Is "the very end" grammatically correct?

Question

I've come across this news about 'music and love are the only truly international languages', and found this:

"Towards the very end, the video gets a little shaky as even the person filming starts tapping their foot."

Why use the very end? The end of something means there is no more.
Is there a difference in meaning between the end and then very end?

Yes it is correct, it means just very close to the ending, more so than just "the end". — Riley Francisco, Mar 14 '16 at 05:58
Useful: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13454/using-the-adjectives-very-and-own-for-our-own-body-organs — Maulik V, Mar 14 '16 at 07:04
Also useful: http://ell.stackexchange.com/q/84155 There are better questions out there about the strange ways very is used in English. I don't think this question should be re-opened even with Peter's edits. — ColleenV, Mar 15 '16 at 16:52
I agree with ColleenV, especially because its definition can be found in the first dictionary I tried: very: used for emphasizing an extreme place or time, for example at the top or end of something; Can you see that little bird right up at the very top of the tree? Nick was sitting in the very back of the bus. We worked till the very end of the day. She smoked her cigarette down to the very end, then stubbed it out. — Damkerng T., Apr 04 '16 at 08:47

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 14 '16 at 02:33

2

the very end

is grammatically correct

We watched the movie until the very end

that is until there was no more movie left.

Very is used to emphasize the closeness to the end-of-the-end, as opposed to the-beginning-of-the-end.

For example, a rope has an exact end, however it can be referred to as

the end of the rope
the very end of the rope
the bitter end of the rope

answered Mar 14 '16 at 02:33

Peter

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Erm... the bitter* end of the rope* is not idiomatic. Only *time-based* referents can have a "bitter end". – FumbleFingers Mar 15 '16 at 15:00
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@fumbleFingers: The bitter end, when used about rope, is actually a naval term used to refer to the last six fathoms of an anchor rope. This was often painted bright colours to make sure that sailors didn't carry on letting out anchor rope and let go of the end, losing anchor and rope. – JavaLatte Mar 15 '16 at 15:04
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Bitter End. There is also a nightclub on Bleecker St in NYC called "The Bitter End". – Peter Mar 15 '16 at 15:13
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@JavaLatte: Oh wow! I didn't know that's apparently where the cliche came from in the first place: A bitt* on a ship is something that you can wind a rope round; the loops of the rope are bitters, and the bitter end is the end of this rope.* I'll leave my first comment as enduring testament to my [previous] ignorance. – FumbleFingers Mar 15 '16 at 15:14
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You can say "they watched the film to the bitter end" even if the film had a happy ending: when I was young, I was very confused by this. – JavaLatte Mar 15 '16 at 15:20
Amazing @FumbleFingers I could never think of that without the explanation! – Maulik V Apr 07 '16 at 05:35
Yes, like between the devil and the deep blue sea. Well done,Peter. – Lambie Mar 21 '19 at 00:33

Is "the very end" grammatically correct?

1 Answers1