As a personal thing, I've always detested that usage of the word big. More so than any of these 'very' replacements, there are so many words available to convey the meaning of that big.
It is definitely not a grammatical issue, but it a good rule of thumb for writing, particularly academic writing. One of the first things that was drilled into me as an English major was to drop, "very," and find a better adjective.
Also, yeah, a lot of these are very poor matches, especially without context, but one of my favorite things about the English language is that it is a very large, redundant language, but none of our words have the exact same connotation. Big, large, huge, enormous, gigantic, tremendous, mammoth, gargantuan, and humongous are all technically synonyms, but all conjure different images in the reader.
But yeah, telling someone to say, "fragile," instead of, "very weak," is dumb, given they could mean, "delicate," or, "feeble." And if you're not writing a term paper, just say, "very."
I've never been too interested in Australia, but after becoming the world's foremost expert on Bluey, I'm starting to like it more and more. May have to visit one day.
Bluey is heavily edited for international audiences. It's mostly all the swearing that's removed, but not exclusively.
The season 3 episode βThe Deciderβ is 12 minutes longer in Australia. As the game goes on, Bandit and Lucky start pounding the rum and cokes and eventually start punching on.
There was also an entire sub plot of Chilli trying to sneak off to punch a few cones that had to be cut for overseas audiences.
I did end up finding a blu-ray version torrent that's less censored than the streaming version, but nowhere could I find any version of that episode where Lucky's Dad and Bandit get properly wasted. Only a 20 second difference in length.
I teach foreign language students and they often write about how their food was "very delicious", and it always sounds so jarring to me. There are a lot of really strong words that native speakers tend to not use very with.
eg:
very difficult task / very monumental task
very good cooking / very superb cooking
very happy man / very elated man
For some reason intensifiers like so and such don't have those restrictions:
The task was very/so monumental.
It was very/such superb cooking.
He was very/so elated.
I reserve sweltering for when you can see the heat waves in the air. It is a great word. New mexico is a weird one though, being high desert, right? Ya'll actually get a wildly cold winter, don't you?
68/20 isn't chilly - it's room temperature during Winter. (Also, 75/24 is room temperature in Summer and whatever-temp-it-is-outside is room temperature during Spring and Autumn.)
How can 78/25 be warm, but 28/82 (dry) is "little warm"?
It's said in the same manner as a mild sarcasm. I'm not sure the word for it, but deliberate understatement that specifically plays on it being hotter than 'warm' is.
As far as 20/68 being chilly, to me it's downright hellish. During the summer, we would keep the house temps around 85/30, because you'd be so used to the sweat and heat of the sun that it wasn't too bad with a light fan... and that was in the houses lucky enough to have heating/cooling. The rest just made do with shade and designs that promoted a breeze.
Anyway, as I said, this is a hot climate's weather terms. If you were able to keep the room temperature the same as the outside in spring or autumn, you probably aren't in a hot climate.
We have long stretches of 90/32+ and high humidity in the Summer and long stretches of <30/-1 in Winter. And our Spring and Autumn are both notoriously ephemeral, so those rules only apply for a few days to a week most years.
90+ is cute. ;) I once lived in an apartment without AC because a roommate and I were trying to get out on our own. I went up there early to start working during the summer, and the city set its record for longest period where it never (even at night) got below 90. I was working for some rich girls with horses, so the days freaking sucked, and the only relief I got was the short showers. I think we usually hit 90 during the day by february. I've moved away because screw all that. I can't imagine what it's like now as the average temperatures keep climbing.
Without being specific (some family is still there and it's small enough I'm identifiable by this account), it's near the tropic of cancer, and a pretty decent sized body of water.
Dunno if it is me, non-native English speaker, but it seems that very old can vary depending on context, while ancient barely changes on the context. And it seems few others could be divisive and a few green ticked ones repeat.
It's an older use, to the point that I've never heard it used. Merriam marks that definition as "old-fashioned" (which is a bit odd, because I thought they only used the archaic or obsolete terms).
The lazy sense is probably what's meant from the old bible quote about "idle hands" related to the devil.
I'd say the humorous way very is used in children's books is somehow lost as they transition from kid to teenager or so, but the use of the word sticks around. I wonder why that is.
