Overuse of the word "Literally"
Just think of how many times I could have used "literally" in that last sentence ...
Decades ago it was "cool" or "basically" or whatever ... this is the decade of "literally"
--Ms. D.
It's literally annoying.
I tend to be self-aware of many of my writing foibles, and many of them bother me. In response, I over-edit. Recently, I posted something here where I used the word "explicitly" when the proper word would have been "implicitly". I thought about that later that night, but I was too lazy to come back here and correct my post.
Edit: I just remembered one of my college friends from several decades ago telling me about an incident that took place in an English class. They were beginning their study of Dante's Inferno, and the professor said, "Today we are going to hell. Well ... literally."
Maybe your friend misheard the professor, the word "literarily" fits ...Quote: DocEdit: I just remembered one of my college friends from several decades ago telling me about an incident that took place in an English class. They were beginning their study of Dante's Inferno, and the professor said, "Today we are going to hell. Well ... literally."
Quote: DorothyGaleI am so sick of hearing people use the word "literally" ... just sick of it ... don't use the word, ever, please!!! ... really, I promise you, if you open your ears to how often it is used, you will be amazed at how many people are linguistic zombies ...
Like, you're all, like, literally, like freaked out, like.
Better :P
I tell you Nareed, the word "like" is gone ... it's all "literally" all the time now ... even "Valley Girl" speak has substituted "literally" for "like" ... joke all you want ... but this is so far beyond a joke ... watch for it on the evening news tonight ... in the subway ... while walking in the park ... even the space aliens are using it ... it's a virus eating away at our common consciousness ...Quote: NareedLike, you're all, like, literally, like freaked out, like.
I even had an arguement where someone was describing a conversation and said "no pun intended, but you do sleep later than most". I said "Erm... that's not a pun" to which I was informed "You say 'no pun intended' to state you mean no offense". In TV land, this is where my head would literally explode ;).
Go on social network sites and have a look around. Or go to Failblog (dot) org and have a see. I don't know if it'll make you a proponent for gov. mandated birth control, but it will at least cause the idea to enter your mind.
"Could care less" when they mean to say "couldn't care less" is mine. I mean seriously, fucking sit back and think about what you're trying to say. This one bugs me in particular because people are trying to convey an incredibly strong emotion and fail horribly.
I try not to judge though, I'm an incredibly unapologetic person when it comes to my political opinions and fit "would" in there to try and deflect from my definitive answers. For example "I would think".
(Transcribed from the Youtube audio clip)
Quote: David CrossSo, uh, you know, one of the things I can't stand, one of my, like, pet peeves, is people who misuse the word literally. F#$%ing, it drives me up a wall, because when you misuse the word literally, you are using it in the exact opposite way it was intended. When you f#$% that up, you f#$% it up so bad. It's not like a little goof, you know, you said penultimate, you mean ultimate, like you're off by one, it's... you completely f#$%ing misuse it and you should stop using the word, forever, until you f#$%ing figure it out.
F#$%ing sportscasters do that all the time, you know, they... they like, you know,
"He literally ripped his head off on that play! Oh my!"
And you're like, "What? No he didn't. Don't... you shouldn't be... talking into a microphone, and describing things to people. Don't do that."
"He literally grew wings and ascended to Heaven, where God blessed him with this god-like defensive blocking capability, and, he stayed in Heaven for seven glorious days and nights, dining with the gods, and God turned a switch and stopped time here on Earth, so that he may do so, and then... sent him back to Earth and onto the field, and at the appropriate time, like, did the switch so we wouldn't know what happened, and then..."
Well, that's an exaggeration, but still, you know... you know what I mean.
You know, like just, people, oh they'd f#$%ing be like,
"Dude, man, I'll tell you the funniest story, man, I um, I was really f#$%ed up the other day, I was hanging out with Jeremy, and we both super f#$%ed up, and we went back to Jeremy's apartment, and we split this bar of Zanax, ok, and then he put on that Viking hat, you know, that he won in Vegas, you know, and he started dancing around. Dude, it was so f#$%ing funny. Dude, I literally s%^& my pants!"
"Wow, oh man. Ooh, what did you.. what did you do?"
"Dude, I was laughing!"
"No, I mean, what did you do with your pants? I mean..."
"What are you talking about?"
"No, you said you literally s%^& your pants."
