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I've declared defeat on "begs the question". The original meaning (a logical fallacy where the premise for an argument assumes the conclusion) is just not known

by scott_s 11y ago

I've declared defeat on "begs the question". The original meaning (a logical fallacy where the premise for an argument assumes the conclusion) is just not known to enough people, and the modern (mis)use just sounds too close to what the words mean in isolation. I've also mostly given up on "literally", which I think is worse, because it's now coming to mean its opposite.

mturmon 11y ago
Bryan Garner, author of an excellent and well-regarded dictionary of English usage (famously reviewed at great length by DFW in Harper's), coined a term for such transitional constructions: "skunked words". The idea is that there are two groups of people, one holding to an original meaning, and one with a new usage. Sometimes the new meaning can be directly opposite the original meaning (e.g.: nonplussed), or just different (e.g., hopefully). So, writers who wish to be understood cannot use "nonplussed," because readers will not know what is meant. A skunked term. A longer explanation: http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2014/11/skunked-terms.html http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2014/11/skunked-terms.htm...
- Nadya 11y ago
  Another example: "That's so bad!" meaning "That's awesome!" If I can go on a tangent about poor terms...contranyms will throw people for a loop if they are unaware of one of the meanings. Or worse, if the sentence is constructed in a way meant to cause confusion. "I would be bound for Chicago if I wasn't bound to this chair." [0] "It is transparent that the transparent man cannot be seen." [1] "Three people are left after five left." [2] "If we go back two weeks, when Tom came back, we decided to push the date back three weeks." [3] [0] I would be moving towards Chicago if I wasn't unable to move from this chair. [1] It's visible to anyone that the invisible man cannot be seen. [2] Three people remain after five departed. [3] If you go into the past two weeks, when Tom returned, we decided then to push the date further by 3 weeks. I had fun writing those.
mcphage 11y ago
> it's now coming to mean its opposite As long as by "now" you mean, "over the last several hundred years": My daily bread is literally implored I have no barns nor granaries to hoard; John Dryden, The Hind and The Panther (1687) Every day with me is literally another yesterday for it is exactly the same. Alexander Pope, Letter to H. Cromwell (March 1708) His looks were very haggard, and his limbs and body literally worn to the bone Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1839) If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his son's weak mind. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843) He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies. Frances Brooke, The History of Emily Montague (1769) I look upon it, Madam, to be one of the luckiest circumstances of my life, that I have this moment the honour of receiving your commands, and the satisfaction of confirming with my tongue, what my eyes perhaps have but too weakly expressed — that I am literally the humblest of your servants. George Colman and David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage (1766) Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. James Joyce, The Dead (1914) that he had shared her bedroom which came out in the witnessbox on oath when a thrill went through the packed court literally electrifying everybody in the shape of witnesses swearing to having witnessed him on such and such a particular date in the act of scrambling out of an upstairs apartment with the a ssistance of a ladder in night apparel... James Joyce, Ulysses (1922) And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom wasliterally rolling in wealth. Mark Twain, "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer" (1876) All colors made me happy: even gray. My eyes were such that literally they Took photographs. Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire (1962) Literally, I was (what he often called me) the apple of his eye Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)
- tripzilch 11y ago
  Just goes to show this Nicholas Nickleby person couldn't write their way out of a wet cardboard box if their life figuratively depended on it--and by figuratively I mean literally, except more intense. (try and disagree with me, some of my words mean the opposite of what I intend)
mediascreen 11y ago
Most people who use literally "incorrectly" knows very well what it means, but use it hyperbolically. As in "I will literary kill the next person who misuses the English language". "I will figuratively kill the next person who misuses the English language" doesn't really convey the same sentiment...
Jun8 11y ago
Somewhat related: There are words that are their own antonyms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym). A better example is nice, which started bad (meaning "foolish" or "silly"), achieved a positive meaning in 18th century and on it's way down again ("How's my coding? It's nice.") Full story and some other interesting examples are here: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/10/change-in-word-meanings/ http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/10/change-in-word-me... OK, can't help it, another interesting example. The word slut, of unknown origin, was first applied to men and then generally applied to kitchen maids with a mild negative meaning of slovenliness (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=slut http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=slut). There are other words starting with sl- that made a similar journey but are now fell out of use, e.g. slattern and slammerkin
- craigds 11y ago
  A common, very confusing one of these is 'granular', which means both 'fine-grained' and 'coarse-grained'. I swear someone uses the word 'granular' about once every fortnight and I almost always have to ask what they mean because it's not usually obvious from the context.

