redundancy.

i have this new pet peeve. 
it is making up for lost time by, despite it's newness, being very, very strong.

it's redundancy.

it's a specific type, though. it's new unnecessary addition of 'very,' as an intensifier, to strong adjectives.

examples:
-very critical
-very devastated
-very terrified
-very furious

i listen to a GREAT DEAL of npr, and at least once a week someone attempts to express their feelings, and says something like that. it's akin to whipping out an 'impressive' word at the wrong time.

devastated is pretty intense by itself, pally. it doesn't need anything else. upset? sure, amp that up a notch to 'very upset.' sad? same thing. let'e make it 'very sad' so we can get an idea about how intense your feelings are.. but 'very terrified?' too much. now you sound like a middle school student.

that's all. just saying. it's been bugging me.

oh, i had a really lame day at work today. it ended up okay, but i was almost in tears by noon. not good. i was very anguished. har-dee-har.