"Yeah, dude, it was f#$%ing funny!"
"No, I know, that's what I'm saying, what did you do with your s%^&ty pants, is what I'm asking."
"What? No, dude, I didn't f#$%ing really s%^& my pants, I literally s%^& my pants. You need to... you don't understand, man. You don't get it... at all."
Wow. David Cross literally says f#$%ing a lot.
Edit to include quick story: The other day, I overheard a phone conversation between her and a friend of hers, discussing how a third friend had "no earthly idea of how to properly use a gerund". I just shook my head, had a real silent WTF explode in my brain, and went back to my football watching so I could remove that from my mind before it caused an aneurysm.
Quote: FaceLOL glad I'm not the only one with crazy language anger. "Supposably" gets my goat pretty good, as does "irregardless".
Malapropisms are mostly funny rather than annoying. Some of my favoties are:
For all intensive purposes
Statue of limitations
Penile code (I swear I've seen it used)
Vunerable
Pleonasms, too. Like "ATM Machine," "PIN Number," and in Spanish "Banco BBVA Bancomer" (the last means "Banco Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Banco de Comercio").
They're like literally hilarious, :)
This was in the deep south -- Georgia. The words "literally" and "literarily" cannot be distinguished when spoken; they are both said something like "liturrurly". But with a bit more slurring. I didn't know how best to present that in typed text, so I just used your gripe word.Quote: DorothyGaleMaybe your friend misheard the professor, the word "literarily" fits ...Quote: DocEdit: I just remembered one of my college friends from several decades ago telling me about an incident that took place in an English class. They were beginning their study of Dante's Inferno, and the professor said, "Today we are going to hell. Well ... literally."
I hate the word being used cavalierly, too. But it's still a perfectly good word when used as it should be used.
Quote:'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'
Quote: ahiromu"Could care less" when they mean to say "couldn't care less" is mine.
I agree. Mine is when people say "all day" at the end of any sentence.
"I raise $25 all day." (around a poker table) Really? You're gonna do that all day, huh?
Idiots.
--Ms. D.
Quote: DorothyGaleI am so sick of hearing people use the word "literally" ... just sick of it ... don't use the word, ever, please!!! ... really, I promise you, if you open your ears to how often it is used, you will be amazed at how many people are linguistic zombies ...
--Ms. D.
Doesn't anybody on this forum watch the show "Parks and Recreation?" Rob Lowe's character uses the word 'literally' every few sentences. It's absolutely hysterical, since some of his literally's are disgusting to think about.
Literally, it's the funniest show on TV....
I have noticed that in Portland people say "perfect!" way too often.
Quote: Tiltpoul
Literally, it's the funniest show on TV....
Its definitely one of the funniest. Watching it right now.
However, in the past, I was familiar with a person who did the use the word. It wasn't the word itself that really bothered me. It was the fact that the word was used in conjunction with superlatives.
"That was literally the best sandwich in the world."
"I am literally starving to death."
"They are literally the dumbest people in the universe."
I dislike the use of superlatives anyway, but combining them with the L word, as though the usage of such adds some sort of justification, makes it much worse.
The most recent annoyance? Using "impact" in lieu of the perfectly good word "affect".
Overall social violence is way down in a number of ways, but lately I've been receiving more "impacts" than a two-dollar whore
gets when the swabbies are on shore leave (I don't mean this literally, of course).
Quote: DorothyGaleI tell you Nareed, the word "like" is gone ... it's all "literally" all the time now ... even "Valley Girl" speak has substituted "literally" for "like" ... joke all you want ... but this is so far beyond a joke ... watch for it on the evening news tonight ... in the subway ... while walking in the park ... even the space aliens are using it ... it's a virus eating away at our common consciousness ...
Literally!
Quote: konceptumThe majority of the people that I have conversations with are not the type to overuse the word "literally"... or perhaps to even use the word at all.
I think you mean "literally all of the people..."
Quote: avargovThe other day, I overheard a phone conversation between her and a friend of hers, discussing how a third friend had "no earthly idea of how to properly use a gerund".
For the life of me, I can't think of how to improperly use a gerund, let alone have "no earthly idea of how to use one properly". Some people say you shouldn't start a sentence with a gerund, but I honestly don't see the problem. Some very good literate writers have started sentences with a gerund.
Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it literally be morrow.
Ask your wife how you improperly use a gerund.
