Literary notes about exactly (AI summary)
The word "exactly" in literature serves as an adverb that emphasizes precision, accuracy, and faithful replication across a wide range of contexts. In some works it underscores a meticulous replication or matching of details—for example, a character is described as being “exactly like my friend” ([1]) or an object is recreated “exactly like it” ([2]), ensuring that every element aligns perfectly with its original. In technical or procedural explanations, as seen in discussions about measurements and placements ([3], [4], [5]), "exactly" signals adherence to rigorous standards. The term is also employed in dialogue, often as a succinct affirmation, as when characters respond with a curt “Exactly so” ([6], [7], [8], [9]). Overall, whether accentuating exact physical resemblance, precise timing ([10], [11]), or confirming a point in conversation, "exactly" functions to heighten the clarity and intensity of descriptions and exchanges in literary texts.
- He taught me, in the presence of my new mother, how to fix it with some tragacanth gum, and I found myself exactly like my friend.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - “There was only one way—to make another nightgown exactly like it, before Saturday came, and brought the laundry-woman and her inventory to the house.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - (3) The Method of Average Errors consists in taking a standard stimulus and then trying to make another one of the same sort exactly equal to it.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - It must be ensured that every hammer strikes its blow at exactly the right place on the string, since on this depends the musical value of the note.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - He directed that the silver sou should exactly contain the twenty-second part by weight of the pound.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob - “Exactly so,” cried Aramis.
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - Exactly.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - " "Exactly, Watson.
— from His Last Bow: An Epilogue of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - “Discipline must be maintained?” “Exactly.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - I’ve been away exactly twenty minutes for a cup of tea.
— from Mrs. Warren's Profession by Bernard Shaw - From time to time Harding consulted his watch, so as to be prepared in time for the solar observation, which had to be made exactly at midday.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
