I stopped my brother, the English teacher, mid sentence. “Did you just say ‘very unique’?”

Long pause. “Yes …”
“As in, ‘very one-of-a-kind’?”
Shorter pause. “Yes.” Another pause. “Unique means one of a kind.”
“Yes …” my turn to drag out the word.
“That would be redundant then.”
“Yes!”
“’Truly’ would be more appropriate.”
“’Truly’ would be fine if you want emphasis.”
Genuinely perhaps more so. We’ve all got our pet peeves. I have no idea why this is one of mine. But it is. Genuinely.