I was shy. I stooped. Instead of talking, I kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colman-domingo/my-mother-sent-me-to-speech-classes-but-the-other-kids-still-teased/) [Colman Domingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colman-domingo/) > [“She kept laughing all the way to her car, but I couldn’t move.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tijan/she-kept-laughing-all-the-way-to-her-car-but-i-couldn-t-move/) [Tijan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tijan/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I always kept my expectations in life very tame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-gadsby/i-always-kept-my-expectations-in-life-very-tame/) [Hannah Gadsby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-gadsby/) > [When I was in Greenough, Montana, I came across a bear cub. I was off this path, and I thought, If there's a bear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-roker/when-i-was-in-greenough-montana-i-came-across-a-bear-cub-i-was-off/) [Al Roker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-roker/) [Browse all 817 Kept quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She kept . . . using the, well, the quote L-word itself several times without irony or any evident awareness that the word has through tactical over-deployment become trite and requires invisible quotes around it now at the very least.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word-itself-several-times-without/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Kept" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word-itself-several-times-without/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/david-foster-wallace-161_kept_she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word_2357557.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She kept . . . using the, well, the quote L-word itself several times without irony or any evident awareness…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Foster Wallace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“She kept . . . using...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word-itself-several-times-without/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-kept-using-the-well-the-quote-l-word-itself-several-times-without/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```