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For more than a century, a war has been waged against adverbs by advocates of good writing, by the likes of such literary luminaries as Mark Twain, who said —
I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me … There are subtleties which I cannot master at all — they confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me — and this adverb plague is one of them.
– and modern scribes like Elmore Leonard, who cautions that only rank amateurs would dare modify the word “say” with an adverb:
To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”
But to some grammarians, there’s another war on against the adverb — a corporate war. For the last fifteen years or so, sloganeers have seemed almost to take joy in whacking the -ly from the end of words that modify verbs, littering our cultural landscape with amputated-sounding phrases like:
and rather more famously:
There’s even a publication — and one might argue that any publication must at least nominally be devoted to the discipline of language — that employs this same lamentable technique:
Lord, lord lord. It annoys me to no end. I am fairly assaulted with it every time I go into the Subway sandwich joint down the street, where the management has instructed its employees to shout its new slogan at anyone who comes through the door:
“Welcome to Subway!” the woman behind the register will say, and then, in an almost military call-and-response fashion, all the sandwich artists cry, “EAT FRESH!” And though their loud voices try and communicate enthusiasm, a genuine desire for you to eat fresh, their dead eyes betray a desperation, worsened with each repetition, to add an -ly.
Yeah, eat freshly sounds weird and would make a crappy slogan. But it’s correct, isn’t it?
Yes, but according to grammarians who know, like the late, great William Safire, “eat fresh” isn’t necessarily wrong, either. They claim that it’s something called a “flat adverb,” and is perfectly acceptable. From an article by Boston Globe writer Jan Freeman:
Adverb is as adverb does; according to the streamlined definition from “A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage” (1957), “A qualifying word that is not qualifying a noun is an adverb.” “Eat healthy” isn’t missing an adverb; it just happens to have borrowed healthy, the adjective form, to serve in place of healthily or healthfully. That doesn’t make healthy an adjective, though; it’s the job, not the uniform, that counts.
So the adverb is not fading away; it’s just going about more often in the style H.L. Mencken called “bob-tailed” and grammarians call “flat,” or uninflected.
Fine. But it still makes my freaking skin crawl.
Anyone else want to ban the flat adverb?
Comments (53)
Comment
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Banning a bit of language would just reduce the available stylistic choices. Who wants to do that?
posted by Aemi on 1-25-2010 at 11:27 am
I was always taught that if you need an adverb, you’re probably not using the right verb. Ex: “He ran quickly” vs “He sprinted.”
That being said, would ‘Eat freshly’ mean ‘Eat in a fresh manner’? And is that what they mean? I kind of envision someone popping their collar before taking a bite when I hear ‘Eat freshly’.
In any case, anyone who has read anything by JK Rowling or What’s-his-face of DaVinci Code fame knows that the adverb is far from dead.
I like it… when used properly.
posted by dominique on 1-25-2010 at 11:27 am
I don’t understand what is possibly so offensive about an adverb. Okay, “he sprinted” is more vivid than “he ran quickly”, and he “he ate freshly” is more awkward than “he ate fresh food”, but those are just a couple of cases out of millions of possibilities.
posted by Brad on 1-25-2010 at 11:47 am
At least Applebee’s finally abandoned “Eatin’ good in the neighborhood.” Good is an adjective! But “Eatin’ well in the neighborhood” doesn’t rhyme, so this is what we get.
posted by Kevin on 1-25-2010 at 11:50 am
Similar to the “I do good”/”I do well” debate. You can argue that the “fresh” in Subway’s motto is an adjective to the implied noun “things.” Then, it is not describing _how_ you eat, but the food you eat.
posted by M on 1-25-2010 at 11:55 am
I think the “different” and “fresh” in those slogans are not meant to modify the verbs. (What does eat freshly even mean?) These words are actually adjectives describing unspoken nouns (food in the case of Subway and ideas in Apple’s case). Not sure if that is legal to you strict grammarians…
posted by Pheo on 1-25-2010 at 11:58 am
I’ve always agreed with Pheo’s comment – there’s an implied direct object there I think, or else the adjective itself is standing in place of the noun. “Think different” always grated on me until I realized that. Just a *little* less annoying when I think of it that way.
posted by tressel on 1-25-2010 at 12:09 pm
dominique: is your last sentence intended or unintended irony?
posted by david on 1-25-2010 at 12:13 pm
Oh, I LOATHE the flat adverb. A bag from the corner grocer reads “Eat local, act global.” Really?? Was the ink for the -ly that much more expensive!?
