Literally, a post

[icepixie]

I've had it. I think it's time to retire the word "literally" from the English language, seeing as how nobody--not journalists, not novelists, not message board posters--can use it correctly anymore. 99% of the time I see it, the writer either means "figuratively," or else is using the term to add wholly-unnecessary emphasis (i.e., "The car was literally red"). It's time to give up and move on.

*

In happier news, I finally got my hair cut today. I usually get it cut every three or four months, getting around two inches cut off each time. It's been about six weeks since it needed to be cut, so I had the lady chop off three and a half inches. Ahhhh, freedom. I hate it when my hair touches my shoulders; it feels like it's eating my neck, and the longer it gets, the more I fidget with it, and that drives me up a wall, which makes me play with it even more, and it's a vicious cycle.

Comments

[asinpterodactyl.livejournal.com]

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.

[icepixie]

HOW can these people use "literally" to mean "figuratively", when these two words are OPPOSITES?!?

I don't KNOW! Bad programming in the collective unconscious?

"Actually" was the replacement I was thinking of--the denotation is much the same, though the connotations are a bit different--although probably what was done to "literally" would soon be done to "actually," and then we'd need to find another word.