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| Better Than Today (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
For these six weeks, I’ve been looking at how writers very often
use ‘very’, which, as you know very well, is very bad.
Okay; that may be very
silly, but we all do it: use ‘very’ to modify verbs or adjectives rather than
search for a stronger way to say the same thing better. So, here are the last
few examples to make it easier for you to overcome the easy option. Choose with
care; synonyms aren’t exact matches, so consider context. And bear in mind that
I have my prejudices, and I’m male; hence the (sometimes) jokey, and sometimes
admiring, suggestions at the end of each sample.
Very clever – brilliant,
talented, bright, brainy, forward, scintillating, gifted, capable, sharp,
perspicacious, Professor Mary Beard.
Very fast – quick, swift,
rapid, speedy, zippy, lively, dashing, darting, instantaneous, nimble, man
having sex.
Very serious – solemn, sober,
stolid, grave, stern, unsmiling, weighty, critical, of consequence, using your
vote.
Very tired – exhausted,
fatigued, spent, fagged, pooped, done, overworked, strained, bone-weary, me
during 10 years of ME/CFS.
Very ugly – hideous, foul,
monstrous, frightful, loathsome, repulsive, repellent, odious, Freddy Krueger.
Very cold – freezing,
bitter, biting, raw, piercing, frigid, wintry, icy, glacial, Siberian, George
Osborne.
Very small – tiny, teeny,
minimal, meagre, skimpy, compact, scant, flimsy, microscopic, dainty, Kylie
Minogue (good things come in small packages).
Very fierce – ferocious,
raging, mad, wild, vicious, blood-thirsty, ravening, rabid, frenetic, the
Balrog.
Very valuable – precious,
invaluable, priceless, costly, rare, unique, blue-chip, rich, inestimable,
freedom of speech.
Very good – superb, excellent,
superior, ace, A1, superlative, choice, select, meritorious, best, sustainable
energy.
This is the very last batch. Next, I’ll be looking at something a little
more subjective: emotional v intellectual words to use for effect.
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