UGH.
And yet, I know people think I’m a grammar fascist if I go on about it, so I try to mutter my -ly’s in a quiet voice.
posted by tea on 1-25-2010 at 12:13 pm
I am gagged every time the “Real Simple” magazine shows up in the mailbox. Does the title reflect the acumen of the editors?
The Subway and Apple slogans seem more idiomatic, however. Eat fresh (food). Think different (approaches). I am sure that Apple went for the iconoclastic approach, and Subway just needed a cheer.
posted by Tom on 1-25-2010 at 12:22 pm
Kentucky asks people to “Drive Smart.” Ugh.
posted by onemoremoondance on 1-25-2010 at 12:26 pm
Stephen King said, “The road to Hell is paved in adverbs.”
That being said, linguistically, anything that might be spoken is considered “grammatical,” which explains why companies can get away with using slogans that sound good (well?) but aren’t proper written grammar.
And is anyone else self-conscious when writing about grammar?
posted by Ly on 1-25-2010 at 12:46 pm
Maryland at least went with “Drive Gently”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 1-25-2010 at 12:55 pm
Theres a fantastic summary on the “eat local” thing on the language log. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005123.html Basically, “eat locally” seems to ask the reader to eat at locations that are nearby whereas “eat local” asks the reader to eat locally grown food, or food that local. It’s a fine distinction, but I think the right one.
posted by Greg on 1-25-2010 at 1:06 pm
I live in a rural area in the South and hear and see so many grammatical mistakes everyday that I don’t really care about adverbs. I would just be happy to hear someone say “I saw” instead of “I seen”.
Ly–Absolutely.
posted by Wendy on 1-25-2010 at 1:08 pm
Tea, I agree with you. Every time I see “think global, act local” or “eat local, act global” is really frustrating to me, I just want to write “ly” on those every time I see them.
I suppose the flat adverb has its stylistic place, but I just would prefer that people used regular, real adverbs the majority of the time.
recaptcha: venomous administer
posted by Amanda W on 1-25-2010 at 1:23 pm
As a writer, I usually go with whatever is the most understandable to a reader within a specific audience. If it’s a technical/professional document, I most likely use adverbs properly to avoid any possible misunderstanding. If it’s a blog post or other type of prose, I go with the flow of the language. It’s a style preference for me, in the latter case.
posted by Stephanie on 1-25-2010 at 1:35 pm
david: Wasn’t thinking about it at first, but then reread myself — worried about Muphry’s law! — and realized what I’d done. Decided to go with it :)
posted by dominique on 1-25-2010 at 1:45 pm
The subject of grammar can be fascinating, but I think it is necessary to keep the goals of good grammar (communicating and being understood) in mind. When writing, we don’t have our faces, hands and bodies to aid in communicating our meaning, so we come up with rules to understand each other better in that form. In speech, however, we have the benefit of bodily(?) expression. Americans know what “Eatin Good in the Neighborhood” means. The lack of a “g” in “Eatin”, for example, is meant to be quaint – small town as opposed to big city. So, even if the phrase turns your stomach, does it not communicate its meaning to most people?
I would hate to know how many mistakes I’ve made in these few sentences, but I am more concerned with expressing my meaning. I think strong reactions to these types of mistakes are silly, and indicate poor judgment on intelligence.
