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"Literally" really gets on my nerves.
by cmdrfred 10y ago
"Literally" really gets on my nerves.
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago"... What happens next will literally blow your mind" In general I'm literally grateful that the frequently used form of "literally" does not apply literally.
- noxToken 10y agoWe geniuses at Bitely are literally hacking the gourmet food space. It's essentially a Tinder for your Tastebuds.
- RileyKyeden 10y ago> really I see what you did there.
- Bjartr 10y agoLiterally had literally been used to mean "figuratively" for over a century.
- oddlyaromatic 10y agoThis is so true. If people assume that the word "literally" cannot, itself, be used figuratively - to exaggerate a metaphor - they might not truly understand how words work. So people correcting "literally" and mocking those who use it when speaking figuratively is a pet peeve of mine.
- cmdrfred 10y agoIf literally means figuratively sometimes and literally others, doesn't it then essentially lack any purpose whatsoever? It is meaningless in that case.
- oddlyaromatic 10y agoThat's how metaphor works. It actually happens a lot in English, here's a list of so-called "contranyms" http://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-contradictory-meanings/ http://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-con... EDIT I'm actually not crazy about this list, some them are pretty tenuous.
- Chris2048 10y agoHow does metaphor work?
- theseatoms 10y agoFiguratively.
- TeMPOraL 10y agoYou're in good company. Relevant XKCDs: https://xkcd.com/725/ https://xkcd.com/725/ https://xkcd.com/1108/ https://xkcd.com/1108/
- Chris2048 10y agoI'd argue that word-policing is also a part of how they work.
- Anthony-G 10y agoYou might like this Oatmeal comic: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally
- EekSnakePond 10y agoI am literally humbled to be a gourmet hacker obsessed with artisan love.