YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES. Oh, you are so right. HOW can these people use "literally" to mean "figuratively", when these two words are OPPOSITES?!? It's like using "night" to mean "day", or "red" to mean "blue".
ARRRRRGRGRGRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!
*pant pant pant*
(As you've probably noticed, this is a sore spot with me.)
As for retiring the word "literally", well, I agree with your motivations, but if we did do such a thing, then what would we use as its replacement? "Actually"? "Really"? Neither of these seem like suitable replacements. Perhaps we need to keep "literally" around until a substitute can be found.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-01 01:26 pm (UTC)ARRRRRGRGRGRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!
*pant pant pant*
(As you've probably noticed, this is a sore spot with me.)
As for retiring the word "literally", well, I agree with your motivations, but if we did do such a thing, then what would we use as its replacement? "Actually"? "Really"? Neither of these seem like suitable replacements. Perhaps we need to keep "literally" around until a substitute can be found.