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Yes I think what corrupts this ideal is the extent to which words come to represent feelings and associations instead of facts and ideas. Like how "literally"
by haberman 10y ago
Yes I think what corrupts this ideal is the extent to which words come to represent feelings and associations instead of facts and ideas.
Like how "literally" has come to represent the feeling of emphasis, and the association with the experience of one-upping other emphatic adjectives like "extremely."
- ekianjo 10y agoCommon use does not make it right. People using litterally in this way are just showcasing their ignorance.
- RileyKyeden 10y ago> Common use does not make it right. In fact, this is the very mechanism by which language evolves.
- ekianjo 10y agoYou mean degrades?
- RileyKyeden 10y agoBeing flexible with my language doesn't keep me from being precise. I said what I meant.
- maroonblazer 10y agoYou must not be familiar with the "Prescriptivist vs Descriptivist" debate. http://english.blogoverflow.com/2012/10/prescriptivism-and-descriptivism/ http://english.blogoverflow.com/2012/10/prescriptivism-and-d...
- WhitneyLand 10y agoActually not. If you google the debate you'll find there's a history of using the word this way that goes back a very, very, long time in a variety of literature. I have to admit I thought the same as you until someone pointed this out.
- ZeroGravitas 10y agoYou've fallen victim to Muphry's law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law "litterally" only has one t in it.
- ekianjo 10y agoThe same word in French as two so this is probably one letter that was dropped over time.
- stevetrewick 10y agoCommon use is literally the only thing which defines correctness.
- kps 10y ago¿Por que no los dos? In current use, ‘literally’ for emphasis is a sign of a lowbrow sociolect.
- RileyKyeden 10y ago> lowbrow sociolect Is this Pretentious Twaddlese for "stupid"?
- kps 10y agoNo, for ‘ignorant’, as the grandparent said.
- ekianjo 10y agoThe dictatorship of the Majority ?
- ZeroGravitas 10y agoI find it weird that this fight is only over "literally" (which doesn't actually literally mean non-metaphorically, but rather "to do with letters") but not "really", "truly" and "actually" and other such words which do literally mean "this is true and real".
- dragonwriter 10y ago> Common use does not make it right. Yes, it does. There is no "right" in language use beyond communication with the target audience. What people understand a word to mean is all there is.