Is there a more over used word in the English language with
less meaning than the word very? Not very likely, I would contend.
Let’s take a very close look. In the previous sentence, for
example, how much closer do you have to be in order to get a very close look
than you have to be to simply get a close look?
Now let me invite you to take a seat in the very front row.
Is that the row just beyond the front row? Ok, now go to the very back of the
room. Where exactly is that in relation to the back of the room?
I heard a politician discussing some legislation. He said it
would affect our very way of life. How is that different from our way of life?
Here are some more examples I gleaned from a dictionary.
That is the very item we want. The very thought of it is distressing. He wept
from the very joy of knowing he was safe. He was caught in the very act of
stealing. He immediately delved into the very heart of the matter. He went to
the very same place as before. Now go back and remove the word very from each
of the preceding examples. What changes? Don’t they each have the same meaning
without the extra word? Would my previous sentence have a different meaning if
I had inserted very before the word same?