@Ly – I am very self-conscious right now, but I won’t change my tone/language for this conversation’s sake, lol :)
posted by m on 1-25-2010 at 1:55 pm
I have no problem with adverbs used incorrectly…I have adapted several methods to hide my own grammatical errors.
I over use the dot dot dot “…” in order to jump from one new subject to another.
I start new paragraphs whenever I wish, in order to make an e-mail easier to read…
I have started using the semicolon to break up run-on sentenses, and I heavily rely on spell czech; which does nothing for me in this comment box…
I also enjoy using multiple exclaimation points to show just how excited or serious I am…never ALL CAPS!!!
Sincere!!!
Graham…
reCAPTIA; medicate lice…good advice!!!
posted by graham on 1-25-2010 at 2:37 pm
Grammar fails before it begins in that it is an attempt to objectify something that cannot be objectified: namely, the nuanced flow of human communication.
posted by Drew C on 1-25-2010 at 2:58 pm
The other one that gets me is during the season premiere of The Amazing Race – Phil Keoghan instructs the contestants to “travel safe”. I can’t help but yell “LY!” at the television, much to my wife’s chagrin.
@m – I grew up in the Midwest, so I respect what you’re saying. Ultimately, the purpose of language is to communicate with your neighbor, and I think many people are more apt to say “eatin’ good” than “eatin’ well”. But it’s the principle of the thing, really; at what point, does language begin to devolve? The less frequent use of the adverb, to me, shows less care in writing and in the language itself. What would be next to go if people stop using the adverb?
(Full disclosure – I saw Idiocracy recently, and it made me hate myself and society a little bit…)
posted by Kevin on 1-25-2010 at 3:00 pm
One topic I’d love to see addressed on this topic is the “I’m good” vs. “I’m well” debate. When somebody asked you how you are, you should say “I’m good,” correct? “I am well” says that you are good at existing, not how you are at the moment.
The sticking point, again, is the implication. The implication of “Eat Fresh.” (foods) is pretty strong. I disagree with the implication on Apple’s slogan. It should be “Think differently.” When a person says “I’m well” are they implying a verb in there? “I’m doing well” would be fine. And if a person specifically asks “How are you doing?” then I suppose “I’m well” would be fine.
I’m overthinking this, definitely, but I’ve seen “I’m well” spread like wildfire, through communities of people I really admire, and I have to bite my tongue every time I hear it.
posted by dukerayburn on 1-25-2010 at 3:01 pm
I believe that the omission of adverbs aids linguistic creativity without compromising comprehension. I do agree that some slogans sound horrible, but I disagree that advertising should ever be regarded as grammatically correct: \Got milk?\. Literacy is unnatural and some uneducated people will not speak or understand scholarese.It would only seem natural for advertisers to appeal to the masses versus the grammarians.
posted by poetic license on 1-25-2010 at 3:16 pm
I always read Apple’s slogan to be Think “Different” like Think “Hot”. It’s really an adjective, asking you to enter a mindset. There are far worse grammar mistakes out there-missing apostrophes are my pet peeve.
posted by Susan on 1-25-2010 at 3:27 pm
I like what Dominique said. “That being said, would ‘Eat freshly’ mean ‘Eat in a fresh manner’? And is that what they mean?”
And dukerayburn also shares my thoughts.
I don’t think Subway is describing /how/ you eat inasmuch as they’re describing /what/ you eat. They’re using adjectives without the nouns, effectively turning the adjective itself into the noun. We understand it to be there much like the implied “you” at the beginning. ‘You Eat Fresh Food.” I think a lot of places do this and we accept it because we understand what they’re saying regardless of whether the grammar is correct.
posted by Jerad H on 1-25-2010 at 3:28 pm
Ok, if the Subway in my town did that I would never go there again.
I don’t mind adverbs.
It’s the double negatives that make me want to wash peoples mouths out with soap.
Kevin, Idiocracy seems more and more likely, and it scares me….
Everytime one of my friend’s or I see something stupid we utter
“It’s got electrolytes”
posted by hockey zombie on 1-25-2010 at 3:35 pm
Is anyone else thinkging, “Johnny Dangerously” ?