No, I like that language is composable. I think it's very convenient. It also allows me to say stuff in a way that's easier to grasp for folks who might not understand English that well. Very dumb suggestion.
A quirk of the Estonian language is that "kole" is often used to mean "quite" colloquially. But kole literally means ugly. So you can say "ugly pretty" and it makes sense, though I haven't really heard anyone use it that way.
Of course "kaunis" is also used similarly and that means "beautiful" so really can effectively also say "pretty ugly" in Estonian too.
Very is overused but has its uses. I think it's a good rule of thumb to avoid using it too much if you want greater impact, although eliminating it entirely would be a loss overall. What gives greater impact is the nuance that comes with having different words with similar meanings. Having a high impact word or phrase necessarily means having something lower impact to contrast against.
Also, the intensification with very isn't quite the same as using the listed intensified words. Challenging is intensified hard as opposed to easy but not to soft. In human terms boiling is very hot and opposed to freezing, but what does that make the sun? It's not a liquid turning into a gas.
Listen, I'm too very exhausted to read this very lengthy, and very tedious list.
Listen, I'm fatigued beyond imagination and incapable of reading this prosaic litany of mundane drivel.
That is something up with which I will not put.
This has nothing to do with grammar.
Doesn't matter, it's a very useful list to counter tik-tok brain damage.
One could say it's the very thing we need.
If we are trying to counter brain damage then it actually does matter that we use the correct words for things.
That's kind of what I was saying. Or rather: eloquence helps against becoming dumber.
Stop saying very
Very true. Grammar is a lovely old woman.
Not grammar
A lot of these have different connotations
Nope, not the same.
As a personal thing, I've always detested that usage of the word big. More so than any of these 'very' replacements, there are so many words available to convey the meaning of that big.
It's big of you to say that
/shakes_fist
You come over here and say that to my face, you french sneeze!
Oh yeah ? Well your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
On second thought, let's avoid lemmy.nz. 'Tis a silly place.
I'm afraid I'm going to need a shrubbery. A big one.
Oh big man thinks he's big scary
It is definitely not a grammatical issue, but it a good rule of thumb for writing, particularly academic writing. One of the first things that was drilled into me as an English major was to drop, "very," and find a better adjective.
Also, yeah, a lot of these are very poor matches, especially without context, but one of my favorite things about the English language is that it is a very large, redundant language, but none of our words have the exact same connotation. Big, large, huge, enormous, gigantic, tremendous, mammoth, gargantuan, and humongous are all technically synonyms, but all conjure different images in the reader.
But yeah, telling someone to say, "fragile," instead of, "very weak," is dumb, given they could mean, "delicate," or, "feeble." And if you're not writing a term paper, just say, "very."
Yeah, "idle" is much milder than "very lazy" imo
βVery busyβ and βoverloadedβ are wildly different things.
As are very hot and boiling, very lazy and idle, very nervous and anxious, and like a good third more of these.
Australian Version
Very busy = flat out like lizard drinking
Not enough swearing to be truly Aussie
::: spoiler Spoiler Cunt. :::
I've never been too interested in Australia, but after becoming the world's foremost expert on Bluey, I'm starting to like it more and more. May have to visit one day.
Bluey is heavily edited for international audiences. It's mostly all the swearing that's removed, but not exclusively.
The season 3 episode βThe Deciderβ is 12 minutes longer in Australia. As the game goes on, Bandit and Lucky start pounding the rum and cokes and eventually start punching on.
There was also an entire sub plot of Chilli trying to sneak off to punch a few cones that had to be cut for overseas audiences.
Oh my, I need to see if I can find a torrent for the aussie version of the entire show.
I do hope it's Pat pounding the rum and cokes though, otherwise I have some questions about his and Janelle's parenting skills.
Yes, you're right. It was Bandit and.Lucky's dad.
I had a few rumbo's myself, and I'm still a little woozy from that drop bear attack a few days ago.
I did end up finding a blu-ray version torrent that's less censored than the streaming version, but nowhere could I find any version of that episode where Lucky's Dad and Bandit get properly wasted. Only a 20 second difference in length.
