Use of the word "very"

I'm only 25 and quite the stickler when cutting "very" out of copy. Although, there have been a few times I thought it was needed and changed the wording to "extremely." I feel like such a nerd for doing that.

Another phrase I want to throw out there is the use of "more than" and "over." I was taught you should not say someone had "over 100 yards rushing," but use "more than 100 yards" because you physically go over objects and have more than a certain measurement -- kind of like further and farther.

 

I'm (very) late to this party, but "very" is useless.

Unless you're Billy Donovan, who never uses just one very when he's talking. It's always "very, very" -- as in, "That was a very, very good team we played tonight. We had to play very, very hard defensively to win. This was a very, very good win for us." He's an absolute mortal lock for several very-verys in every press conference.

Hope this hasn't already been mentioned here, but another useless term that columnists especially are fond of: "You see, ..." Take it out, and see how the sentence reads without that condescending, let-me-tell-you-something preamble. It's almost never needed.

 

yeah, yeah, yeah, but i wasn't writing a story. i was posting on a trade-talk message board -- the equivalent of a water-cooler conversation at the office. do you copy edit peoples' speech when you're having a casual convo? some people do. think what you want to think about that.

i never said anybody was a freak. i just wondered what makes people care about minor things that 99 percent of everyone else doesn't care about. instead of answering, some of you just got defensive (maybe some weird guilty conscience coming out. i don't know)

i'm not trying to bash anyone. i appreciate eveybody's skills. everybody's personality. i never even said caring about 'last' or 'past' was bad. only that it was something. and it was true. other people assigned negativity to what i was asking.

and mr. macg, i appreciate the tip on couldn't vs. could. but when i say it, i might still say 'could' if i'm talking fast (or typing fast) and not thinking about it. just like i say 'gonna' and stuff like that. shit gets said. oh well.

'could care less', in any form, will not get into any story i ever write.

 

I don't know why anyone would take offense at "borderline autism."

I'm sure you meant it as a compliment.

 

yes, your job is to blah, blah, blah and all that, but it's a job. i used to have a job at pizza place. i tried to do it as best i could and work very hard. but when someone didn't put the pepperonis exactly 3 centimeters away from each other, i maybe corrected them but didn't take it personally.

why does my attitude make you testy? cause i typed 'borderline autism'? i know an autistic reporter, and he does a great job. i have no prejudice against him or other autistic people. if you're not autistic, then don't worry about it.

you accused me personally of smoking crack. i accused you personally of nothing. only wondered what makes some deskers tick in certain ways.

contrary to your assumption of me, i appreciate when copy editors do their job and i let them without complaint.

 

to your second point: i trust my editors to do their jobs. if they change a comma here or there or make a minor edit, i have no problem with it. i don't need to go behind them and challenge their authority.

and like good editors do, if i make a recurring mistake, they tell me right away. it isn't made again. and also like quality editors would, if there are major structural issues with my story, questions left unanswered or other types of holes, they approach me. i fix them. we talk. like normal people.

they don't just make wholesale changes to a story and not tell me. what kind of moron does that?

if they do not come to me with any problems, i trust them to make any decision with the story because i know they are good at what they do. for the same reasons my copy editors do not listen to my interviews and tell me how to ask questions, i don't sit over their shoulder and watch them edit.

it doesn't mean i don't want to improve my writing. i'm from the school where you never stop learning. but we have a level of trust that i appreciate.

to the "borderline autism" point, i never accused anyone. i asked a question. nobody was answering it. i asked more questions to spur some answers. i never said anything close to "all deskers are retarded" but touchy people took it how they wanted.

 

Yet you have an extreme lack of respect for us, as evidenced by the accusations of mental illness you leveled at us.

I think I've found another person that begs for use of the button that must not be named.

 

OK, you weren't accusing anyone of borderline autism. You were asking a question. :

Here's an answer. No, borderline autism is not the reason.

By the way, you said sportschick "accused me personally of smoking crack"

No, she did not. She asked a question.

 

Three words I axe nearly every time I see them: that, very, may.

May is my pet peeve. Unless it implies permission, you meant might.

 

Why does anybody care about anything, then? One man's trash is another's treasure. Everybody has different value systems.

Getting the language right is not something I view as a "minor thing;" it's important to me. You make the assumption that "99 percent of everyone else" don't think it's important ... not sure what you're basing that figure on, but it doesn't mean a thing. The point is, it does matter to me -- just like measuring earthquakes mattered to Charles Richter, or any other thankless job meant anything to anybody who cared about it.

It's obviously not as important to you, otherwise maybe you wouldn't associate -- not accuse; associate -- someone who does value it with ... "borderline autism." :

 

sportschick, who's us? and what did i say about said 'us' that was so bad?

that some of 'us' take minor style debates personally to a point that most other people wouldn't? are you saying that's not true? or are you mad that you might fit into that profile and don't like that i brought it up?

i never even said it was wrong or bad. and i've said over and over about how much i appreciate people's skills and dedication when it comes to these things.

i've worked with mutiple people with different mentall ilnesses, and they did their jobs just fine. good people. i never accused anyone of anything. but people read into my questions as if i was of the opinion that all deskers were non-functioning, drooling sociopaths. maybe you should rid yourself of your prejudicial opinions of autism.

people have different personalities. so i recognize that and i'm the bad guy? jesus.

 

And yet this thread would seem to indicate otherwise.