Either William Allen White or Mark Twain advised writers to substitute damn for very in their writing. Then the editor would remove all the damns and improve the writing.
More later on who provided that advice, but I thought of it when Luke Palder, founder and CEO of ProofreadingServices.com sent me a link to the image below:
I don’t know anything about the price or quality of the service of ProofreadingServices, but I applaud both clever marketing and helping people improve their writing. And very hardly ever improves writing, so I’m glad to share this advice and give Palder and his business a plug.
As for who gave the very/damn advice, I heard long ago that it was White, the legendary editor of the Emporia Gazette. More recently, I hear it attributed more often to Twain. If they both said it, Twain would likely have been first, having been more than 30 years older than White and having risen to prominence earlier. Quote Investigator looked into the matter and cited White as the likely source of the advice.
After I published this post, I got this help from Twitter:
@stevebuttry Far as I can tell, it was William Allen White. From his Emporia Gazette stylebook: pic.twitter.com/NhibxwQLHL
— Bremner Editing Ctr. (@KUBremner) July 7, 2016
Whoever said it, the advice is outdated. Only the most prudish of publications shrink from using damn any more, but you probably shouldn’t overuse that word any more than you should overuse very. Once or twice in a workshop, I facetiously suggested using fucking instead. But that gets published nearly any place online any more. Including here. So try using the substitutes above.
Don’t say “very clean.” Say “spotless.” See more at https://t.co/2Ro7YOZJd9 CC: @sebaarrau @DomCarver #Scriptwriters #DontUseVery
— ProofreadingServices (@ProofreadingHQ) July 1, 2016
Don’t say “very busy.” Say “swamped.” See more at https://t.co/2Ro7YOZJd9 CC: @JohanTwiss @Author_Carmen #Authors #DontUseVery
— ProofreadingServices (@ProofreadingHQ) July 1, 2016
Don’t say “very bad.” Say “awful.” See more at https://t.co/2Ro7YOZJd9 CC: @ParentingAuthor @AuthorJDavis #Authors #DontUseVery
— ProofreadingServices (@ProofreadingHQ) June 30, 2016
Don’t say “very beautiful.” Say “gorgeous.” See more at https://t.co/2Ro7YOZJd9 CC: @didic @withoutdoing #Translators #DontUseVery
— ProofreadingServices (@ProofreadingHQ) June 27, 2016
Don’t say “very big.” Say “massive.” See more at https://t.co/2Ro7YOZJd9 CC: @DarussalamSNS @ericsmithrocks #Authors #DontUseVery
— ProofreadingServices (@ProofreadingHQ) June 28, 2016
Don’t say “very cute.” Say “adorable.” See more at https://t.co/2Ro7YOZJd9 CC: @NOVA_Publishers @LitAgentMarini #Authors #DontUseVery
— ProofreadingServices (@ProofreadingHQ) June 26, 2016
Never say never,
don’t say do not.
Adverbs you sever.
Adjectives: blot!
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Thanks. It was a heplful read. I do our congregation’s newsletter so this gave me something to think about in my writing.
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