Me very meticulously checking every word to see why this in in shitpost.
The shitpost was that we both wasted our time
yeah some of these aren't accurate
Verily
You can put 'very' before every suggested alternative. What then?
When very then?
I teach foreign language students and they often write about how their food was "very delicious", and it always sounds so jarring to me. There are a lot of really strong words that native speakers tend to not use very with.
eg:
very difficult task / very monumental task
very good cooking / very superb cooking
very happy man / very elated man
For some reason intensifiers like so and such don't have those restrictions:
The task was very/so monumental.
It was very/such superb cooking.
He was very/so elated.
Bring 'fucking' into it and even native speakers say how fucking delicious the food was.
It's funny how it suddenly appears to work with "fucking" but "very" is weird.
Some of them feel better than others. Very boiling is kinda weird.
Very powerful works imo.
Most of the alternatives feel odd with a very. Eg: very powerful, sure I get your message but it sounds awkward
I am a fan of putting "very" in front of everything in the suggested list.
Very tiny. Very exhausted.
Very good examples!
This post is very interesting.
*Intriguing.
This post is very intriguing.
*captivating.
This post is very captivating.
*mesmerizing.
Very useful
veruseful
Handy
Don't mind if I do, thanks!
very cool, thank you.
You're very welcome.
Verily.
bounced on my boy's challenging lengthy to this until he boisterous stuffed
You bounced on your boy's very hard very long to this until he very loud very full?
You saucy minx!
Use all the words in the right columns but preceded with "fuckin'" every time. Like a real gentleperson.
very very words
Very helpful
Very very.
Legit criticism! But hear me out. Who remembers all those different words anyway?
Instead of NOT using "very", I say we ONLY use "very".
It's a very idea!
The veryist of ideas. Bigley very
A very idea from a very mind! You're very.
That's so aladeen of you
Damn honey, you look boiling in that outfit!
Looking at you makes me challenging!
Very cold and freezing are different things. You can be very cold but above 0Β°.
Most of these are dumb.
Listen, I need to introduce you to any hot climate's weather terms (done in american and rest-of-the-fucking-world-but-liberia units for funsies):
You can be very cold and freezing. You can't be very cold and not freezing. ;)
In freedom units, as viewed from New Mexico, where humidity is typically under 50% and often below 10% in the summer:
> 100 = hot or "sweltering" just because I like the word.
90 - 100 = hot
80 - 90 = warm
70 - 80 = comfortable
60 - 70 = cool
50 - 60 = chilly
35 - 50 = cold
< 35 = freezing
I reserve sweltering for when you can see the heat waves in the air. It is a great word. New mexico is a weird one though, being high desert, right? Ya'll actually get a wildly cold winter, don't you?
I have some hot takes regarding this scale.
It's said in the same manner as a mild sarcasm. I'm not sure the word for it, but deliberate understatement that specifically plays on it being hotter than 'warm' is.
As far as 20/68 being chilly, to me it's downright hellish. During the summer, we would keep the house temps around 85/30, because you'd be so used to the sweat and heat of the sun that it wasn't too bad with a light fan... and that was in the houses lucky enough to have heating/cooling. The rest just made do with shade and designs that promoted a breeze.
Anyway, as I said, this is a hot climate's weather terms. If you were able to keep the room temperature the same as the outside in spring or autumn, you probably aren't in a hot climate.
We have long stretches of 90/32+ and high humidity in the Summer and long stretches of <30/-1 in Winter. And our Spring and Autumn are both notoriously ephemeral, so those rules only apply for a few days to a week most years.
90+ is cute. ;) I once lived in an apartment without AC because a roommate and I were trying to get out on our own. I went up there early to start working during the summer, and the city set its record for longest period where it never (even at night) got below 90. I was working for some rich girls with horses, so the days freaking sucked, and the only relief I got was the short showers. I think we usually hit 90 during the day by february. I've moved away because screw all that. I can't imagine what it's like now as the average temperatures keep climbing.
OMG where is this place so I never ever go there
Without being specific (some family is still there and it's small enough I'm identifiable by this account), it's near the tropic of cancer, and a pretty decent sized body of water.
