Comments on Profile Post by starence

I don't think it's ironic. A schiit ton of people don't even know how to use there-their-they're.

It’s pretty much a function of so many media platforms positioning every user as reading-writers by having some kind of comment section, so the mass influx of discussion becomes a claim to linguistic norms. I’ve literally not remembered see words be so obviously misused when it’s clear the writer cares about being precise.

They're figurative imbeciles, the lot of them. Metaphorical bastards.

My nine year old daughter misuses literally to mean: "It was amazing and I'm telling the truth." I find it adorable how she's using a "big word", but I'm biased.

One time she said something about "...all the glitter. Literally." Since, I've been saying to her glitterally. She rolls her eyes. I'm such a dad.

A lot of people literally do not know what literally means.

I, like, literally just fainted. Because I, like, literally just can’t even...

People who say 'literally' when the word doesn't apply are usually not stupidly misusing the word, they're exaggerating.
A word that Does get screwed up constantly is calling abbreviations 'acronyms' when they aren't.

Forget “literally”, what does “ironically” mean???

See definition 2: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

Like it or not, people are literally using literally correctly.

I'm glad to hear that the overuse of "epic" has subsided a bit. I think "literally" has become the new way to emphasize that something is important and they want to make sure you don't miss it. Hopefully it will be short lived.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBn8-UUQeI

all I think of when people overuse epic http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=epic

@famish99, no they are not using the word literally correctly. It's just that dictionaries are not arbiters of correctness, they are describers of usage.

You could say that literally, has literally become correct!

The present-day thing I hate more (literally) is the missing-word game. I hate that than anything: how the hell are you supposed to know whether I mean more or less? We can usually guess from context, but the usage is ugly and wrong. Soon, though, it will get included in the dictionaries!

https://www.amazon.com/Kings-English-Guide-Modern-Usage/dp/0312186010/ Recommended as a supplement to Fowler and Follett, or on its own.

I don't agree with its usage, but you can't fault them for being incorrect. I have beef with most -ly adverbs used as fillers in modern speech these days anyways. It was literally at first, became basically, now physically.

Thinking back about it, misuse of ironically came before literally.

Yep, crap usage of virtually all those ;)

Currently (not, note, presently) I'm most annoyed with misuse of 'iconic'. WTF is an 'iconic voice'?

So...this morning at breakfast, my 6-year old daughter points to the Frozen cereal box (don't judge; talk to the wife), pointed to Anna and said "This is Kristen Bell. Literally." Then, she flipped the box around, pointed to Elsa and said, "This is Idina Menzel. Literally."

@Claritas, "The King's English" by Kingsly Amis? No, I haven't come across that one. Is it funny?

(Lucky Jim is one of the funniest books I ever read)

My Arbiters are Fowlers, and a 1960s copy of The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (two volumes.)

Oh, and I use Google a lot! My big-book-off-the-shelf arm is withering.

@Thad E Ginathom It's solid advice conveyed with humor, much of it sardonic.

I grew up in America using a one-volume Oxford from the 60s/70s. I still use a one-volume Oxford (Concise, 12 ed., 2011).

(I'm been meaning to PM you anyway. We can chat about this too.)