Literally!

[HYHYBT]

Brought on by a post in another thread, but I won't quote it or anything because I don't want to be rude. What I'd really like is a good explanation from someone who actually does this for why people do it.

That is, use the word "literally" as if it were simply a word of emphasis when they are speaking either metaphorically or hyperbolically. You know, such as "that racehorse literally flew around the track!" Really? That surely would have made the news...

[LadyBarbossa]

Sheldon feels your pain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvlWZ3mODJA

[DrFaroohk]

I can't remember the link but I've read before that way is technically correct as well.

It's supposed to be like "in the figurative sense of literature" or some crap. I dunno. It's too early.

[draco664]

I can't remember the link but I've read before that way is technically correct as well.

It's supposed to be like "in the figurative sense of literature" or some crap. I dunno. It's too early.

From dictionary.reference.com - Link

Usage note
Since the early 20th century, literally has been widely used as an intensifier meaning “in effect, virtually,” a sense that contradicts the earlier meaning “actually, without exaggeration”: The senator was literally buried alive in the Iowa primaries. The parties were literally trading horses in an effort to reach a compromise. The use is often criticized; nevertheless, it appears in all but the most carefully edited writing.

So no, it's not *technically* correct, but it is in very common usage. Sort of like, so many people are using it wrongly, therefore, it's acceptable.

[guywithashovel]

There was also an episode of King of Queens where a character annoyed Carrie and Doug by always using "literally" to describe things.

[blas87]

You can easily make a drinking game out of watching any Kardashian show and taking a shot every time someone says "literally".

[MrsEclipse]

Not that Cracked.com is a scholarly source, but they did weigh in on this in a way I found interesting: link

[HYHYBT]

Not that Cracked.com is a scholarly source, but they did weigh in on this in a way I found interesting: link

In other words, people using the word that way mean nothing by it at all, since the sentence has precisely the same meaning without it.

None of which gets at WHY people use the word to mean its opposite, which seems like far more interesting territory than how many do so or how long it's been done.

[Hyena Dandy]

In other words, people using the word that way mean nothing by it at all, since the sentence has precisely the same meaning without it.

Well, if it's 20th Century, it could have arisen in America. We love our hyperboles here. While the Brits prefer understatement. So it would have started as sort of a joke. "Literally exploded" because we thought it'd be funny to say that when it is obviously impossible.

After a while, the 'joke' stopped being a 'joke' and just became a term.

[DrFaroohk]

I guess its just one of those things that doesn't make sense.

Like "could care less."

And in my area, when a male and a female are together in a sort of "relationship" (typically in school) they are said to be in the state of "Going out". Me and Michele are going out. Not anywhere in particular though! But it used to bug the hell out of me. Where are we going?

Edit: We also say "unthaw" here a lot. Take that Turkey out of the freezer and let it unthaw.

I live amongst the apes.

[Hyena Dandy]

Me and Michele are going out. Not anywhere in particular though! But it used to bug the hell out of me. Where are we going?

Out to movies, restaurants, etc. It's the same thing as 'dating.'

[crashhelmet]

Gotta love the English language. It truly is the hardest to learn compared to others.

To steal a bit from Gallagher,
"Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
Is Congress the opposite of Progress?"

But seriously... Slang has taken over and replaced so much of the English language that it is not what it once was and those that try to learn it are still confused by words like:

bear & bare
leek & leak
steal & steel
live & live
their, there, & they're
reed, read, read, & red
lied, lied, lede, lead, lead, and led

As an ESL kid, I could go on and on. Sadly, a lot of the people who do learn English first still can't grasp most of these.

[Nekojin]

But seriously... Slang has taken over and replaced so much of the English language that it is not what it once was and those that try to learn it are still confused by words like:

bear & bare
leek & leak
steal & steel
live & live
their, there, & they're
reed, read, read, & red
lied, lied, lede, lead, lead, and led

As an ESL kid, I could go on and on. Sadly, a lot of the people who do learn English first still can't grasp most of these.

The role-playing game Shadowrun hypothesizes a future where a significant percentage of the population is functionally illiterate, but able to function due to the more generalized ability to recognize shapes, patterns, logos, and icons. This state of semi-literacy is referred to as, "iconerate." An iconerate person wouldn't be able to read the letters on a STOP sign, but they'd recognize the octagonal shape, the red color, and perhaps the pattern of the word, and recognize it as a STOP sign.

[draco664]

Gotta love the English language. It truly is the hardest to learn compared to others.

And yet, for all its difficulties, it remains the most enduring language. I read recently that a French academic prefers to publish his papers in English.

Why?

Because in English, you can add a new definition to a word, you can create new words by combining old words, you can invent new terms by combining latin or greek phrases and everyone knows what you mean.

You can't do that in French; mainly because of the parochial body that guards the purity of the French language. That body can (indeed, has in the past) prevented scientific papers being published simply because the new terms were not official French.

English is the borg collective of languages. It ruthlessly assimilates any worthwhile characteristic of different languages. It forges forward into unknown territory without a plan. Words are corrupted and twisted from their old meaning with (relatively) blinding speed. Sure there are rules in place, but compared to a language like Japanese, it's like literary anarchy.

English is screwed up, hard to learn well, easy to learn badly, but for all that it is powerful. If a new concept comes along, English can provide a descriptive and recognisable word in an instant.

Eg. Internet, spaceship & audiophile.

[draco664]

Edit: We also say "unthaw" here a lot. Take that Turkey out of the freezer and let it unthaw.

WTF?! Unthaw? Thaw, yeah, certainly. Unfreeze, I could see. But unthaw?

I live amongst the apes.

Truly.