I Literally Just Sh*t My Pants Reading This

[Jordan Catalano]

Literally.

[FindingNamo]

Well, that's that, I guess.

I'm literally going to kill myself.

[Someone in a Tree2]

I think we still have every right to mercilessly mock anyone on these boards who use the so-called second definition of literally in their posts, Miriam Webster be damned.

[javero]

Well, I literally don't get what all the fuss is about.

[Addison D.]

The fuss, for me, stems from the fact that I rely upon words to communicate my thoughts and to understand the written and/or spoken ideas of others.

If we allow individual words to embody precisely contradictory ideas--regardless of their context--we risk losing the ability to communicate.

[javero]

"If we allow individual words to embody precisely contradictory ideas--regardless of their context--we risk losing the ability to communicate."

Gotcha...that's why I become literally confused when some women complain on-line about being 'catcalled' by men. The term originally had a sporting context.

[Jordan Catalano]

Yes but that problem is that a word that means "actual" now also means "not actual". It's like if I say that I want a cat and someone gives me a dog and says "Here's your cat" and I say "No, I wanted a cat and they're like "Yeah, this is a cat".

[javero]

I wonder if it's uniquely an American English phenomenon. I mean I interact with some very young speakers of another language on a daily basis. But even when they rock their slang the terms aren't contradictory. And I hope no one here takes offense, but the word 'gay' has morphed into something completely unrelated to its original meaning.

[Jordan Catalano]

To quote President Obama - "I'm a go fvck that ho in the skull"

He literally said that.

[bwayrose7]

I'm an English major, and I had a professor once who literally (and I'm using the term here non-ironically) was willing to dock points for every time someone used this word in the exaggerated/figurative sense.

[D2]

Crap

[clever name]

This is not okay with me. F*CK you Merriam-Webster.

[StockardFan]

I saw this on FB earlier. Made me shake my head.

[themysteriousgrowl]

You gotta let go of where you been
You gotta move on from that place you're in
Don't drown in that basement
Change or sink
Let go, forget, move on

This ain't time for prayin'
You gotta think

[doodlenyc]

So what about "ironic"? Don't tell me Alanis was right all along!

[givesmevoice]

This just in: language evolves over time.

[FindingNamo]

Which means that anybody who cares about anything linguistic should just wave the white flag. "Meaning" is just so meaningless, right?

[Addison D.]

A living language definitely evolves over time. Words take on shadings and definitions change and it's a beautiful thing.

What seems odd here is that one of the alleged "gatekeepers" of the language--dictionary authors--are enshrining as "acceptable" two simultaneous, precisely contradictory meanings for a very specific word.

[FindingNamo]

And I don't think the last five years constitutes much of an evolution "over time."

[haterobics]

I could literally care less.

[FindingNamo]

Team Weird Al. NOT Team Merriam-Webster.

[themysteriousgrowl]

I like this footnote from UMW Online

Since some people take sense 2 to be the opposite of sense 1, it has been frequently criticized as a misuse. Instead, the use is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis, but it often appears in contexts where no additional emphasis is necessary.

[FindingNamo]

I believe no more than 25% of misuses of "literally" have anything to do with hyperbole intended to gain emphasis.

[sabrelady]

Irregardless has always been the one to set my teeth on edge. DON'T care if it is in the dictionary. There is regard, there is regardless, but irregardless taken to mean regardless seems ignorant and redundant in the extreme.

On the other hand, standing here in a small section of land on the edge of a waterfront I can be littoral about anything I please...

[javero]

I've literally never been a fan of the word notwithstanding.

I don't have a problem with other vestiges of Middle English like heretofore, whereupon, herein, hence, thence, etc. But, I just don't get what notwithstanding brings to the table these days outside of a legal context.

[FindingNamo]

What about "ever so very much"? When's that from? I love using that one.