In Newfoundland, the word wonderful is often used as an intensifier for both positive and negative things. For example, a Newfoundlander might refer to something as a wonderful loss. This is part of a complete episode.
Awfully might seem like an awful choice for a positive adverb, as in awfully talented, but it makes sense given the history of awful. Once intended to mean “filled with awe,” it’s now a general intensifier. The process of semantic...
honking adj. very large; whopping; as an intensifier or in an adverbial role, very. Editorial Note: It is unclear in the 1974 citation whether the cars had honking horns or were seen as large compared to the European automobiles. (source: Double...
–tacular suffix in the forming of nouns, ‘an exciting or extravagant event’ associated with the root; in the forming of adjectives, an intensifier of the root, ‘a lot, great, large, extravagant, excessive.’ Editorial Note: Terms created with...