The quotation

The words you choose are very important. Choosing the best word to get your meaning across to your reader can mean the different between a successful essay and an essay that, as far as the reader is concerned, misses its mark. Yes, YOU know what you mean, but your reader might now if you language is not spot on.

 

“‎”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. It also won’t do in your essays.”

 

 

The quotation to the top is from the film Dead Poet’s Society and makes a very good point about using the best verb to get your ideas across rather than relying on adverbs like “very” that are, as the quotations says, the lazy approach.

In writing his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King also warns against that nastly adverb. He writes, “The adverb is not your friend.” How correct he is! Just look at the difference between “very tired” and “exhausted” in the image at the left. The word “exhausted” says much more about the man in question than “very tired” can ever say.