Interesting how long ago this shift started! (see also: Recency Illusion) The question now is what words are filling the semantic hole left behind? What's a good word for "non-figuratively" when the distinction must be made?
Well, I think that the annoyance is understandable, literally should probably be used just to clarify that you're not being hyperbolous (hyperbolic?) and that that's literally what you mean. Using it in other ways really just seems unnecessary and kinda makes it lose a big part of its purpose.
-Astronomers have literally struck gold! -Not really. It is literal gold, but they haven't literally struck it. I'm going to the beach to take it littorally.
It's totally fine to say "literally" figuratively, if that's exactly your intention. It's a common thing to express ourselves poetically, so I don't see the problem with using "literally" figuratively.
Miguel What about when someone dies who is often hysterical and hyperbolic, and often using "literally" in a figurative sense, starts yelling "I'm literally going to die!!!!" I would say something like: "Oh shut up Miguel, you don't literally mean that!" ; )
What is the literal definition of literal? Those of you who have an eye for paradoxes should be able to divine why this misuse ticks me off personally.
This is a good example for why language is not worth respecting. Just make up your own definitions for things on a whim. The change in meaning is idiocracy on full display.
It's useful and helpful in daily conversation for "literal" to have the prescribed meaning that it has. If you allow "literal" to go to the dogs, what replaces it? Sorry, but I don't care for the "anything goes"" attitude expressed in this video in this particular case. Prescriptivists are right here.
You're just treating human language like programming language, anyone who doesn't have some sort of language impairment can tell whether a person means literally figuratively or literally, it's all a matter of context, figurative literally could technically be called a problem, but in practice it creates no real confusion, although some people like to pretend they're confused just to call out others for using it that way, it brings no more complications than any other English word with multiple uses and that is why it's annoying to see people protesting it and calling others idiots for using a word in such a harmless way, why is it that prescriptivists love to pretend they live on an alternate reality where humans are machines and languages melt down to the touch? Is it really that hard to consider reality and what matters to real breathing humans? Don’t get me wrong, that kind of thinking helps when looking at very important texts that might be taken erroneously by the reader if they’re not familiar with the common usage of certain words, but in everyday speech and writing it just results in worthless nitpicking that has some reasoning behind it but doesn’t actually solve any issue.
So prescriptivism is *always* wrong, no matter what consequence? I don't think small, carefully measured doses of prescriptivism makes English into a "programming language". The point is to help human communication succeed. While it's usually easy to tell from context when figurative "literally" is being used, sometimes it's not so easy to tell from context when literal "literally" is being used. Literal "literally" is useful on occasion, and there is no obvious convenient substitute. If you allow figurative "literally" to proliferate, you are destroying the utility of literal "literally", and that's harmful to communication.
Mike S. Exactly! I'm not a language pedant, but I've had this argument as well about how important it is to exclusively use the word "literally" in it's literal meaning. It could literally be a matter of life and death!
I've never heard anyone use the word "literally" to mean "figuratively" in my whole life, except in sitcoms, where the character would always be corrected by another character. Also, I don't think I've ever heard the adverb "phenomenally", just the adjective "phonemenal". I've lived in Illinois and Arizona. Maybe it's just in other states and countries.
And now I'm literally awake to 5:00 AM watching these videos, since they are literally that addictive!
I literally have to explain the figurative use of "literally"? I literally died.
"Literally" in Dutch is "letterlijk", which literally means letter-like.
That's how I figured out the etymology of "literally".
"Letteralmente" in Italian is the same
Interesting how long ago this shift started! (see also: Recency Illusion) The question now is what words are filling the semantic hole left behind? What's a good word for "non-figuratively" when the distinction must be made?
Exactly what these idiots don't understand. Language evolution is supposed to make communication easier, not harder!
Well, I think that the annoyance is understandable, literally should probably be used just to clarify that you're not being hyperbolous (hyperbolic?) and that that's literally what you mean. Using it in other ways really just seems unnecessary and kinda makes it lose a big part of its purpose.
Thank you. I hate prescriptivism. It's basic pretentiousness and nothing more.
prescriptivists are literally the worst
Anti-presciptivists make me soporificly repository, if you know what I mean.
-Astronomers have literally struck gold!
-Not really. It is literal gold, but they haven't literally struck it.
I'm going to the beach to take it littorally.
Can you do something like this but for irony? It seems to have changed meaning in the past decade.
The worst misused word is "basically".
This is a great video
Using "literally" as an intensifier is a fad that's out of control. It literally makes me vomit eels.
It's totally fine to say "literally" figuratively, if that's exactly your intention. It's a common thing to express ourselves poetically, so I don't see the problem with using "literally" figuratively.
Miguel What about when someone dies who is often hysterical and hyperbolic, and often using "literally" in a figurative sense, starts yelling "I'm literally going to die!!!!" I would say something like:
"Oh shut up Miguel, you don't literally mean that!" ; )
I literally don't get why this one bugs people so much.
:)
And how else are you going to say "very" in that circumstance?
What is the literal definition of literal?
Those of you who have an eye for paradoxes should be able to divine why this misuse ticks me off personally.
This is a good example for why language is not worth respecting. Just make up your own definitions for things on a whim.
The change in meaning is idiocracy on full display.
It's useful and helpful in daily conversation for "literal" to have the prescribed meaning that it has. If you allow "literal" to go to the dogs, what replaces it? Sorry, but I don't care for the "anything goes"" attitude expressed in this video in this particular case. Prescriptivists are right here.
You're just treating human language like programming language, anyone who doesn't have some sort of language impairment can tell whether a person means literally figuratively or literally, it's all a matter of context, figurative literally could technically be called a problem, but in practice it creates no real confusion, although some people like to pretend they're confused just to call out others for using it that way, it brings no more complications than any other English word with multiple uses and that is why it's annoying to see people protesting it and calling others idiots for using a word in such a harmless way, why is it that prescriptivists love to pretend they live on an alternate reality where humans are machines and languages melt down to the touch? Is it really that hard to consider reality and what matters to real breathing humans?
Don’t get me wrong, that kind of thinking helps when looking at very important texts that might be taken erroneously by the reader if they’re not familiar with the common usage of certain words, but in everyday speech and writing it just results in worthless nitpicking that has some reasoning behind it but doesn’t actually solve any issue.
So prescriptivism is *always* wrong, no matter what consequence? I don't think small, carefully measured doses of prescriptivism makes English into a "programming language". The point is to help human communication succeed. While it's usually easy to tell from context when figurative "literally" is being used, sometimes it's not so easy to tell from context when literal "literally" is being used. Literal "literally" is useful on occasion, and there is no obvious convenient substitute. If you allow figurative "literally" to proliferate, you are destroying the utility of literal "literally", and that's harmful to communication.
Mike S. Exactly! I'm not a language pedant, but I've had this argument as well about how important it is to exclusively use the word "literally" in it's literal meaning. It could literally be a matter of life and death!
I've never heard anyone use the word "literally" to mean "figuratively" in my whole life, except in sitcoms, where the character would always be corrected by another character. Also, I don't think I've ever heard the adverb "phenomenally", just the adjective "phonemenal". I've lived in Illinois and Arizona. Maybe it's just in other states and countries.
It's a word crime!