Remember the days, Howard Jacobson implores us, when we got on fine with 'very'?

Today, Howard argues, 'very’ is not ‘very’ enough for the times we live in.' In its place, 'incredible' and other supersized words, spreading 'verbal chaos.'

Howard reflects on the dangers of over-inflated language, 'where words prance about without their clothes, shouting obscenities.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith