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In Defense of Idioms
A case for why writers should not cut every “very” from their work.
Once upon a time, a little old lady lived alone in a little old house in the middle of a deep dark forest. She was so very very sad, for no one loved idioms as much as she.
That time is now, dear reader, and that little old lady is me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen other writers advise cutting out words like “very” or replacing adjectives like “little” with weightier descriptors.
We all know certain adjectives are overused and insufficient. In fact, I’ve long been a proponent of seeking better nouns before tacking on too many adjectives. Clarity is paramount.
But let me make a case for the whimsy of a few little old idioms.
A Very Unnecessary Word
In the search for clarity, a few phrases and words come into the spotlight. “Very” is one of them. There’s a good case to be made for eliminating a lot of them in our day-to-day speech.
Do we need to say we’re “very busy”? Isn’t “busy” enough?
We aren’t just sorry. We’re very sorry. We’re so very sorry. We’re very very sorry.
How about in our conversational writing? Say you’re signing a card for a friend. “I’m very happy for…