Troy, my friend
- As long as there is an internet, there will be people who know best. It's all Bullsh*t of course. Nobody except the Search Engines can say for sure what is, or is not acceptable. And that changes weekly.
It's my understanding that many [not all] SEs start to penalise you if you repeat the same WORD more than 3 times in your keyword list. Others as many as five before you get graded down.
I am of the opinion that a couple of phrases are sufficient, and all the "real words" should be in text on your page.
Just what I think, anyway