:)
posted by Helenann on 1-25-2010 at 4:06 pm
I have bemoaning the loss of the American adverb for about a year. I realized that the -ly ending has fallen out of the common vernacular. I find that flat adverbs have a tendancy to make a speaker sound less inteligent.
This has become one of my top 3 gramatical pet peaves. (Number 1 being missuse of the words “good” and “well”)
posted by Jordan on 1-25-2010 at 5:15 pm
@Hockey Zombie:
+2 for the Idiocracy reference.
-1 for the unnecessary apostrophe in “friends”
posted by DYMongoose on 1-25-2010 at 5:19 pm
Also, I get -1 for forgetting the smiley at the end.
:)
ReCaptha: And Daddies
posted by DYMongoose on 1-25-2010 at 5:21 pm
I always imagined, whenever people complained about the Apple slogan, that Apple was imploring people to literally (adverb) think “different”. Not necessary change the way that you personally think, but the actual objects about which you are thinking are things that could be described as different. In their ads they had people, like Gandhi, and I never guessed Apple wanted their customers to all be like Gandhi, but to think about people who were like Gandhi. People who were different. And I hate Apple as a company.
By the way, did anyone find it at all funny in the Twain quote that he has no use for adverbs, but still manages to use one?
posted by Tim on 1-25-2010 at 5:25 pm
and dukerayburn-
what if, when someone asks “how are you?” and the response is “I’m well,” someone is merely trying to say that they are physically well, no problems, a-ok?
posted by Tim on 1-25-2010 at 5:28 pm
Unfortunately, Graham, by using dots instead of periods (why?) you look like you are having a stream of consciousness moment, not a thought. Is that what you want to convey?
Paragraphs help to set out sets of thoughts. Why change this? What does it help?
And using lots of !s is just a great way to get ignored.
The whole point of the discussion revolves around the idea that standards in grammar are themselves part of the message. Kind of like manners.
If you choose not to use them, you are making a statement. Be sure that’s what you want.
posted by Yogi on 1-25-2010 at 5:34 pm
What are we? French? Nay, I say. Let the language evolve through usage. A forced stagnation of the language will result in a stagnation of the culture.
(Ok, sorry about the cheap shot at the French)
posted by Dave on 1-25-2010 at 7:07 pm
How about Outback Steakhouse’s “Live Adventurous”? I HATE that one.
posted by JM on 1-25-2010 at 7:37 pm
To quote Terry Pratchett: “Multiple exclamation marks,” he went on, shaking his head, “are a sure sign of a diseased mind.”
I have a picture of a road sign in Texas reading “Drive Friendly”. Who said the adverb is dead?
posted by Gollum on 1-25-2010 at 10:14 pm
“In any case, anyone who has read anything by JK Rowling or What’s-his-face of DaVinci Code fame knows that the adverb is far from dead.”
Now that’s funny, Dominique!
I’m almost resigned to the flat adverb. What really drives me nuts is the disappearance of past participles. I frequently hear perfectly well educated people say things like “have went” and “I had ran”. Seriously. Mind you, I now live in Oklahoma. (I started to put dot, dot, dot after “Oklahoma” and then thought better of it.)
posted by Ellie on 1-26-2010 at 1:18 am
While I agree with most everything that has been discussed, I cringe mainly at poor spelling, those who prefer to type like we’re all receiving a text message (Gr8! C U L8r!) and double negatives. Can I also add “there, they’re and their” to the list? And how about “should have” instead of “should of”. UGH!
