Feynman never wrote "basically" — I checked all 88,000 words

A corpus analysis of about 88,000 words of Richard Feynman’s writing found that he never used “basically,” and words like “obviously” were rare.

The article argues that Feynman’s real teaching style was to start with concrete actions and observable effects, not abstract definitions.

He would show what the learner could see, admit uncertainty when needed, and only then name the concept.

The piece suggests effective explanation can be measured in language patterns, challenging vague rules about how to teach technical ideas.