Dead / just

Question

"While not 100% confirmed, the netizens have always been dead spot-on with their predictions regarding Invincible Youth, so let’s just wait a little while more!"

1)I think the dead is a paraphrase for "very" which has a informal nuance. Is this understanding right?

2)If you ignore the just, you are able to grasp the whole meaning of the sentence but I'd like to know what kind of nuance the just makes in comparison with the case of its lack.

Thanks in advance.

The text quoted from http://www.allkpop.com/2010/05/rainbows-jaekyung-and-after-schools-jooyeon-for-invincible-youth

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

aramahosi1)I think the dead is a paraphrase for "very" which has a informal nuance. Is this understanding right?

Yes. In this case it is misused. "spot-on" has a sense of exactness that does not need such qualification.

aramahosi 2)If you ignore the just, you are able to grasp the whole meaning of the sentence but I'd like to know what kind of nuance the just makes in comparison with the case of its lack.

In this sentence "just" is a virtually meaningless "filler" that makes the sentence feel a bit more chatty. I suppose you could say it vaguely emphasises that patience is needed to see out the wait, and the expectation of some resolution at the end of it.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

the netizens have always been dead spot-on with their predictions

I would say either

the netizens have always been dead-on with their predictions

or

the netizens have always been spot-on with their predictions

Both expressions mean 'extremely accurate'. It doesn't sound natural to use both of them together.

Best wishes, Clive

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