I've been away for a while, and have lost touch with the development of the language (seriously, everybody says seriously?). But lately I've noticed the most misused word in the language has gone over the edge.
It clicked in my mind when Karen blogged about her son's math test. I thought he should have used the word virtually, but that would be expecting him to submit to grammar rules of days gone by.
A world where things can be strictly true yet also only virtually true is a world we logically can’t have, lest, like matter and anti-matter colliding, these dimensions destroy each other.
Quoted from this well-written article.
This article shows how long it took me to grasp the situation. I agree with the article that the best solution is to avoid the word altogether.
But J just reminded me that they are ways of using the word that remain loyal to the past: "You're a very literal person aren't you?" "She always takes things literally."
The problem in my mind is we seem to be lacking a replacement word. Some suggest "actually" but I'm not sure.
It's OK Sheldon, it'll be OK.
11 comments:
Really?
Seriously?
Mostly used for emPHASis.
My editor told me that it was fine to use the words "very" and "really." Because when she edited the piece, she would replace those words with cuss words, and then delete them.
Literally true story :-)
Aarene, so you read that bit about the Strunk & White: ) Great article!
My overuse of "really" - guilty: ( Sometimes I go through my blog and just take out the reallys. Really. *lol*
*Chuckling here*
I’m one to throw in a sarcastic “really!?” It sometime stops a certain three year olds meltdown in its tracks!
100% consciously guilty. I use the word "literally" literally all the time. :P There are things that bother me far more: all of these not-so-young bloggers that start sentences with "Like." Or the people that constantly refer to barn aisles as "isles." Really? An entire island fits inside your barn?? Or singular woman as "women." It really, REALLY bothers me when it's a WOMAN misusing that one. The English language continues to be destroyed in more ways than one.
Nicole, please read that first article ("well-written") because it talks about our language pet peeves. I have to say the horse's "confirmation" bugs me mostly when I see it on a facebook page which is named "Arabian Conformation" so the word is right there!
I don't use spell check so all my mistakes are right there for everyone to cringe at. I can tell which bloggers use it because they use a correctly spelled but totally different word (gait for gate, breaks for brakes). I've never seen isle for aisle, wow, nor have I seen women for woman.
You and I have the added difficulty of having two languages in our heads all the time (you've noticed my funky capitalization). In German to lend is the same word as to borrow. It throws me every time.
You can use literally all the time, however you like, and you are correct!
Do I start sentences with "like"? Probably, I'm that old. I try very hard not to start blog posts with "so." Also I try to never, ever title a blog post after an idiom (but I'm sure I fail). These are important parts of my blogging style guide.
ES, glad you enjoyed it: )
Camryn, I cannot imagine anyone doing that, fascinating.
I love words. And I’m okay when they start to shift meaning based on usage. Wven if that usage is literally incorrect (see what I did there?😁).
I use the word ‘seriously ‘ all the time when something frustrating or stupid happens. For example, dropping the hose and having it land on its handle so that it sprays me. It’s quicker than saying ‘why are you messing with me universe?’
TeresaA, "SERIOUSLY?!?!" is one of the words my horse recognizes. In the sarcastic mode, of course, as in, "you just trotted through a working log camp with chainsaws and log booms overhead and diesel engines roaring and you SERIOUSLY just spooked at a stray Dorito bag???!"
lol
I did read the article before commenting. It is excellent. :) But I just wanted to point out in my first comment that a while back I did read about the eye-rolling that the use of "literally" causes among grammar natzis and decided that I was going to use it anyway in my writing. :)I have been guilty of starting sentences with "so" but I think that is a lesser sin than being a 30-year old beginning most of her blog sentences in every single post with "Like." Agree with you on "confirmation" instead of "conformation"! Why is that one so common in the equestrian world?
A friend who is another language nerd recently explained that homophones are not being emphasized as much in school, which would explain why so many young adults mix up words that sound the same. Blogger has automatic spell check on my end: misspelled words in posts will be underlined in red. But it also has a grammar check: grammatical errors (such as misuse of homophones) are underlined in green. There is literally (hahaha) no excuse! I see the "women" singular a LOT on Facebook and "isle" in reference to barn aisles in popular equestrian blogs.
I do have two languages in my head, but my brain 100% switches to the language I am writing or speaking in that moment, with English sadly becoming more predominant the longer I live here. :( I can write professional material in Spanish, but as a general rule my English writing is more easily eloquent...though often I've gone back to re-read a post I published while tired (when I'm most likely to mix up the two languages) and catch sentences where I realize, "Okay, this was a translation from Spanish..." :)I'm sure you must experience a similar thing!
Nicole, grammar errors are also indicated! Wow.
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