Replace the “very” in your sentence • Hacker News Board

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#111

Post by derbOac » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 1:08 AM UTC

djur wrote: post #72

wizofaus wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great movie but not the best advice - "morose" doesn't even mean "very sad", it means ill-tempered/in a bad mood. I wouldn't even say there is one good word that means "very sad", but "morose" is definitely not it. The site in question came up with "inconsolable", but that's hardly appropriate if you're talking about "very sad news" (after a few attempts it come back with "somber" which at least sort of works in that…

I think that's the point -- "very sad" is unpoetical because it doesn't convey anything more than "sad", which is itself a generic word. If you're writing poetry or fiction you want to be describing emotional states more interesting than "sad". The important corollary here is that not all language needs to be poetical. It's OK to use generic language in a lot of situations. Sometimes "I'm very sorry to hear that ____…

"Very sad" is simple and to the point. There's many situations where anything else would sound inauthentic.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#112

Post by Vox_Leone » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 1:14 AM UTC

wizofaus wrote: post #61

alibrarydweller wrote: post #14

"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays." -- The Dead Poets Society

Great movie but not the best advice - "morose" doesn't even mean "very sad", it means ill-tempered/in a bad mood. I wouldn't even say there is one good word that means "very sad", but "morose" is definitely not it. The site in question came up with "inconsolable", but that's hardly appropriate if you're talking about "very sad news" (after a few attempts it come back with "somber" which at least sort of works in that…

Not meant to school or lecture anyone, but ‘morose’ stems from the Latin ‘mora’, meaning ‘delay', something slow. Examples from Latin.: _mora solvendi_ (delay in paying), _compensatio morae_ (compensation for the delay).

I believe that the original meaning is lost [or warped at least] when it becomes synonymous with bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, depressing...

But since it means ‘slow’ it also relates to blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic[0].

[0]https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/morose

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#113

Post by casey2 » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 1:37 AM UTC

Mystik

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#114

Post by jagged-chisel » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 2:09 AM UTC

alibrarydweller wrote: post #14

"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays." -- The Dead Poets Society

It’s fine to write like this to the local English-speaking team. But the international team can’t parse through the pulchritudinous prose.

“Very sad” it is, then, on the technical Slack.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#115

Post by makeitdouble » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 2:48 AM UTC

me_again wrote: post #51

Mark Twain supposedly said: Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'. Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

Quotes don't need the potential author cited. Your advice works whoever told it, especially if you actually stand behind it and we'll take it as your word then.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#116

Post by fzil » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 3:18 AM UTC

jagged-chisel wrote: post #114

alibrarydweller wrote: post #14

"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays." -- The Dead Poets Society

It’s fine to write like this to the local English-speaking team. But the international team can’t parse through the pulchritudinous prose. “Very sad” it is, then, on the technical Slack.

> pulchritudinous

wow, that's some word of the year type shit. it means "beautiful" for those who were about to look it up.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#117

Post by nicbou » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 3:41 AM UTC

This is good advice with one exception: if you write plain English for non-native speakers.

I use "very" a lot, because it's a well-understood modifier. "very bad" is cleared than "appalling". It will be understood by all without needing a large vocabulary.

An alternative is to use the "plus-" and "doubleplus-" prefixes.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#118

Post by nicbou » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 3:46 AM UTC

lintroller wrote: post #35

nomel wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big words better. How else will you immediately judge someone's intellect?

Accuracy and precision is vital in communication. I agree that the speaker does have a responsibility to know his audience and shouldn't use fancy words to project intellect, education, or status. However, if there is an opportunity to be more exact, one should take it without remorse.

What about clarity? Small words that are understood by all are sometimes better, especially if you're not reading for entertainment.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#119

Post by nicbou » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 3:47 AM UTC

crtified wrote: post #54

When emphasising language becomes habitual, it's intended impact may actually be lessened, by way of the "boy crying wolf" effect. That is, if everything is described as "very" and "really" and "actually", then those emphasisers no longer stand out. We start to ignore them, and the collective energy spent writing them is somewhat wasted. So I say: let a standalone word suffice, whenever possible. Save emphasis for ap…

> somewhat wasted

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#120

Post by creatonez » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 5:12 AM UTC

jagged-chisel wrote: post #114

alibrarydweller wrote: post #14

"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays." -- The Dead Poets Society

It’s fine to write like this to the local English-speaking team. But the international team can’t parse through the pulchritudinous prose. “Very sad” it is, then, on the technical Slack.

This also seems to reflect the debate on agglutinative vs. isolating languages, or at least languages with more words vs. less words. One style is great for creative prose and philosophy, the other is practical for real world communication with those with varying skill levels.

See Lojban for a very practical and clear language, which only allows you to create words packed with too much meaning when you are constructing metaphors using rafsi forms.