Very, very, very, very, very, very...

One of my pet peeves is when someone uses the same word more than twice to emphasize their point. This seems to happen a lot with the word "very" and the word "never". Using a long repetition of adverbs does not really emphasize their point over using one or two. To me, it even seems counter productive because I lose my focus on their train of thought and instead start thinking, "I wonder when they'll stop saying 'very' and get on with their sentence".

Using a word multiple times also seems to decrease the power that it has. If something "never" happens, it happens zero times. There is no need to say "never, never, never". If you do, you are implying that one "never" is not enough; instead, you are afraid that people might interpret one "never" to mean "seldom". This really robs the word "never" of its true meaning. If one "never" has the power to accomplish the same as five "never"s, it has its full power.

When people use multiple adverbs like "very" and "never", there seems to be an emotional affirmation beneath the words. However, I think it is best to verbalize this emotion with phrases like "I never want to _________, and I feel strongly about this because ________". This approach gets to the reason for the emotion, and sharing this reason can help others to appreciate the emotions better.

As social beings, we communicate with others constantly. As we do, it is important to consider how our messages is received by them. Take a moment to consider how well you communicate to others. Do you often find that your audience has difficulty understanding you or agreeing with you? If so, what are some steps you could take to communicate more effectively?