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Pretty Much

namlan

Banned
Vietnam
- Our sex life pretty much died after we got married.

- "pretty much died" here means "we didn't have sex very much", right?

Thanks a lot!

NamLan
"pretty much" means the same as "more or less", so the answer "yes".
Is it just me, or has 'pretty much' suddenly become one of the most common phrases in spoken English?

Can anyone suggest a definition of 'pretty' in the following contexts:

"How was the concert?" "Pretty good"

"By then the party was pretty well over"

- Phil
Is it just me, or has 'pretty much' suddenly become one of the most common phrases in spoken English?

Uh, yeah, it pretty much has.
The term 'pretty' seems to have replaced the word 'fairly'. Therefore saying something is 'pretty good', etc simply means it was satisfactory.

As for the original question: "Our sex life pretty much died after we got married." here it would mean something like 'essentially'
Can anyone suggest a definition of "pretty"

I think it would take almost a page of a dictionary; it is used as an adverb which is able to adjust its adjective towards "pretty well" any direction the speaker or writer wishes to go, as well as an adjective in its own right.
Gasman, M-W seems to do a pretty good job of defining pretty[adv] in a pretty small space prettily:
1 a: in some degree : moderately <pretty cold weather>
b: quite, mainly <the wound was…pretty bad — Walt Whitman>
2: in a pretty manner : prettily <pop vocalists who can sing pretty — Gerald Levitch>
I think it belongs in the category of "empty qualifiers," along with the words rather, somewhat, and very. The wide spectrum of possibilities for interpretation renders them all but meaningless. If a writer can't think of a better word, then he is not a very good writer, is using some rather weak vocabulary, and should be somewhat ashamed of himself. 👁 Big Grin :D
I think it belongs in the category of "empty qualifiers," along with the words rather, somewhat, and very. The wide spectrum of possibilities for interpretation renders them all but meaningless. If a writer can't think of a better word, then he is not a very good writer, is using some rather weak vocabulary, and should be somewhat ashamed of himself. 👁 Big Grin :D

Can I change my vote? I like the term "empty qualifiers." (And feel well and properly chastised by the rest of the post. It'll pass, though.)
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