Niche Businesses Should Ditch The Word ‘Authentic’

How The Word Authentic Lost Its Meaning

"Authentic" has been floating around as a minor brand buzzword for a decade, so seeing it awarded as Merriam-Webster's Word Of The Year 2023 was eye-opening. The dictionary gave it first place due to the extraordinary amount of times it was looked up.

The Oxford English Dictionary said that the word authentic appears about 10 times per million words in modern written English. That is huge for one word. Huge.

It is also bad news for businesses using it to describe their company or products. If you’re using authentic as main adjective, I’m going to help you fix that and stand out from the flock again.

Overuse Is Overkill

The Merriam-Webster award signifies that the word is now overused and that brands claiming to be authentic have become unintentionally unoriginal. Or inauthentic, or unauthentic – take your pick. Both spellings are acceptable, unlike actually being described as either.

Overuse diminishes impact until a word becomes weightless and barely registers with the reader.

And hell, who wants that? 

If you’re in any doubt, just look what happened to “literally”.

For full disclosure - I've used the word myself. When ChapGPT launched, I wrote a blog called Write Like A Human To Sound Authentic. Forgive me. It was a moment in time, and we writers were raging against the machine. 

Why Authenticity Is A Buzzword You Should Ditch

Buzzwords shmuzwords. Buzzwords might make you feel part of a club, but are mostly just plain lazy. At their worst, buzzwords can make an individualistic business sound no different to their competitors. In the end, everyone sounds the same.

Authenticity has become just another common buzzword and is a linguistic trap. Any buzzword quickly becomes entrenched in everyday business lingo, and before you know it, it's hard to circle back and think outside the box for an alternative phrase for "low-hanging fruit".

Damn you, buzzwords. Damn you.

Top Tips And Imaginative Alternative Words 

If you run an individualist brand or niche business and are busy bucking trends, now is the time to use another word to impart your unique credentials. 

Finding fresh ways to describe your sincerity and originality is easier than you think, so fear not! 

You can head over to your favourite dictionary and thesaurus or scroll down for a whole heap of new words you can use.

Let's go:

Three Common Ways To Use The Word Authentic 

I'm not teaching your great gran to darn socks, so stay with me. The meaning of the word authentic is nuanced depending on context:

1) Real / not fake / not imitation / genuine, e.g. authentic Dr. Marten boots.

2) Sincerely staying true to beliefs, spirit or character, e.g. Greta Thunberg is an authentic climate activist.

3) Conforming to something widely accepted, e.g. the pub served authentically British ales.

Here's A Cheat Sheet of Alternative Words To Help You Stand Out

Companies commonly waving an authenticity banner can be divided into five main categories. 

Decide which one you are, and check out some alternative words. 

I have thrown in some cheeky phrases if your brand is edgy or brave.

1. 1. Ethical and Fair Trade Brands: Other phrases instead of authentic could be:

• bona fide

• incontestably honourable 

• conscientiously transparent

• card-carrying

• fair-dinkum-fair

• *ethentical

*yep. E-thent-i-cal is a marriage of authentic + ethical. It's yours if you’d like it.

• 2. Purpose-Driven Brands: For brands that walk the talk and bring the rest of us along with them, these replacement phrases and words will resonate with fresh meaning:

• intentional / intentionally

• tubthumping

• irrefutable / irrefutably

• real is rare

• trustful

• morally pledged

• insanely committed

• unwaveringly impactful

1. 3. Artisanal producers, handcrafters, and vintage sellers:  Claiming authenticity guarantees that the items or materials are genuine / not fake. Try these words instead:

• true

• veritably verifiable

• de facto

• Legitimate

• Honest to goodness

• (and of course... ) pukka 

1. 4. Small and Independent Businesses: For these businesses, authenticity implies that business owners and founders dance to their own tune and provide services with a personal touch while staying true to their core values.

• genuine

• unvarnished (truth)

• ultra solid

• unfiltered

• real and earnest

• earnestly earnest

• unwavering

1. 5. Traditional and Heritage Businesses: Companies that celebrate and preserve culture, heritage, or traditional craftsmanship are spoiled for choice for alternatives for authenticity. Try these for starters:

• nostalgically reliable

• stable and solid

• tried and true

• comfortingly steadfast  

• reassuringly conventional

Your First Job: Screw Running With The Inauthentic Herd

It’s time to go forth and be your most original self and ditch the words that don’t serve you.

1. First, scan all your digital communications, websites, bios, and tag-lines for offending words.

2. Set about replacing it.

You won’t regret it, and the gods of vocabulary and niches will appreciate your attention to detail.

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Thank you for reading. I hope it’s been useful. And help yourself to “ethentical”.

If you’re pondering hiring a freelance copywriter or blogger, drop me a friendly line to arrange a no-pressure expectation-setting chat. It’s good to talk.