Around here we have a joke about a famous writer who said "You should never use adverbs."
When sent an email asking whether 'never' was too strong, he replied "Perhaps they are tolerable when used rather sparingly, but certainly no more often than once per sentence."
This joke exaggerates the author's hypocrisy, but it has a kernel of truth. The anti-adjective tirade (page 117-118) in On Writing isn't as blatant, but uses enough adverbs to undercut itself. Here's an exercise: Starting immediately after the declaration that "The adverb is not your friend", count the adverbs in the next paragraph.
So obviously the intended takeaway isn't "avoid all adverbs".
When sent an email asking whether 'never' was too strong, he replied "Perhaps they are tolerable when used rather sparingly, but certainly no more often than once per sentence."
This joke exaggerates the author's hypocrisy, but it has a kernel of truth. The anti-adjective tirade (page 117-118) in On Writing isn't as blatant, but uses enough adverbs to undercut itself. Here's an exercise: Starting immediately after the declaration that "The adverb is not your friend", count the adverbs in the next paragraph.
I count 7 in 5 sentences; 3x usually, 2x not, 1x seriously and 1x clearly.
So obviously the intended takeaway isn't "avoid all adverbs".