I was wondering how these two similar-looking expressions actually have nuances of meaning?
In the following five separate examples, which of the two expressions would you choose to use? Many thanks.
Man A: Change is all very well, but only if it’s a change for the better.
Man A: Change is all well and good, but only if it’s a change for the better.
Man B: Peace and quiet is all well and good, but it can be rather dull.
Man B: Peace and quiet is all very well, but it can be rather dull.
Man C: Will they make it out of the fortress? It’s all well and good they stopped the machine, but not if they get blown up in the process.
Man C: Will they make it out of the fortress? It’s **all very well **they stopped the machine, but not if they get blown up in the process.
Man D: It’s all well and good being able to fly and that, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use your pins every now and then.
Man D: It’s all very well being able to fly and that, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use your pins every now and then.
Man E: Oh…bother. Buying all these things is well and good, but I simply can’t carry it all.
Man E: Oh…bother. Buying all these things is all very well, but I simply can’t carry it all.
Native US English speaker here. IME, “all well and good” is used when you are trying to downplay potential negatives. For example, someone planned a party for Friday, it rained, but it was “all well and good” because everyone went indoors to play games and watch movies. If, however, nothing at all happened that was negative, then the party would have been “all very well”, or as I would put it, “all very good”.
In the context of the OP, I would use them interchangeably.
In the context robert_columbia is speaking of…I wouldn’t use either.
“It rained on Friday, but it was all for the best, because everyone went indoors to play games and watch movies,” is how I would phrase it. Oddly, it’s not really literal. I might have preferred the outcome of it not raining and us being outside, so rain was not really “the best,” but that’s how I would say it. “All for the best,” may mean second best, but it was still enjoyable. Or it may literally mean it was the best outcome: “It rained on Friday, but it was all for the best, since we went indoors before the tree fell in the yard!”
“Everything went perfectly at the party…it was all good.” It’s a bit slang, but my generation cut our teeth on “it’s all good,” to indicate approval.
I have never heard anyone say “It’s all very well” for anything but the most literal denotation. I have never heard it used as in the OP’s examples.
“It’s all well and good” is almost always an ironic device that is followed by a “but” as in all the OP’s examples. It is often used in rhetoric to refute an opponent’s claim of the benefits of some proposed action, to show how the opponent is neglecting the downside. It is also used to minimize the positive point being made, to show that what has been done is fine but it’s not enough.
I never hear it used literally at face value. I happen to disagree with robert_columbia on this point.