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Replace the “very” in your sentence

losethevery.com

141–150 of 295 posts

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#141
post #135

If you're an ESL speaker or something thinking this will be useful, I'd suggest caution (heh, changed that from 'very wary'). Many of the proposed alternatives I saw clicking through 'random' have a subtlety or specificity that the original 'very adj' doesn't - so it sounds like you mean something you might not (probably don't) if you say 'colossal' instead of 'tall' or 'emaciated' instead of 'skinny' for example. An…

> If you're an ESL speaker or something thinking this will be useful, I'd suggest caution (heh, changed that from 'very wary').

I will suggest one more thing. Define an acronym, abbreviation once before usage.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#142

I ran a few words through and I am not willing to buy into the elimination of very. As noted (very or not) unique and incomparable are not the same. These words have nuanced differences. Every word I checked failed to provide the a proper equivalent. Context matters. very hard is not always demanding very clean =/= sparkling very old =/= ancient very dark =/= bleak

I think that is actually the motivation to avoid very. It's completely true, and important to note that "very clean" =/= "sparkling". "Very" simply intensifies the word "clean". "Sparkling" doesn't simply mean intensely clean. Instead it means (in context) that it is so clean that light reflects off the surface. It has a richer meaning. On the other hand the way the tool presents is not the most helpful. A list would…

An issue I have with this approach is the lack of gradation.

A very clean carpet might still not be spotless nor immaculate. You'd have to adjust and go for "almost spotless", but then is it still better than using "very" ?

Forcing people to think long and hard about the exact word they want to use is beneficial, but I'd expect we'd still fall back to modulators like "very" in most cases (the same way I'm cushioning this statement to avoid going to an extreme)

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#143
When you write something, what it is that you are doing, to put it very (clearly excessively) plainly, is selecting words that convey some meaning in some way that pleases you, the writer. Choose your words. You can try to choose words to please others if you like, but there's not much reason to expect success from such a strategy. Choose your words. Find your audience.

This might be a useful way to discover words for some writers. It's unfortunate that it also supports and validates the meme of this sort of very simplistic, trivial, easily parroted, stick-in-head, catchphrase-based writing advice meme.

The only way to write some sentences correctly is to use the word "only". And sometimes that that can't be removed, without changing the meaning. Or that's just the way you like it and that's that. It's like how premature optimisation is the root of all evil so you should never consider performance before the beta. Like adverbs, and starting sentences with a conjunction, or the inscrutable semicolon literal emdash all of these writing advice memes are very, very flawed.

Proponents of such things might claim that "obviously" you're (only) meant to apply such an intensely absolute rule where appropriate. Take chillpills, grandparent. I just hope that it's quite invisible that I find this somewhat hilarious, but also quite miserable.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#144
post #62

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.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/29/substitute-damn/

I'll give William Allen White this - of the available text on [1], I could only find one use of "very"[2] as an emphasiser which makes him somewhat of an outlier in the prescriptivist world (following his own advice.)

[1] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:William_Allen_White

[2] "It is a very important factor that he must weigh soberly ..."

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#145
post #135

If you're an ESL speaker or something thinking this will be useful, I'd suggest caution (heh, changed that from 'very wary'). Many of the proposed alternatives I saw clicking through 'random' have a subtlety or specificity that the original 'very adj' doesn't - so it sounds like you mean something you might not (probably don't) if you say 'colossal' instead of 'tall' or 'emaciated' instead of 'skinny' for example. An…

> If you're an ESL speaker or something thinking this will be useful, I'd suggest caution (heh, changed that from 'very wary'). I will suggest one more thing. Define an acronym, abbreviation once before usage.

I think it's widely known by English as a Second Language speakers, and it was only an example anyway, but sure, fair enough, thanks.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#146

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.

You don't think its relevant that advice about writing (purportedly) comes from an established writer?

Not to mention that giving people credit is always laudable and should be done much more, not less.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#147
post #126

I tried out "very tired" and got "exhausted", "spent" and "flagging". Obligatory caveat: I'm a second-language English speaker but I've been fluent for some twenty years and read and write English on a daily basis. I expected it to suggest "exhausted" but that just feels like a synonym (interestingly, "very exhausted" has no available suggestion). It also implies prior physical or mental effort, whereas "very tired"…

I think there are also all grades of intensity (in a somewhat confusing order) via fairly/quite/rather/pretty.

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#148

very + unique = incomparable Nice, although a rather large group of TV viewers of The West Wing know that "unique means one of a kind, something can't be very unique"[0]. It still amazes me how some of the quotes from that show stick with me all these years later. 0) https://youtu.be/Fvb1e4-YgRE?t=162 or the whole scene https://youtu.be/Fvb1e4-YgRE

Also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_generis

Re: Replace the “very” in your sentence

#150

"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

According to losethevery.com:

very + tired = spent

very + sad = miserable

I'm not sure which I prefer. You are going for a more specific word, so the accuracy depends on the context.

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