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Comment by stackbutterflow | Hacker News Reader

Regarding 1, something I've noticed on HN is the overuse of some adverbs. "Absolutely" comes to mind. "I absolutely agree" could as well be "I agree".

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I don't know; "absolutely" can add emphasis. Advising someone not to use it because "agree" covers it anyway feels like trying to suppress their personality. We're communicating, not playing language golf.

I feel that it dilutes the meaning of whatever comes after. "I agree" conveys a stronger tone than "I absolutely agree". Same as "I love you" is more powerful than "I absolutely love you". I see it as a filler word that doesn't add anything to the sentence. It's subjective I know. Also I would add that if you "absolutely [verb]" all the time you might as well [verb].

Unnecessary emphasis betrays insecurity on the part of the author.

I try to remove common enhancing adverbs when writing emails at work. Removing "very," "definitely," "absolutely," etc. makes professional communication come across more authoritatively and clearly. I still use adverbs to be clear, but they need to communicate something specific that is otherwise hard to articulate.

There's a Chrome Extension for Gmail and Outlook for web that helps you send more confident emails by warning you when you use words which undermine your message.

https://justnotsorry.com

Don't use adverbs or adjectives at all unless necessary.

True, I wonder if it's driven by people's need to over-express over the internet since there's no body language

I think some people overexpress in general, regardless of the medium. I think it comes from an excess of "passion", which is like permanent exageration. I am prone to it, that's why I know, and I try to keep it under control.

> I think it comes from an excess of "passion", which is like permanent exageration. I am prone to it, that's why I know, and I try to keep it under control.

We thank you.

I suffer from the opposite problem—extremely deadpan personality. I insert exclamation points randomly in emails to seem human.

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