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koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 01:03 PM
Why oh why do people keep using "literally" as a qualifer?

I was in a meeting today and 3 people in the room kept saying "literally" to qualify what they were saying.

"I literally walked down the road."
"I literally fell over."
"It literally flew up in the air."

HOW ABOUT YOU JUST WALKED DOWN THE ROAD???

What happened to language? When did this literal event occur? Why do so many people say this all the time?

The really daft thing about this is, alot of the people that use "literally" all the time, don't even know what it means. They use "literally" when in fact what they really mean is "figuratively" or "metaphorically".

"I literally laughed my head off."
"The ball literally exploded off my foot."
"He literally died of boredom."

This might be a rhetorical post. I just needed to get that off my chest.


Figuratively.

forrestcupp
October 5th, 2009, 01:19 PM
Well, you can't just throw it out the window. Sometimes it's necessary. Like if someone says, "My grandpa just bought the farm, literally." If they didn't say "literally", everyone would think he died.

But I agree it's annoying when people say it all the time unnecessarily. There are a lot of annoying things that people consistently say.

random turnip
October 5th, 2009, 01:21 PM
I know what you mean. It annoys me when people are using it with things like "i literally walked down the road" as if adding the literally is going to make us believe it, walking down the road is nothing special, no need to add emphasis to it.

If someone told me a ball had literally exploded on their boot i would advise them to get it looked at, that's not normal.

uberdonkey5
October 5th, 2009, 01:33 PM
yeh, people have language habits that can be annoying, for sure.

I had a friend that would say 'this is true' to almost everything, quite literally.

But I think good speakers, like good writers, convey information succinctly, with minimal words but with the correct choice of words.. you know what I mean?

SomeGuyDude
October 5th, 2009, 01:34 PM
Me degree's in English, people do about a thousand things along those lines that drive me insane. :P

I've not heard people use literally to emphasize something they truly did, but it's CONSTANTLY used in a sense that would normally mean "figuratively". I could add to the list, of course.

Here's one: people who have no idea what the phrase "for all intents and purposes" actually is. I've heard it said "for all intense purposes", "for all intensive purposes", plus a few other screwed up versions.

Plus there's the ol' "could/would/should of" instead of "have".

koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 01:48 PM
Me degree's in English, people do about a thousand things along those lines that drive me insane. :P

I've not heard people use literally to emphasize something they truly did, but it's CONSTANTLY used in a sense that would normally mean "figuratively". I could add to the list, of course.

Here's one: people who have no idea what the phrase "for all intents and purposes" actually is. I've heard it said "for all intense purposes", "for all intensive purposes", plus a few other screwed up versions.

Plus there's the ol' "could/would/should of" instead of "have".

Yep.

Also, I keep getting invited to "pre-planning" meetings? So, a meeting to plan the planning meeting? WTF? Isn't the act of planning something pre-emptive by definition?

People need to shut up and talk less. :)

SomeGuyDude
October 5th, 2009, 01:53 PM
Oh the pre epidemic. That's even better. Somehow we're getting "pre-boarded" on planes (I guess we get on before we get on?). They talked about Obama's speech being "pre-screened" before it was shown. I dunno what that even means.

koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 01:58 PM
I've decided that I'm going to fix this problem. I'm going to carry with me at all times a dessert spoon, which I will call "The Literal Spoon". Whenever someone uses literally to qualify something that doesn't need it, or uses it in the wrong context, and I'm going to smack the perpetrator across the forehead with the spoon.

"...and that was literally a smack across the head with a spoon."

ynnhoj
October 5th, 2009, 02:17 PM
People need to shut up and talk less. :)
i think you meant to say, "people need to shut up and talk to me less." ;)

these little things sometimes bother me too, but i try not to get too snobbish about it. nobody is perfect, and we all make language our own in different ways. routine conversation isn't a oral/grammar exam, is it..?

fela
October 5th, 2009, 02:20 PM
Doesn't really bother me.

koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 02:22 PM
i think you meant to say, "people need to shut up and talk to me less." ;)

these little things sometimes bother me too, but i try not to get too snobbish about it. nobody is perfect, and we all make language our own in different ways. routine conversation isn't a oral/grammar exam, is it..?

Not being snobbish about it. Its just that they are wrong, and I'm right.

Being serious for 3 seconds, there's nothing wrong with pointing out to people when they are wrong. That's how people learn. :)

And I do think that, in general, people should just talk less. Less is more.