As a parent, I make sure to point out to my children the correct way to phrase things.
posted by shirleyfeeney on 1-26-2010 at 1:27 am
I got my cell phone when I graduated from high school. Not being one to fall prey to “text speak”, I try to include an adverb in most every message I send. All my friends say it’s like getting little stories. I’m only 19, but I think if the adverb is dead, it’s kicking and screaming its way to the grave.
posted by Rhiannon on 1-26-2010 at 1:40 am
I always interpreted it as “Eat Fresh [food]” but I guess that’s just me.
posted by Jon on 1-26-2010 at 2:58 am
In the “Got milk?” category. All sorts of folks are jumping on the “who needs the adverb” bandwagon. Got adverb?
http://www.milkinggotmilk.com
posted by kim haggin rossi on 1-26-2010 at 9:59 am
I remember reading “A Clockwork Orange” in 8th grade and thinking how I didn’t understand half the words…but taken in context you understand it. That’s why I don’t understand grammar nazi’s. I write quite a bit and when I write all grammar and punctuation goes out the window. The IDEA is what you’re trying to convey. Basically I don’t understand all the hub bub behind grammar…and FYI A Clockwork Orange is a horrendous movie after reading the book.
posted by Adam on 1-26-2010 at 10:27 am
Seeing items advertised as ‘fresh baked’ drives me out of my mind.
posted by Carrie on 1-26-2010 at 10:47 am
*sigh* Some of you are still upset we don’t speak like the King James Version of the Bible. Just because language is evolving doesn’t mean it’s devolving.
“Dids’t thou thinketh?”
posted by Tom in GA on 1-26-2010 at 10:55 am
In the Subway slogan, I always took ‘Fresh’ to be a noun and not an adverb.
The one thing I see alot that bugs me is, “The reason is because.”
Either say “The reason is” or say “Because”, putting them together is just redundant.
My 3rd grade teacher pounded that into our heads and it has stuck ever since.
posted by Troy Hopper on 1-26-2010 at 2:45 pm
Looking at the article again, I’m surprised I missed it.
“Shop smart, shop S-Mart” – Ash from The Army of Darkness
posted by Troy Hopper on 1-26-2010 at 2:51 pm
We NH natives love our state motto (and adverb abuse): “Live Free(ly) or Die!”
posted by Kim on 1-26-2010 at 9:07 pm
I had a creative writing teacher tell me that adverbs should be eliminated from your writing because they remove subtlety. Especially when added to modifiers like “he said” and “she said”. She basically made it seem like adverbs were the death of a manuscript. I use them sparingly within the manuscript, but never with he said/she said.
posted by Jenny on 1-27-2010 at 12:53 pm
With ya for the most part.
“Eat fresh” doesn’t employ an adverb, or a “flat adverb”, however. The phrase is entirely grammatically correct. It’s an elision. It means “Eat fresh (things)”, with the word things being elided. That’s okay grammatically.
“Think different”, however, is a valid of example of your complaint. And it’s a funny one, given how snobbish Apple’s cultivated image is.
posted by Cowboy on 1-29-2010 at 11:22 pm
There’s actually a good reason to avoid most adverbs in fiction writing, at least if you write action. Adverbs are a sign of weak, passive language (as a general rule). It is almost always possible to find a stronger verb that conveys a more immediate action than you get from a weak verb with an adverb (e.g., not only is “rushed” stronger than “walked quickly”, but so too such sentences as “He hammered the victim” as opposed to “He strongly hit the victim”).
The other reason this is important is for variety. If you use simple verbs with adverbs, your writing will become repetitious. If all your characters do is “run” modified by “quickly”, “slowly”, “haphazardly”, etc., they are still “running” each time. On the other hand, if they “sprint”, “mosey”, and “meander” you’ve got the exact same concepts conveyed with new words each time, and therefore your story gets more mileage before it becomes stale.
posted by Peter on 1-30-2010 at 3:28 am
“*sigh* Some of you are still upset we don’t speak like the King James Version of the Bible. Just because language is evolving doesn’t mean it’s devolving.
“Dids’t thou thinketh?””
That would be “Didst thou think?” or “Thinkest thou?”
“Thinketh” is third person singular.
posted by schizoid on 1-30-2010 at 4:01 am
Outback Steakhouse.
Live Adventurous.
posted by Mike on 1-31-2010 at 8:50 pm