Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

writerswrite.co.za

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 156 posts

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#131

Post by gweinberg »

habosa wrote: post #100

When I was in high school we couldn't use the verb "to be" in assignments for English class. No is, am, are, was, were, has been, will be, etc. Of course this is overly restrictive, but 80-90% of the time there was a better way to phrase the sentence if you thought about removing the "be" verb. 10% of the time it was awkward, which sucked. Aside: also taught me that MS Word has a very advanced find feature where I co…

If you believe that, why did you use forms of "to be" just now? "when Im was in high school", "this is overly restrictive", "there was a better way", pretty much the only part of your post which would find favor with your English teacher was "it sucked".

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#132

Post by xvolter »

Have you ever read 1984. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak

I'm of the opinion we should dispose of useless words. Why even have the word terrified in the dictionary when you can use very afraid?

Very good and you'd use superb? Over the dozens of other words that can be used to replace good? I say get rid of them all. I'd also go with the idea of removing antonyms in exchange for un- prefixed words because you do have the issue that antonyms are not exact opposite.

You also have the issue with the comparisons that very can be less intensive. Very wet does not mean soaked. Additionally, being anxious modernly implies a mixture of stress, worry, possibly fright. Potentially changing your meaning is not usually desired.

However, this article only describes how to avoid using very, and that may be a good goal. There are many times when you can better describe your meaning without using very. However, you cannot do it in every instance.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#133

Post by rnprdk »

Perseids wrote: post #120
sliverstorm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ideally. But when I took my cross-discipline gen-ed requirements, I was pretty amazed how little & how low-quality writing was expected of at least some of the humanities first & second years. Not much chance for growth when assigning a two-page paper is enough to provoke upset.

Just as a clarification: Why do they ask for a minimum word count (or space count for that matter) and not for a minimum quality of the content. If students can accomplish the same with less words, then so be it.

I once had a professor who assigned regular essays with a maximum length of one properly formatted page. He was quite demanding, and I think I probably learned more about writing from those than most other multi-page assignments. He was also probably the most brilliant professor I'd had.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#134

Post by xvolter »

notlisted wrote: post #110

Let me disagree. Many words in the "rather say" column hinder clear communication. * If a dictionary visit is required, you've failed the audience. * If multiple interpretations are possible, you've failed yourself. Ex: - Sagacious is out of favor since 1920 (google ngram). - Solemn vs 'very serious' (implies religious aspects where there were none) - Accomplished vs 'very capable (implies having attained something,…

The article describes ways to avoid using very, not that you should replace every instance of very with another synonym. There are instances when you can easily replace "very XXX" with a more descriptive term.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#135

Post by rnprdk »

joesmo wrote: post #77
sabbatic13 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rules like these aren't really good guide to style though. They are the sort of guidelines suited to curing teenagers of bad habits. That's the problem I have with articles like these. They aren't adult discussions of language; they do not teach effective writing, and do not promote an understanding of language. One should ideally outgrow such pedagogy by one's second year of college.

In this case, the rule is just not to use the word "very." I can't think of a single context where "very" doesn't degrade from the semantics and syntax of a sentence. I think this rule is appropriate to any and every style.

"Very" is a fine word. There's nothing about it that inherently "degrades semantics and syntax." In fact, I think that's probably a meaningless statement. How could it possibly degrade syntax?

It can also be used quite stylishly. Most words can.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#137

Post by emmelaich »

The old 'diction' command distributed the Writers Workbench on Unix systems of yore had this warning (among many others). I used it a lot!

    http://www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/diction/diction.1.html
I think its available in source but a quick web search didn't find such.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#138

Post by Timmmmbob »

notlisted wrote: post #110

Let me disagree. Many words in the "rather say" column hinder clear communication. * If a dictionary visit is required, you've failed the audience. * If multiple interpretations are possible, you've failed yourself. Ex: - Sagacious is out of favor since 1920 (google ngram). - Solemn vs 'very serious' (implies religious aspects where there were none) - Accomplished vs 'very capable (implies having attained something,…

Only an idiot would think she was suggesting blindly replacing every instance of "very capable" with accomplished. Clearly they are merely suggestions to consider.

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#139

Post by redblacktree »

thirsteh wrote: post #126
notlisted wrote: post #110

Let me disagree. Many words in the "rather say" column hinder clear communication. * If a dictionary visit is required, you've failed the audience. * If multiple interpretations are possible, you've failed yourself. Ex: - Sagacious is out of favor since 1920 (google ngram). - Solemn vs 'very serious' (implies religious aspects where there were none) - Accomplished vs 'very capable (implies having attained something,…

It's a bad idea to encrypt passwords, but that's beside the point. > If a dictionary visit is required, you've failed the audience. If you take this to its logical conclusion, we end up in a world where English ceases to be the language of Shakespeare and more like dogespeak. No one will be morose anymore, just very sad, and no one will know what it means to be awestruck. Someone will always need a dictionary. That s…

double plus ungood!

Re: Ways to avoid using the word 'very'

#140

Post by notlisted »

thirsteh wrote: post #126
notlisted wrote: post #110

Let me disagree. Many words in the "rather say" column hinder clear communication. * If a dictionary visit is required, you've failed the audience. * If multiple interpretations are possible, you've failed yourself. Ex: - Sagacious is out of favor since 1920 (google ngram). - Solemn vs 'very serious' (implies religious aspects where there were none) - Accomplished vs 'very capable (implies having attained something,…

It's a bad idea to encrypt passwords, but that's beside the point. > If a dictionary visit is required, you've failed the audience. If you take this to its logical conclusion, we end up in a world where English ceases to be the language of Shakespeare and more like dogespeak. No one will be morose anymore, just very sad, and no one will know what it means to be awestruck. Someone will always need a dictionary. That s…

Ooopsie. Deleted the word 'intended'.

Write for your intended audience and not people like you/your friends (or english professor). In our international/global economy the audience often extends to non-native English speakers. Simple words on e-commerce sites generate more international sales.

PS Morose is not "very sad" :-)

Post reply on HN