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I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Alternatives for Absolutely

And now, our first installment of synonyms or alternatives for an over-used word. You can find the list of over-used words by clicking on the tab above.
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Many, many words can be used instead of absolutely, but they require adding the dreaded “ly.” As in: actually, categorically, definitely, easily, exactly, certainly, most assuredly. It’s a huge long list.

Depending on how you use absolute/absolutely in a sentence, here is a list of words and phrases that do not have “ly” at the end.

Enjoy.

a deal
all
all right
altogether
beyond a shadow of a doubt
beyond all bounds
beyond compare/comparison
beyond measure
but of course
by all means 
come hell or high water
dead
doubtless
ever so
ever so much
every inch
far and wide
for sure
for the most part
hook, line and sinker
in great measure
in the extreme
in the main
indeed
just
lock, stock and barrel
much
never so
no end of
no ifs, ands, or buts
no strings attached
of course
okay
on a large scale
on the button
on the money
on the nose
one hundred percent
out of all proportion
out of sight
quite
quite right
right
right on
roger
straight out
sure as can be
sure as hell
sure enough
sure thing
the very thing
to a great extent
to be sure
to the hilt
ultra
very
very much
well
with a vengeance
yes

If you can  think of any other's to add to the list, please do!

11 comments:

  1. That's a cool gif.

    Great list. I try to minimize usage of -ly words.

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  2. I think because I write so much "British" dialogue, my favorite replacement in quite. I used that rather a lot.

    But this is a great list. I'm going to have to book mark this post

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  3. Heck, yeah!
    Who knew there were so many words to replace that?
    Great list, Bish!

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  4. Great replacement list.
    How about Rhett closing the door with, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
    Manzanita@Wannabuyaduck

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  5. Great list. I'm always looking for replacement words.

    :-)

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  6. Great new series! I like "Come hell or high water."

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  7. Great list, some on there I wouldn't have thought of using :-)

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  8. I guess I'm one of those who does not get the aversion to using -ly words. If they absolutely make sense in the context in which they've been used why come up with some contrivance of language. Some of these choices on the list are trite and don't necessarily convey the same meaning. I wonder who first became so annoyed with adverbs? When I was a kid in school we were encouraged to use them. I usually don't even notice them when I'm reading. But then again I don't notice a lot of things when I'm reading.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  9. I'm pretty strict with ly words in my writing, but may have to plead guilty to overusing "absolutely" in speech. So -- are you going to give people alternate ways to say "made of awesome"?

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  10. These are really good. I tried to come up with synonyms and all I could thing of was completely and totally - all ly words!

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Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!