Saturday, November 05, 2005

Literally LMAO

Ok, so not literally. But apparently that's a major problem: misusing the term "literally". An article on Slate examines the problem further. I know that everyone uses the term, and often incorrectly. It is not always easy to slip "figuratively" into a sentence. But if you're already talking figuratively, why be redundant? No one would say "I was figuratively laughing my ass off", because the metaphor is sufficient. But to differentiate between "sort of laughing my ass off" and "really laughing my ass off", people use "literally". But it does not mean "really" or "especially," it means "actually" or "to the letter". It is an interesting discussion (okay, so I'm bored). The Slate article also links to another blog: Literally, A Web Log. It tracks the proper or improper use of the word "literally". It's pretty amusing, especially for you grammar Nazis out there. It also links to another site that has become my personal favourite (I was LMAO): A Gallery of "Misused" Quotation Marks. Chubby, I know you'll enjoy that one!

2 comments:

The Offensive Coordinator said...

Both you and Chubby came immediately to mind when I read that article a couple of days ago!

Garry said...

Yeah, we're grammar Nazis.