Professional writers don’t use “very,” because they know it adds nothing.
Professional writers don’t say, “I have no words,” or “Words can’t express what I’m feeling right now.” Writers sharpen their pencils and by God, set out to compel words to express what they’re feeling.
Some professional writers may have succumbed to using lots of exclamation points in emails, but they don’t overuse them in their prose.
And for the love of Bartleby, professional writers shouldn’t say they are “beyond excited.”
Or that they’re “beyond proud.”
Or their situation was “beyond embarrassing.”
First of all, you’re probably not beyond excited. You’re probably just excited. (Excited is excitement enough!) Okay, maybe you’re ecstatic. Then say that. Oh, you’re “beyond ecstatic”? Then we should probably have an ambulance idling outside.
There’s another word for “beyond proud.” It’s “preening.” And you’re doing it.
There’s also an old word for “beyond embarrassing.” It’s “ashamed.” As you should be, for slathering your sentences in the linguistic equivalent of, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.” (Or, as you would put it, “I’m Beyond Gobsmacked It’s Not Butter.”)
As my writing teacher colleague Mike Long says to good writers who write bad things: “Stop that.”
(Very) good points. But why do Americans insist on meeting with someone instead of just meeting?
So you’d have us say, “I met Mike Long to discuss the logistics of linguistics.” Instead of, “I met with Mike Long to discuss …” If this is the biggest problem you have with the American version of your language, I’d be chuffed.
I think it’s because “meeting” someone, in many American idioms at least, connotes acquaintance. Whereas “meeting with” someone means getting together with them. So if I read the phrase “I met Mike Long…” I’d think the writer was saying that they encountered Mike for the first time. Yes, I’d figure out a few words later that I was wrong, but the addition of “with” provides clarity for U.S. speakers.
P.S. Having the privilege of knowing Mike, the phrase “I met Mike Long” would typically be followed by something more like… “and I’m a much better writer today, but I also fear for my immortal soul.”
David, I loved this post so much I sent it to my writing colleagues at an online news site (with full attribution and a link back to the post, of course!). Many of us confessed that we are guilty as charged (I’m guilty of being ‘beyond’).
I love ya work.
Thanks, Lee—grateful to have loyal readers as smart as you. Beyond grateful, indeed. Pathetically grateful, you might say.
@ Jim Reische, that’s exactly right. Especially the bit about the Dangerous Michael Long.
Your opening line, combined with current events, brought to mind the likely apocryphal but certainly too good to fact-check story of the Queen editing a speech that had been written for her ahead of a visit to England’s second city. Faced with an introduction that declared herself “very happy to be back in Birmingham”, the late monarch picked up a pen and carefully crossed out “very”, before delivering the rest of the text as drafted.
That’s terrific, Alex. A less gracious Queen might have crossed out “happy” too, and simply begun, “Back in Birmingham.”