>So should 'fundamentally,'

no - "fundamentally flawed" e.g All green plants respire. Humans respire, therefore humans are green plants.

'chiefly,'

no - the main characteristics

'inherently,'

no - means ingrained, inborn, fixed

and 'essentially'

essentially, yes.

>be avoided as well?

The only time "basically" or "essentially" could be used correctly is like "A car is basically a metal box on wheels" Then LEAVE IT AT THAT!

But people don't. They say "Well, basically what I'm calling about is blah, blah, blah ..."

In the time it takes me to write this at least 2 of my colleagues are on the phone to clients, starting their soliloquies with "Basically ..." I'd hate to hear the details!!!!

>
>I disagree. If you say:
>
>"He is honest"
>
>that is not the same as saying:
>
>"He is basically honest"
>
>The latter describes his nature.

"He is honest" describes his nature
"He is being honest" states that what he is saying is the truth.
>
>
>>Tamar,
>>
>>You say:
>>
>>Avoid the word "utilize." There's no situation in which "utilize" is a better choice than "use."
>>
>>also while you're at it could you add to the article:
>>
>>Avoid the word "basically." There's no situation in which "basically" makes any difference to the sense of the sentence.
>>
>>
>>>>The moronic rule of thumb would appear to be "if the sentence requires a pronoun, replace it with one of those pronouns with 'self/selves' on the end"
>>>
>>>Yeah, drives me nuts, too. Here's what I have about this on my website (http://www.tomorrowssolutionsllc.com/writingtips.htm):
>>>
>>>Don't abuse the "self" words. These words ("myself," "yourself," etc.) belong in a sentence only if the corresponding pronoun has already appeared. For example, this is correct:
>>>
>>>"I'll take care of it myself."
>>>
>>>But this is wrong:
>>>
>>>"He had a meeting with John and myself."
>>>
>>>That should be:
>>>
>>>"He had a meeting with John and me."
>>>
>>>Tamar