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I regret that "literally" now means "figuratively" but language is a living, breathing thing that changes constantly.
by panarky 5y ago
I regret that "literally" now means "figuratively" but language is a living, breathing thing that changes constantly.
- tommiegannert 5y agoThe problem comes when enough uncorrected misunderstandings causes words to mean both X and not X. After the figurative slippery slope, we would end up with all words meaning one thing: something (depending on context, who's talking, and who's listening). I don't think we're making future generations any service by diluting language. As they say: be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others. Here, I'd extend that to: conservative in what you do, liberal in what you accept, but providing feedback on what you barely accept.
- necovek 5y agoOh, I am perfectly fine with languages being living things. It's just that these are more likely to get confused (literally and figuratively have opposite meaning, which makes it weird but not easy to misunderstand).