Use of the word "very"

You can get rid of it most of the time, but as with most absolutes, just telling somebody to take it out every single time is bad advice. Coincidentally, I ran across one Friday that I actually couldn't bring myself to remove. It told me something that the sentence without it would not. Sorry I don't have the example.

Speaking of crusades, mine is to eradicate "respective" and "respectively" from 99 percent of those references. This sentence, for example, drives me insane.

"Indianapolis and Seattle lead their respective divisions."

I defy anybody to explain how "respective' in that sentence adds anything. But I see it all the time.

 

With you on that one.

It works with many elements that you have to tie together: The most boring teams in the NFL are Indianapolis and Seattle, which lead the AFC South and NFC West, respectively.
And even that's a clunker of a sentence.

 

I stubbornly maintain you don't need it there, either. If you match the order of the elements, people will get it.

Using it also presumes that most fans won't know that Indy is in the South and Seattle is in the West, and most do.

 

Doesn't belong there.

But it does here: "Smith and Jones ran for six and eight touchdowns, respectively."

Granted, there might a better way to re-write that sentence, anyway.

 

Smith ran for six touchdowns; Jones scored eight.

 

Nope, disagree. You're right, it could be written differently. But who decided that "respectively" was a word we add to help readers sort things out?

I maintain:

Smith and Jones ran for six and eight touchdowns.

is just fine, and that readers will get that the first set of first and second elements match up with the second set.

 

I disagree, SF. I think that reads really awkwardly.

I vote for splitting them, as I did (though obviously it can be done differently). Otherwise, people have to reread it to figure out what goes where.

 

I agree readers "should" be able to associate the components.

Respectively is another word that should die.

 

Well, like I said, yeah, it can simply be written clearer.

But there are examples where that kind of construction might be best, and my thinking is that "respectively" doesn't help at all.

 

We'll agree to disagree. I can't think of a single instance in which listing things like that works better than splitting them either into two sentences or using a semicolon.

 

You're assuming a higher level of intellect than some readers can manage. This is a case where two sentences are better than one. And I can't think of any situation in which your above example is best.

 

Well, that was a bad example, obviously. But I'm just saying this. In sentences where there are sets of people doing sets of things, the "respectively" is usually unnecessary. That's all.