On Wed, 14 Jul 2010, RussellMc wrote:

> > "just" is a four letter word and I really hate it!
> 
> "Hate" is a four letter word - how do you just-ify it?
> 
>              R
> 
> FWIW:
> 
> Just, whiles much abused, seems to me to have numerous valid uses.
> 
> 1. "He just came in". Conveys the sense of immediacy of something that
> is in the past but proximate in time. I can't immediately think of a a
> word synonym with close or equal meaning. You could use "He recently
> came in" but it is a forced construction.
> 
> 2. "He just succeeded".  Most probably means he met some limit by the
> barest of margins. COULD have meaning as per 1. but this would be less
> usual.
> 
> 3. "He wore only just enough to guarantee his admission." Similar to 2
> but a different feel. 'Just' here modifies 'only'.
> He wore only enough to ..." contains the same information for most
> purposes but emphasises the smallness of the margin.
> 
> 4. "That's not just" = fair / equitable.
> 
> 5. And quite a few more.
> 
> Do you hate these examples?
> If so, why, and what alternatives would you use?

No, I guess I can live with these. What I really HATE is when "just" is 
used in a dismisive manor. As in: just rebuild the saturn V and you're 
good to go.

:-)

Regards
Sergio Masci
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