RiceMonster
October 5th, 2009, 02:24 PM
I literally killed myself laughing when I read this thread.

ynnhoj
October 5th, 2009, 02:28 PM
And I do think that, in general, people should just talk less. Less is more.
practice what you preach then, please and thanks :) nobody likes a whiny grammar nazi.

Eisenwinter
October 5th, 2009, 02:30 PM
It annoys me when people say "puter" instead of "computer".

SomeGuyDude
October 5th, 2009, 02:33 PM
practice what you preach then, please and thanks :) nobody likes a whiny grammar nazi.

Capitalization! Learn it!

etnlIcarus
October 5th, 2009, 02:37 PM
I'm past the point of being bothered by individual linguistic faux pas; I realised it didn't leave much time for anything else.

Oh, except for "muchly". Over the last 6 months, that little non-word has infected the vernacular of just about everyone in SA. I've gone on at least two tirades over people saying it, leading to much social ostracism.

koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 02:46 PM
practice what you preach then, please and thanks :) nobody likes a whiny grammar nazi.

Well, duh.

Please feel free to detach keyboard. Whiners only on this thread. Thankyou!

ticopelp
October 5th, 2009, 03:33 PM
And what is the deal with airline food?

Language evolves. I'm willing to bet that in another decade, "literally" will also come to mean "intensely" in the dictionary.

It bugs me too sometimes, but c'est la vie.

beercz
October 5th, 2009, 03:43 PM
Me degree's in English.....
Shouldn't that be
My degree is in English......
or

I have a degree in English.....?

koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 03:46 PM
Shouldn't that be or
?

He was being ironic.

beercz
October 5th, 2009, 03:52 PM
He was being ironic.
Is that literally ironic?

etnlIcarus
October 5th, 2009, 03:53 PM
Shouldn't that be or
?


He was being ironic.

I suppose beercz was being ironic, when he used a similar contraction?

Probably just wishful thinking, on my part.

SomeGuyDude
October 5th, 2009, 03:59 PM
Shouldn't that be or
?

Haven't you ever heard the way Brits use "me" for the possessive? "Me mum made some delicious scones last night."

But, I appreciate the attempt. Shows you're paying attention at least. :guitar:

koshatnik
October 5th, 2009, 04:11 PM
Haven't you ever heard the way Brits use "me" for the possessive? "Me mum made some delicious scones last night."


Yeah, its a Northern thing.

RiceMonster
October 5th, 2009, 04:12 PM
Is that literally ironic?

As in made entirely of iron?

Mateo
October 5th, 2009, 04:41 PM
what's worse is when they use literally when they mean figuratively.

schauerlich
October 5th, 2009, 05:02 PM
I think most people just don't even know what the word "literally" means. They hear someone else use it to intensify something that they're talking about, and assume that is its usage.

Tristam Green
October 5th, 2009, 05:10 PM
Why oh why do people keep using "literally" as a qualifer?

I was in a meeting today and 3 people in the room kept saying "literally" to qualify what they were saying.

"I literally walked down the road."
"I literally fell over."
"It literally flew up in the air."

HOW ABOUT YOU JUST WALKED DOWN THE ROAD???

What happened to language? When did this literal event occur? Why do so many people say this all the time?

The really daft thing about this is, alot of the people that use "literally" all the time, don't even know what it means. They use "literally" when in fact what they really mean is "figuratively" or "metaphorically".

"I literally laughed my head off."
"The ball literally exploded off my foot."
"He literally died of boredom."

This might be a rhetorical post. I just needed to get that off my chest.


Figuratively.

Just to make a nails-on-the-chalkboard feeling for you, imagine if Jim Morrison had said:

"He literally walked on down the hall!"

:lolflag:

forrestcupp
October 5th, 2009, 06:47 PM
Yep.

Also, I keep getting invited to "pre-planning" meetings? So, a meeting to plan the planning meeting? WTF? Isn't the act of planning something pre-emptive by definition?

People need to shut up and talk less. :)

A pre-planning meeting is when all of the planners get together for a time of fellowship so they can get to know each other and be unified to work more efficiently when the time for planning comes at a later point. So there is actually no planning at a pre-planning meeting. :)

Tristam Green
October 5th, 2009, 07:39 PM
A pre-planning meeting is when all of the planners get together for a time of fellowship so they can get to know each other and be unified to work more efficiently when the time for planning comes at a later point. So there is actually no planning at a pre-planning meeting. :)

In effect: A bull$#!7 meeting for the sake of having a meeting.

Chronon
October 5th, 2009, 08:21 PM
David Cross did this bit like 3 or 4 years ago. I think people have been violating the use of that word for significantly longer than that.