by scott_s 11y ago

mturmon 11y ago

Bryan Garner, author of an excellent and well-regarded dictionary of English usage (famously reviewed at great length by DFW in Harper's), coined a term for such transitional constructions: "skunked words". The idea is that there are two groups of people, one holding to an original meaning, and one with a new usage. Sometimes the new meaning can be directly opposite the original meaning (e.g.: nonplussed), or just different (e.g., hopefully). So, writers who wish to be understood cannot use "nonplussed," because readers will not know what is meant. A skunked term. A longer explanation: http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2014/11/skunked-terms.html http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2014/11/skunked-terms.htm...

Nadya 11y ago
Another example: "That's so bad!" meaning "That's awesome!" If I can go on a tangent about poor terms...contranyms will throw people for a loop if they are unaware of one of the meanings. Or worse, if the sentence is constructed in a way meant to cause confusion. "I would be bound for Chicago if I wasn't bound to this chair." [0] "It is transparent that the transparent man cannot be seen." [1] "Three people are left after five left." [2] "If we go back two weeks, when Tom came back, we decided to push the date back three weeks." [3] [0] I would be moving towards Chicago if I wasn't unable to move from this chair. [1] It's visible to anyone that the invisible man cannot be seen. [2] Three people remain after five departed. [3] If you go into the past two weeks, when Tom returned, we decided then to push the date further by 3 weeks. I had fun writing those.

mcphage 11y ago

> it's now coming to mean its opposite As long as by "now" you mean, "over the last several hundred years": My daily bread is literally implored I have no barns nor granaries to hoard; John Dryden, The Hind and The Panther (1687) Every day with me is literally another yesterday for it is exactly the same. Alexander Pope, Letter to H. Cromwell (March 1708) His looks were very haggard, and his limbs and body literally worn to the bone Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1839) If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his son's weak mind. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843) He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies. Frances Brooke, The History of Emily Montague (1769) I look upon it, Madam, to be one of the luckiest circumstances of my life, that I have this moment the honour of receiving your commands, and the satisfaction of confirming with my tongue, what my eyes perhaps have but too weakly expressed — that I am literally the humblest of your servants. George Colman and David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage (1766) Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. James Joyce, The Dead (1914) that he had shared her bedroom which came out in the witnessbox on oath when a thrill went through the packed court literally electrifying everybody in the shape of witnesses swearing to having witnessed him on such and such a particular date in the act of scrambling out of an upstairs apartment with the a ssistance of a ladder in night apparel... James Joyce, Ulysses (1922) And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom wasliterally rolling in wealth. Mark Twain, "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer" (1876) All colors made me happy: even gray. My eyes were such that literally they Took photographs. Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire (1962) Literally, I was (what he often called me) the apple of his eye Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)

tripzilch 11y ago
Just goes to show this Nicholas Nickleby person couldn't write their way out of a wet cardboard box if their life figuratively depended on it--and by figuratively I mean literally, except more intense. (try and disagree with me, some of my words mean the opposite of what I intend)

mediascreen 11y ago

Most people who use literally "incorrectly" knows very well what it means, but use it hyperbolically. As in "I will literary kill the next person who misuses the English language". "I will figuratively kill the next person who misuses the English language" doesn't really convey the same sentiment...

Jun8 11y ago

Somewhat related: There are words that are their own antonyms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym). A better example is nice, which started bad (meaning "foolish" or "silly"), achieved a positive meaning in 18th century and on it's way down again ("How's my coding? It's nice.") Full story and some other interesting examples are here: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/10/change-in-word-meanings/ http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/10/change-in-word-me... OK, can't help it, another interesting example. The word slut, of unknown origin, was first applied to men and then generally applied to kitchen maids with a mild negative meaning of slovenliness (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=slut http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=slut). There are other words starting with sl- that made a similar journey but are now fell out of use, e.g. slattern and slammerkin

craigds 11y ago
A common, very confusing one of these is 'granular', which means both 'fine-grained' and 'coarse-grained'. I swear someone uses the word 'granular' about once every fortnight and I almost always have to ask what they mean because it's not usually obvious from the context.