Talk:too

The following reform proposals have no place in the description of a word. Eclecticology 00:03, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Reform

 * Proposal: Stop using the word "too."
 * Why? Homophones are undesirable and confusing to people learning English.
 * Replacement: The appropriate synonym should be used instead of "too."
 * Dissent: "Too" is a very common word in English.

Examples

 * I want to come too. I also want to come. I want to come as well.
 * That candy is too sweet for me. That candy is sweeter than I like.
 * You are too kind. You are very kind.

Basic English 850

 * as well (1)
 * more (2)
 * very (3)

The Third Meaning
Why the third meaning has been removed? Aursani 12:14, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Presumably because the definitions were identical. Angr 11:47, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

too
Just the recently added (anonymously) Usage notes proscribing the use of this word. Which organizations and style guides in which countries consider this word "unprofessional"? We should be specific. --EncycloPetey 20:42, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I've never seen it proscribed, and the OED has no indication of "unprofessional". I wonder what the editor had in mind.    D b f  i  r  s   21:25, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I can think of two senses that would be inappropriate in formal writing: the highly informal "very" sense ("that's just too cute!") and the mostly-informal "in addition" sense ("Please hire me, I am a team player and a great writer too"). On the other hand the "excessively" sense, which I think of as the primary one, would be OK in most contexts. -- Visviva 08:47, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

RFV failed, usage note removed. —Ruakh TALK 00:56, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

"Too" used in the negative
I think the following is not covered in the definitions given:

"I am not too tall" does not mean "I am not excessively tall" -- rather it means "I am relatively short". Duoduoduo 17:38, 13 October 2011 (UTC)


 * But it could just as easily mean "I am not excessively tall." Consider the following dialogue:"John:       Mark is too tall. Luke:        Is this true, Mark? Mark:        Absolutely not. Matthew:  Can you state for the record whether you are too tall? Mark:        I am not too tall. Matthew:  Thank you. John:        Well, if you're not too tall, then what are you?  Huh? Mark:        Appropriately tall.  Not too tall, not insufficiently tall—appropriately tall. John:        Oh.  Yeah, I guess I could see that. Luke:        Wait, what does that mean? John:        It means Mark is tall, but not too tall as I had initially claimed. Luke:        So, just to be clear, Mark, you're not saying that you're relatively short, only that you are not too tall—correct? Mark:        Correct. Matthew:  Can you state for the record whether you are relatively short? Mark:        I am not relatively short, nor am I too tall.  Rather, I am appropriately tall. Matthew:  Thank you. Luke:        And are you voting Libertarian, Mark? Mark:        Yes.  Yes, I am. Luke:        Cool."Clearly, in such a scenario, one can issue the claim "I am not too tall" without meaning "I am not excessively tall."  allixpeeke (talk) 02:45, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Proposal of Etymology
Is there a possibility that this word actually came from "thereto", used after an additional item, with the "there" being eventually dropped? Ex. "I bought a house, and a car thereto." 66.112.119.157 05:28, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Nope. Chuck Entz (talk) 09:36, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

"just as X cannot, so too Y cannot"
Is the meaning used in the following sentence added yet? "just as X cannot, so too Y cannot" --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:14, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

only too : very
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/only+too --Backinstadiums (talk) 21:39, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
 * (used with a negative word or phrase) extremely; very She wasn't too pleased with his behavior. In these cases not too adds a note of ironic understatement --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:23, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Is too meaning very actually a Negative Polarity Term? can be used in questions? --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:29, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

not at all, none too
I’m not too sure that you’re right (= not at all sure ) --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:14, 27 February 2021 (UTC)