h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

such as "I'm well knackered."

Only 2 yrs late responding, but never mind. This one has fascinated me since I lived in London a couple of decades ago. I thought, then, that it was a London thing, having never heard it before, but I have since come across quotations leading back at least to the Regency period. I'd love to know where/when it originated.

I'm studying Dutch at the moment and the Dutch word "wel" is used as a quantifier too. It was probably brought to Britain with Anglo-Saxon but has slowly decreased in popularity since then. Dutch and Belgian people say "Ja wel" to mean "Yes it definitely is", which reminds me of WWII films when German soldiers say "javol" (don't know how it's spelled) so it's probably the same in German.

I'm not sure where the word "very" comes from but it could stem from the French "vrais" meaning true.