Will A.
tackles a pet peeve of mine at his
copy editing blog. Take it away, man.
'VERY' DOESN'T
MEAN ANYTHING
If I say, "It's very cold in here," does
that really mean more than saying, "It's cold"?
It's still cold,
right? -- "Oh, I'm very happy you brought that to my attention, Will." --
But you are happy. You are not sad.
Is this quibbling about
degrees of coldness or happiness? Perhaps. But if you can think of a time
when "very" is very necessary, feel free to use it. But, I'm telling you,
it doesn't mean anything.