Meaning of adverbophobia | Babel Free

Definitions

An excessive aversion to the use of adverbs, especially in writing literature.

humorous, informal, sometimes, uncountable

Examples

“For some reason⟳ when I compare⟳ King to a living Shakespeare people think⟳ I'm joking, or that I'm wrong, but I truly believe⟳ this. […] Stephen King's biggest fear is adverbs. He irrationally hates them. So much so that the preceding sentence just made him cringe. And I think⟳ it makes his work⟳ wonderful to read⟳. […] When it comes down to it, even if the Constant Reader doesn't know⟳ why, King has always had a very distinctive voice. I posit that his voice is the direct⟳ result⟳ of his aversion to adverbs. It may not be just because it's unnatural (people speak⟳ with adverbs...Constantly). In fact, I don't think⟳ it's that at all, as I think⟳ King's dialogue is known for sounding incredibly natural. I think⟳ it's because an aversion to adverbs makes it so that you need⟳ to review⟳ your writing. Closely. And frequently. And repetitively. And it makes it so your writing is so tight that there are no mistakes at all.”

“Adverbophobia / That leads us to the puzzling phenomenon of all the warnings in the how-to-write books. Why do they fear adverbs so much […] Well, it is my duty to warn⟳ you that the advice about avoiding adverbs is mistaken, for two rather obvious reasons. The first reason⟳ is that you can’t normally get⟳ rid⟳ of an adverb by making a better choice of verb, adjective, or whatever, because there just isn’t one. You can’t avoid⟳ the adverb rapidly in a sentence like⟳ It rapidly corroded by finding a verb that means “undergo⟳ corrosion in a short space of time”; […] And the second reason⟳ for not recommending avoidance of adverbs is that even if some inexperienced writers use⟳ adverbs where they didn’t need⟳ to (perhaps where they’re redundant, or maybe just to increase⟳ the word count⟳ of a required paper), that doesn’t mean⟳ everyone else should be told to do without adverbs all the time! Suppose⟳ it’s true that some dimwit tends to write⟳ He shouted loudly, not realizing that shouting is always loud, or writes We hurried off quickly because of a failure to understand⟳ what hurrying is. That shouldn’t be allowed to ruin it for the rest⟳ of us! If I choose⟳ to write⟳ He lingered uneasily or She responded bitterly, it’s nobody’s business but mine, and I don’t want⟳ purported writing experts telling me to take⟳ those adverbs out simply because of adverbophobia. […] Adverbs are a familiar feature of everybody’s writing. Stephen King asserts that the road to hell is paved with adverbs, but the moment he gets back to doing what he’s good at – writing stories of suspense and horror – he uses adverbs at will, just like⟳ the rest⟳ of us. In fact somewhat more. I checked quite a few pages of his writing, and around 8 percent was typical for him, both before and after he published On Writing. The first adverb in Insomnia (1994) is in line 1; the first one in Under the Dome (2009) is in line 3. Check for yourself.”

CEFR level