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ARGH WORDS
17 years ago
General
A discussion on the proper usage of "literally" was escalating a bunch so I wrote this up based on the stupid definition here http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literal
It will probably make sense if you're already familiar with the word "literally" and what is wrong with society's understanding of it
Look, I'm all in favor of the evolution of the English language. I visit blogs, I google things, I verb words all the time. But when a word loses its meaning entirely, and perpetuates the very issue it was intended to fix, that's devolution. Notice how Webster's' first definition actually makes sense, and seems like it was derived from the word it describes? "Literal" means "as it's written," as opposed to any other meaning one might draw from a word or phrase. Hell, Webster's itself lists "literal" and "figurative" as antonyms. So, when you tell somebody that you are "having shit literally shoved" in your face, you are explicitly telling them not to consider "shit" a metaphor. It's the whole reason they invented the word in the first place!
The second definition, on the other hand, is another example of the dictionaries' trend of caving in to improper usages for the sake of appealing to their readers. They don't seem to realize that it should be an ignorant population looking to them for the rules, not the other way around. The Oxford English Dictionary, the most reputable source around, also seems to be the only one with the sack not to buckle to popular opinion. Copy/pasted, since it requires a subscription:
3. a. In the literal sense.
b. Used to indicate that the following word or phrase must be taken in its literal sense.
Now often improperly used to indicate that some conventional metaphorical or hyperbolical phrase is to be taken in the strongest admissible sense. (So, e.g., in quot. 1863.)
In conclusion, i fucking love arguing about words on the internet
It will probably make sense if you're already familiar with the word "literally" and what is wrong with society's understanding of it
Look, I'm all in favor of the evolution of the English language. I visit blogs, I google things, I verb words all the time. But when a word loses its meaning entirely, and perpetuates the very issue it was intended to fix, that's devolution. Notice how Webster's' first definition actually makes sense, and seems like it was derived from the word it describes? "Literal" means "as it's written," as opposed to any other meaning one might draw from a word or phrase. Hell, Webster's itself lists "literal" and "figurative" as antonyms. So, when you tell somebody that you are "having shit literally shoved" in your face, you are explicitly telling them not to consider "shit" a metaphor. It's the whole reason they invented the word in the first place!
The second definition, on the other hand, is another example of the dictionaries' trend of caving in to improper usages for the sake of appealing to their readers. They don't seem to realize that it should be an ignorant population looking to them for the rules, not the other way around. The Oxford English Dictionary, the most reputable source around, also seems to be the only one with the sack not to buckle to popular opinion. Copy/pasted, since it requires a subscription:
3. a. In the literal sense.
b. Used to indicate that the following word or phrase must be taken in its literal sense.
Now often improperly used to indicate that some conventional metaphorical or hyperbolical phrase is to be taken in the strongest admissible sense. (So, e.g., in quot. 1863.)
In conclusion, i fucking love arguing about words on the internet
sandypants
~sandypants
I just LITERALLY shit my pants.
