"Literally"... did you know? (1 Viewer)

[Tom Skerritt]

Did you know that the word "literally" is now defined as "figuratively" because people having been using it incorrectly for literally centuries.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally

 

[cockroach]

That literally just blew my mind.

 

[Tom Servo]

Figures

 

[Otis]

Wow. Didn't know that. 

 

[AAABatteries]

I figuratively didn't know that.

 

[Mr. Ected]

What about moronic teenagers who pronounce it as 'Literately?'

Death Penalty?

 

[Tom Skerritt]

This came up a week or so ago when I was out with the family getting a Christmas tree. It was wet and rainy, and the parking lot of the tree farm was literally a mud pit. Lots of cars driving through a very muddy parking lot. People driving up to the entrance to put their trees on their vehicles were risking getting stuck while going through the highly traveled area.

So my son saw a guy slinging mud all over the place getting stuck and said that "he was literally digging his own grave." I had been noticing that people seem to be overusing the word "literally" moreso today than in recent past... AND that it is being misused. Had a table discussion about it at lunch after getting the tree.

Several days go by, and I get a text from my son showing me that the definition of "literally" had changed to include the "figuratively" description. I didn't know this either until a couple of days ago. Now we know.

 

[Johnny Rock]

So as a sign of our times, Merriam-Webster refuses to be the parent in the room and call these authors out? That's literally B.S.

What's next? Defining "supposedly" and "supposably" the same way? Defining "ask" and "axe" the same way? 

 

[playin4beer]

My 19 year old daughter uses that word literally ALL the time...

 

[skol asylum]

Thank you Joe Biden.

 

[gianmarco]

That's ironic.

 

[Peyton Marino]

pretty common now.  to tap into the traditional usage, you need to say 'literally' again at the end of your sentence with a slightly higher and louder inflection.  

 

[Osaurus]

Irregardless of how it started, it's here to stay so get used to it.

 

[pantagrapher]

Literally is an easy target because it's one of those things where everyone knows when it's wrong. But it's not as wrong as people think it is.

 

[doowain]

Tom Skerritt Ruins Everything

Get you a pompadour haircut and I think you have a TV show.

 

[Tom Skerritt]

Rob Lowe tells it like it is.

ETA: May need to literally view the video in a mirror.

 

[Fat Nick]

What about moronic teenagers who pronounce it as 'Literately?'

Death Penalty?

My mid-20's SIL uses it all the time and pronounces it as a very hard middle emphasis "liT-Rally"  Drives me nuts.

 

[Tom Skerritt]

Tom Skerritt Ruins Everything

Get you a pompadour haircut and I think you have a TV show.

I'm a big George Carlin fan. Literally nobody can analyze and articulate the absurdity of language better than that guy!

 

[doowain]

I'm a big George Carlin fan. Literally nobody can analyze and articulate the absurdity of language better than that guy!

I was talking about this guy.  He went over this same thing on one of the episodes I saw recently.

But, yeah, Carlin was the best.

 

[Billy Bats]

My 19 year old daughter uses that word literally ALL the time...

Same here with my 17yo, it's in every sentence and it's pretty obnoxious. I tell her all the time that it's wrong and she sounds like an idiot but they all talk that way. :X  

 

[Ilov80s]

Wow this is illiterately the best thread I've ever tried to read. 

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Meanwhile, the words Practically and Virtually are forming a support group.

 

[wikkidpissah]

One of the great surprises of my lifetime is how quickly reality became virtual.

 

[Ilov80s]

One of the great surprises of my lifetime is how quickly reality became virtual.

Oh,  I was going to say the converse of that 

 

[wikkidpissah]

Oh,  I was going to say the converse of that 

Really?!?!

 

[Galileo]

So as a sign of our times, Merriam-Webster refuses to be the parent in the room and call these authors out? That's literally B.S.

What's next? Defining "supposedly" and "supposably" the same way? Defining "ask" and "axe" the same way? 

Language does evolve

 

[playin4beer]

Language does evolve

Or devolve...

