unnecessary modifiers

The North Atlantic Council met today to express its concern about the conflict between Georgia and Russia. The foreign ministers released a statement saying: “We deeply deplore the use of force in the conflict between Georgia and Russia.”

Their purpose was to unequivocally convey their disapproval, to express a complete unwillingness to tolerate the status quo. Still, it bears pointing out that deplore, by definition, means “to strongly regret.” To say we “deeply, strongly regret the use of force” is simply too forceful.

In “The Elements of Style,” E.B. White asserts that “inexperienced writers” overuse adverbs. Let muscular verbs do the heavy lifting they’ve trained for.

Consider other verbs whose definitions render adverbs unnecessary:

* loathe: to dislike intensely
* detest: to feel intense and often violent antipathy toward
* despise: to look down on with contempt or aversion
* hate: to have a strong aversion to
* abhor: to detest utterly

–Mood flip–

* adore: to be very fond of
* love: to feel a lover’s tenderness for
* revere: to regard as worthy of great honor
* cherish: to hold dear
* treasure: to hold or keep as precious