It ain't the heat, it's the humidity.
Dunno if it is me, non-native English speaker, but it seems that very old can vary depending on context, while ancient barely changes on the context. And it seems few others could be divisive and a few green ticked ones repeat.
Edit: ah, this is shitposting comm :@
Mmm I've definitely heard ancient used similarly to very old. E.g mice with balls are ancient technology.
Very astute.
Very lazy = idle?
No? Or is my english bad?
Indolent.
Kinda, kinda not. To me, idle means "not doing anything at the moment", e.g. "standing idly by", which is definitely different than "very lazy".
Yeah. Same.
It's an older use, to the point that I've never heard it used. Merriam marks that definition as "old-fashioned" (which is a bit odd, because I thought they only used the archaic or obsolete terms).
The lazy sense is probably what's meant from the old bible quote about "idle hands" related to the devil.
Fair enough while I have opinions.
But it makes me wonder if OP actually used idle for very lazy or if they never actually read their own post.
It's the second one
This is extra plus good
Apparently, my stomach is vacant.
My stomach and mind both
Iβm very delighted
*I'm hard
Verility confirmed
Borat very nice!
Very good.
Very good. Carry on
Such a invaluable post! Thanks
Strength and power are different measurements though
Can I interest you in strongful?
Very -> Verraily
Veraiously?
What about "very huge"
Gimungous
What about 'very gimungous'?
Supa haaaoooooouuuuuuuggggggeee!
Huge - > enormous - > humongous - > gigantic - > massive - > supermassive - > your mom
99.99 % β 100 %
I say super instead. Or soooooo if I'm super super _.
Just ate, am stuffed.
But I like sounding like Trump. Some of us are lazy pal.
This is UUUGE!
I blame children's books the use of very is very very extensive.
I'd say the humorous way very is used in children's books is somehow lost as they transition from kid to teenager or so, but the use of the word sticks around. I wonder why that is.
idle does equate to very lazy
this was shit when it was on reddit
I prefer "double plus"
No, I like that language is composable. I think it's very convenient. It also allows me to say stuff in a way that's easier to grasp for folks who might not understand English that well. Very dumb suggestion.
Reads comment. Looks up list. Ah, he means it's a foolish suggestion. Splendid.
Hear me out: doubleplusgood
Now add very to all of them.
This is actually a very good lesson in grammar
This isn't grammar at all -- it's a style recommendation.
It was a joke referencing what OP said, correct them
This is very unnecessary and very oversimplified.
Okay I'll say really instead.
Really?
https://www.losethevery.com/
There were lots of very us words in that list. Good one!
So...vexxing?
Irksome.
One might even say... very vexxing
So you mean I can't say "Pretty Ugly"? π’π
Good reminder to everyone to stream Pretty Ugly by Zara Larsson. And watch the divalicious music video, c*nty lip sync, and jaw-dropping choreo!
Hello Zara r u enjoying the fediverse today
If I was Zara Larsson on the fediverse the way I'd just post removedy selfies every day oh it'd be over
A quirk of the Estonian language is that "kole" is often used to mean "quite" colloquially. But kole literally means ugly. So you can say "ugly pretty" and it makes sense, though I haven't really heard anyone use it that way.
Of course "kaunis" is also used similarly and that means "beautiful" so really can effectively also say "pretty ugly" in Estonian too.
No.
Very is overused but has its uses. I think it's a good rule of thumb to avoid using it too much if you want greater impact, although eliminating it entirely would be a loss overall. What gives greater impact is the nuance that comes with having different words with similar meanings. Having a high impact word or phrase necessarily means having something lower impact to contrast against.
Also, the intensification with very isn't quite the same as using the listed intensified words. Challenging is intensified hard as opposed to easy but not to soft. In human terms boiling is very hot and opposed to freezing, but what does that make the sun? It's not a liquid turning into a gas.
Oh, and are people still against using literally to mean intensified figuratively?
What's the alternative to very figurative?
I don't know if this is a very good idea
Where shit?
Toilet?
Learn how to speak like AI
Send this list to Trump. His vocabulary is about 200 words.
Very nice!
Left is American English, right is British π¬π§
This list is massively gay.