3 ms·
> English does not have a language regulator English does have lexicographers, though. I should be able to turn to a dictionary to find out what "literally" me
by denton-scratch 2y ago
> English does not have a language regulator
English does have lexicographers, though. I should be able to turn to a dictionary to find out what "literally" means, and it's regrettable that that inquiry will tell me the word has two directly-opposed meanings, without noting that one of them is wrong.
- da_chicken 2y agoI think you are mistaking the map for the territory. I think you are blaming the data (actual usage) when the model is wrong (dictionaries). "Literally" is allowed to have a valid and true definition of "figuratively" because exaggeration and hyperbole are used for rhetoric and expression. That's a vital and popular way language is used, and in the case of "literally" it is so commonly encountered that it worth noting in descriptive texts that it's common.