Pedants' Paradise

[vinteuil]

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A grammatical query.

Why is it that in some contexts "much" has to be preceded by "very"?

You cannot say " * Thank you much" or " * I like it much" - it has to be "Thank you very much", "I like it very much".
And yet in the negative an unaccompanied "much" is fine - "I don't like it much".

Advice and comments wd be - much - appreciated...

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[Pulcinella]

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A grammatical query.

Why is it that in some contexts "much" has to be preceded by "very"?

You cannot say " * Thank you much" or " * I like it much" - it has to be "Thank you very much", "I like it very much".
And yet in the negative an unaccompanied "much" is fine - "I don't like it much".

Advice and comments wd be - much - appreciated...

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I rather like:
Thank you muchly!

I suspect that this nicety is custom/usage rather than grammar, as such.
A shame that our good friend jean is no longer with us; she would probably have had an explanation.

Of course, Margot (in The Good Life) had it off pat: Thank you VERY much, Gerry!

[LMcD]

I rather like:
Thank you muchly!

I suspect that this nicety is custom/usage rather than grammar, as such.

Soon to be replaced, I understand, by 'Thank you bigly' (if we want a trade deal, that is)

[gurnemanz]

It seems that in general usage much is preferred on its own mainly in questions and negative utterances.

I don't go jogging much.
Do you go jogging much?

But not:

I go jogging much.

In all cases a lot is OK.

Much as an intensifier as in "much appreciated" is a different case.

[LezLee]

A leaflet with the Radio Times advertising Duracell Project Solar UK. All sounds wonderful till you get to:
'Project Solar UK. A real alternative to energy saving'

Is this really what was intended?

[LMcD]

I'm often asked by check-out operatives and the like: 'Do you have a loyalty card at all?' and have yet to come up with what I feel to be a wholly appropriate reply.

[vinteuil]

I'm often asked by check-out operatives and the like: 'Do you have a loyalty card at all?' and have yet to come up with what I feel to be a wholly appropriate reply.

... I don't recommend a fake-Irish Peter Sellers ["The Naked Truth"] "not at all, at all... "


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[Serial_Apologist]

I'm often asked by check-out operatives and the like: 'Do you have a loyalty card at all?' and have yet to come up with what I feel to be a wholly appropriate reply.

I always tell them, "No, it's against my religion".

[LezLee]

Just heard on BBC re Hong Kong - 'Protesters have doubled down on their demonstrations'. What?

[LMcD]

The names of English orchestras are usually - and correctly in my view - left unchanged in CD liner notes, programmes and announcements in other languages. Going in the other direction, one rarely - and correctly in my view - hears a translation or Anglicization of 'Suisse Romande', Gewandhaus' or 'Concertgebouw'. But this morning, for the first time, a recording was announced as being by the 'Dresden State Orchestra' - am I alone in thinking that it just doesn't sound right (and is it even accurate?)

[Serial_Apologist]

Just heard on BBC re Hong Kong - 'Protesters have doubled down on their demonstrations'. What?

I heard that too! Made me double Dover.

[Mal]

... one rarely - and correctly in my view - hears a translation or Anglicization of 'Suisse Romande', Gewandhaus' or 'Concertgebouw'. But this morning, for the first time, a recording was announced as being by the 'Dresden State Orchestra' - am I alone in thinking that it just doesn't sound right (and is it even accurate?)

Being far too pedantic for my own good, I just looked up the literal meanings of 'Gewandhaus', 'Concertgebouw' and 'Staatskapella'. How depressingly boring! Best left untranslated to (i) generate an air of mystery and wonder (ii) guarantee correctness. Does this make me a 'pedantic romantic'?

[Sir Velo]

The names of English orchestras are usually - and correctly in my view - left unchanged in CD liner notes, programmes and announcements in other languages. Going in the other direction, one rarely - and correctly in my view - hears a translation or Anglicization of 'Suisse Romande', Gewandhaus' or 'Concertgebouw'. But this morning, for the first time, a recording was announced as being by the 'Dresden State Orchestra' - am I alone in thinking that it just doesn't sound right (and is it even accurate?)

Notwithstanding, I suspect many people would be nonplussed if they heard an announcer refer to the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks or the Ceske Filharmonie!

[LezLee]

Jeremy Paxman has just said of St. John's College, Oxford: "To coin a cliche" - "a veritable smorgasbord of accomplishment"
Oh dear.

[Serial_Apologist]

Jeremy Paxman has just said of St. John's College, Oxford: "To coin a cliche" - "a veritable smorgasbord of accomplishment"
Oh dear.

I've never liked Paxperson - bumptious pretentious prat.