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I'm extremely satisfied with the answers:-\ No way, it sounds dumb.
Of course, Ted is spot on about 'very' and 'completely' not being interchangeable, for it's obvious they mean something different.
The point I wanted to make, is that it doesn't seem right to say 'very satisfied', because the meaning of 'to satisfy' is to fulfil all your needs, but nothing more. That's why people say I was more than satisfied. 'Very' intensifies hot because hot is an open ended scale, but things either conform to your requirements/needs/wants or they don't. Either some, most, or all are fulfilled. It seems a bit like saying it is 'very mild' - though it's not really. But no one would say that goal is 'very accomplished', or my needs were 'very met', or my hopes were 'very realised'. Are those examples not similar? Oh, well. I'm glad Shona understands me!
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'Very' intensifies hot because hot is an open ended scale, but things either conform to your requirements/needs/wants or they don't.
hey by, that was just the point I was going to make. Isn't "satisfied" an absolute? Either you are or you aren't (satisfied, I mean). It's like saying someone is a little bit pregnant, or another someone is very dead, or that something is extremely unique.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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Although the subject has now been exhaustively treated by our experts, let me contribute the modest remark that, like most translations, satisfied is not completely congruent to zufrieden. The German word is not derived from a participle, and it has more of that "open-ended" property. So "sehr zufrieden" goes down without effort, while "very satisfied" makes me think of a letter of recommendation by a grumpy ex-boss.
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"very satisfied" makes me think of a letter of recommendation by a grumpy ex-bossPerfect, wsieb. No way could I have put it better (and I haven't  ) ! Oh, and much respect to BY & MG, as you two also managed to put my vague feeling that something was rotten in the state of Denmark into words. I hereby (re)turn my coat and retract my acceptance of "very satisfied". [stubborn-e]
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The point I wanted to make, is that it doesn't seem right to say 'very satisfied', because the meaning of 'to satisfy' is to fulfil all your needs,
but nothing more.
Yes, but you can be half satisfied thereby implying that you are only half way to fulfilling your needs.
So there are increasing levels of satisfaction but none that exceed the highest level of satisfaction and more than satisfied is just a turn of phrase.
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Isn't "satisfied" an absolute? Either you are or you aren't (satisfied, I mean).
I don't think so, MG. As I pointed out in the above post you can have different levels of satisfaction you just can't exceed the highest level so satisfcation is not an absolute - it's a measure.
It's like saying someone is a little bit pregnant, or another someone is very dead, or that something is extremely unique.
Again, I think pregnancy has different stages (heavily pregnant etc.) therefore it can be a measure similarly you can be half-dead or near-death without being dead. they're not scientific measures but we all know what they mean when we read them.
On the other hand, unique is definitely an absolute.
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