“He almost made a great play.” When is almost good enough, and when does it not cut it?
I was about half watching a recorded college football game, which frankly was a bit boring. So, I just listened while playing a word game on my phone.
What I heard were announcers consistently using the “almost” adverb more than a few times as to the opposing team to “my team.” “They almost had that first down…. they almost had that tackle….” Just once, so far, did I hear them say, “it was a ‘clear cut’ first down.”
So, since when is “almost” a reasonable call by football announcers? It seemed odd to me; and possibly biased toward one team.
This made me think somewhat more deeply about the word and concept of “almost.” The word refers to “for the most part,” “very little short of,” or “very nearly.”
“Not quite,” comes to mind. “Just kidding, not really,” also comes to mind.
Surely this concept came from an indecisive conqueror way back in the stone age. “I think I want your land, so I’m gonna take this portion and I’ll decide later if I want it all.”
Is it simply gentler to say, “I almost made it to the finish-line,” than to say, “I didn’t make it to the finish line?” So, do we use this word to go easy on our ego when we can’t cut it?
For example, do we avoid saying “I can’t” and say instead, “I almost can,” and that suffices in our minds?
Are we dumbing-down, psyching ourselves out, and pretending to be okay by using such words as almost? Whatever happened to truth, honesty, forthrightness? Denial is easier, I’m guessing.
So, I almost finished this column when something crazy and important happened which demanded my full attention. To be honest, I just didn’t finish the column.