The "Absolutely" Virus

Psst - there's a verbal virus that's been going around for years and you've probably been infected. But don't worry, it may be annoying but it's absolutely benign:

Jeff Benanto, a manager at a marketing company in Boston, Massachusetts, says he didn't even know he was overusing the word until he was teased by his sister and brother-in-law.

He says it finally hit him when he was recently having dinner with his family. Someone asked him if he wanted stuffing with his turkey.

"Absolutely."

Benanto says he and others are using the word so much because it's reassuring. He says people don't know if their 401(k) will be secure; their children's toys free of lead or if their favorite public figure is going to be exposed as a hypocrite.

But using absolutely makes one feel as if there is something someone can count on, even if one has doubts, he says.

"There's a certainty in absolutely," Benanto says. "Even if you don't absolutely mean it, you need to express it and feel it like you mean it."

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