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>So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reaso

by kej 2y ago

>So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do.

mock-possum 2y ago
Which is also couched in off-puttingly heterocentric language. What if you’re not a boy, and what if you’re not interested in wooing women? Is just not a very big deal to be lazy in that case?
- kej 2y ago
  It's a movie from 1989 about an all-boys school in 1959 that still managed to include a bunch of LGBTQ subtext; I think it's fair to read this line as commentary on lazy writing instead of sexuality.
jfengel 2y ago
That's not really very good advice. It's good to have a wide vocabulary, but substituting one phrase for another isn't really an improvement. The words mean something slightly different. Poetry happens when you choose precisely the word you want. Even better is to avoid the adjective entirely, unless that is precisely what you want. Usually a poet will want to stir the emotion, which is better shown than told. You have to dig really deep to find a way to express what that sadness means, which will usually not involve the word "sad" at all. Use of the word "very" is a strong hint that you have more to say by phrasing it entirely differently. He's right about the wooing women, though. Not literally, but that's the right way to teach teenage boys. Women dig men who communicate well.
_8j50 2y ago
Counterpoint: very tiree and exhausted are two different levels of weariness. Exhausted means you've reached capacity. Very tired means you are tired much but not yet exhausted. You reduced specificity for the sake of conformity.
ranger_danger 2y ago
Literally never heard the word morose before as a native speaker. Very works just fine and doesn't have nearly as much of a problem of being the 'wrong' word to use when you don't know, versus someone looking at this list and then trying to say something like 'abysmally tired'.

by kej 2y ago

mock-possum 2y ago

Which is also couched in off-puttingly heterocentric language. What if you’re not a boy, and what if you’re not interested in wooing women? Is just not a very big deal to be lazy in that case?

kej 2y ago
It's a movie from 1989 about an all-boys school in 1959 that still managed to include a bunch of LGBTQ subtext; I think it's fair to read this line as commentary on lazy writing instead of sexuality.

jfengel 2y ago

That's not really very good advice. It's good to have a wide vocabulary, but substituting one phrase for another isn't really an improvement. The words mean something slightly different. Poetry happens when you choose precisely the word you want. Even better is to avoid the adjective entirely, unless that is precisely what you want. Usually a poet will want to stir the emotion, which is better shown than told. You have to dig really deep to find a way to express what that sadness means, which will usually not involve the word "sad" at all. Use of the word "very" is a strong hint that you have more to say by phrasing it entirely differently. He's right about the wooing women, though. Not literally, but that's the right way to teach teenage boys. Women dig men who communicate well.

_8j50 2y ago

Counterpoint: very tiree and exhausted are two different levels of weariness. Exhausted means you've reached capacity. Very tired means you are tired much but not yet exhausted. You reduced specificity for the sake of conformity.

ranger_danger 2y ago

Literally never heard the word morose before as a native speaker. Very works just fine and doesn't have nearly as much of a problem of being the 'wrong' word to use when you don't know, versus someone looking at this list and then trying to say something like 'abysmally tired'.