It doesn't matter, in my opinion, if Brits "really" say really a lot. In normal conversation, we don't speak in rhyming iambic pentameter, and no one cares if a sentence sounds padded to fit the meter, since there is no meter. Typical critiques of poetry call us out all the time for saying things like "quite" and "very," or for using too many modifiers, things that don't trouble us in casual conversation. Using the standards of casual conversation to justify usages in formal verse isn't always a great idea. (And by the way, Americans say "really" quite a bit as well. I've always thought the British relied more heavily on "actually," actually).
|