Very bad days versus pretty good ones

Someone says "I had a very bad day" -- and we have a problem on our hands:

What does he mean by "very"?

What is the difference between "I had a bad day" and "I had a very bad day?"

Is "very" a matter of degree? In which case it is like a Richter scale measurement, as in "My day was 7.8 on the Bad Day scale. So a 7.8 on the BD scale means buildings falling down and bridges collapsing. That would be a very bad day.

But usually 7.8 days on the BD scale do not happen. Most days probably measure 1.2, or even .533, on the BD scale -- the equivalent of wearing your undershirt inside out and your wife laughing at you. This would NOT be a very bad day.

So stop saying you had one.

Or is "very" a measure of truthfulness, as in the old English translation of the Bible?: "Verily, verily I say unto you ..." means "Truly, truly I say to you ..." That's why in old English they would say, "Very, I had a bad day..."

But nobody speaks old English anymore.

OR: is "very" a matter of exaggeration?

Aye, my friend. 'Tis a matter of exaggeration. 'Tis very, very much a matter of exaggeration.

Exaggeration means there really is no reason at all to say "very" -- but you say it anyway. You just go a say it ANYWAY. You say, "I had a VERY bad day!" when all you need to say is "I had a bad day."

Stop saying "very." It adds to the clutter of words out there.

And it distorts your ability to be thankful.

Which raises another thing: Do you recall the last time you heard someone say "I had a very good day?" I can't remember the last time I walked into the house saying to Valerie, "Well! I had a very good day today!" I don't think I've ever done that!

In our assessment of the quality of our days, "very" and "good" tend not to go together.

First, somebody has to ask you, "How was your day?"

And we would usually respond, "Well... I guess it was a pretty good day."

I may blog about what a "pretty good day" might mean in a future blog. But for now:

We are very hard to please.

Logos2Go

Psalm 118.24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.