The "Absolutely" Virus

Alex

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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Comments (18)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

Any attempt to control language one way or another, either by promoting or criticizing certain words, is pretty much pointless. "Absolutely" is good to me because it imples emphasis and direction, sounds much better than some apathetic, mokey-like "uh-huh", but to each his own.
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I have been saying Absolutely for years, maybe 10, I might have been the guy that started it all, everybody send me a dollar. Whats it got to do with vodka?
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Sigh, it's not the world's biggest cave. It's a really big passage, no doubt about that, but there are many caves out there which are longer, higher-volume, and so forth.

Nevertheless, it's some astonishing photography and a significant discovery.
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Xinavera you are wrong, because actually according to national geographic's reserch and infared equipment to measure the size of the cave right down to the last millimeter, it is the biggest cave in the world right now, and until anyone finds an even bigger cave that the measurements of length, width, depth, height, distance, and area, then you are wrong. Get your information right before you go posting a comment that is false. Read this and you will be proven wrong - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090724-biggest-cave-vietnam.html
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