 

[cockroach]

So as a sign of our times, Merriam-Webster refuses to be the parent in the room and call these authors out? That's literally B.S.

What's next? Defining "supposedly" and "supposably" the same way? Defining "ask" and "axe" the same way? 

I'm literally LingMAO over here.   You must have no idea how the English language works.   Remember when everything was thoust and shallith?  Then some dumb lazy people took of the ith and st and now we just say thou and shall.  Heck, the English language used to have even more letters, but people stopped using them.  Just like in the futurez we might do way with S at the end of words and just use Z.  But remember, what you consider "proper English" is literally ebonics of the past.

 

[Ilov80s]

Language does evolve

I don't believe in evolution. 

 

[Johnny Rock]

Irregardless

Good addition. 

 

[Johnny Rock]

I'm literally LingMAO over here.   You must have no idea how the English language works.   Remember when everything was thoust and shallith?  Then some dumb lazy people took of the ith and st and now we just say thou and shall.  Heck, the English language used to have even more letters, but people stopped using them.  Just like in the futurez we might do way with S at the end of words and just use Z.  But remember, what you consider "proper English" is literally ebonics of the past.

These are terrible examples. Shortening words? Not the same.

Literally should mean the opposite of figuratively. Why would the definition change, now or in the futurez? 

 

[cockroach]

These are terrible examples. Shortening words? Not the same.

Literally should mean the opposite of figuratively. Why would the definition change, now or in the futurez? 

Awful used to mean worthy of awe.... now it means terrible.

Nice used to mean silly or foolish.... hey, nice car!

Egregious used to mean distinguished or extraordinary... the definition totally got flipped a few hundred years ago when people started using it sarcastically.

In the 80s they made "Bad" mean good... if you called someone a bad ### in the 20s you'd probably get punched in your lip.

 

[Politician Spock]

I couldn't care less. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Awful used to mean worthy of awe.... now it means terrible.

Nice used to mean silly or foolish.... hey, nice car!

Egregious used to mean distinguished or extraordinary... the definition totally got flipped a few hundred years ago when people started using it sarcastically.

In the 80s they made "Bad" mean good... if you called someone a bad ### in the 20s you'd probably get punched in your lip.

I am very gay. 

 

[cockroach]

I am very gay. 

I would say you're more a bundle of sticks 3ft in length and 2 ft in circumference.

 

[Ilov80s]

I would say you're more a bundle of sticks 3ft in length and 2 ft in circumference.

Damn right. 

 

[Kanil]

Literally knew this already.

 

[Zow]

Damn I just ranted about the misuse of this word to coworker this morning.  

But apparently I'm now the #######. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

So as a sign of our times, Merriam-Webster refuses to be the parent in the room and call these authors out? That's literally B.S.

What's next? Defining "supposedly" and "supposably" the same way? Defining "ask" and "axe" the same way? 

You got to axe somebody else.

 

[lakerstan]

Dogs and cats....living together.....MASS HYSTERIA!

 

[Sinn Fein]

For all intensive purposes they are interchangeable.

 

[Koya]

Did you know that the word "literally" is now defined as "figuratively" because people having been using it incorrectly for literally centuries.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally

Yes.  Same as sarcastic, which now also means coincidental, I believe.

No wonder we elected an idiot-in-chief.  

FWIW, this is literally the worst thing EVER.  

 

[Koya]

Also,

HOW THE #### DOES A WORD COME TO MEAN NOT JUST SOMETHING DIFFERENT, BUT THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANT? WHAT THE #### AMERICA????

I think it's time we admit this experiment has run it's course and rejoin the commonwealth, the Queen's English and all.

 

[Henry Ford]

So as a sign of our times, Merriam-Webster refuses to be the parent in the room and call these authors out? That's literally B.S.

What's next? Defining "supposedly" and "supposably" the same way? Defining "ask" and "axe" the same way? 

Probably.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Did you know that the word "literally" is now defined as "figuratively" because people having been using it incorrectly for literally centuries.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally

That is literally the longest explanation of a figurative term I have seen. It literally was the length of the dictionary itself.