It Was A Good Run, Educated Society, But We Have Officially Lost

[AUChizad]

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/informal-literally-definition-creeps-into-dictionaries_b66376

Informal ‘Literally’ Definition Creeps into Dictionaries
For years, readers and writers have debated a common informal use of the word “literally.”

In conversation, some people use the word to provide exaggerated emphasis for a statement: “I love Haruki Murakami so much I literally read South of the Border, West of the Sun one hundred times.” Back in 2011, we even published a grammar PSA about the word.

Reddit reader andtheniansaid shared three separate dictionary definitions that include this informal usage, arguing that “it is okay to use the word ‘literally’ for emphasis.”


Here are three major dictionaries that mention the exaggerated “literally” usage…

Merriam-Webster Dictionary added a second “virtually” sense for the word, explaining with this note: “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.”

Cambridge Dictionaries Online added this informal usage to its definition: “used to emphasize what you are saying: He missed that kick literally by miles. I was literally bowled over by the news.”

Oxford Dictionaries begrudgingly admitted the shift: “In recent years an extended use of literally (and also literal) has become very common, where literally (or literal) is used deliberately in non-literal contexts, for added effect, as in they bought the car and literally ran it into the ground. This use can lead to unintentional humorous effects (we were literally killing ourselves laughing) and is not acceptable in formal contexts, though it is widespread.”

[Saniflush]

What does Wikipedia have to say on the matter?

[War Eagle!!!]

I agree with the title of this thread...but the definition on "literally" has nothing to do with it...

[wesfau2]

Bemoaning the evolution of language and grammar under this particular thread title is ironic, Alanis.

[AUChizad]

Bemoaning the evolution of language and grammar under this particular thread title is ironic, Alanis.

Goddammit. Bemoan fat finger typos when posting from a cell phone, if you must.

Regardless, this seriously does actually piss me off.

The misuse of "literally" is LITERALLY my #1 Pet Peeve.

Websters has just validated this shit.

[wesfau2]

Goddammit. Bemoan fat finger typos when posting from a cell phone, if you must.

It wasn't the I/It problem.  You still don't see it?  I blame the Prattville school system.

[War Eagle!!!]

You still don't see it?

No, he literally doesn't...

[Townhallsavoy]

I blame this guy:

[AU_Tiger_2000]

My 7 year old daughter told me the other day, "Something something something (don't remember) and I was so embarrassed that I literally died."  I asked her how she was standing there talking to me then, but my humor is lost on her.

[AUChizad]

It wasn't the I/It problem.  You still don't see it?  I blame the Prattville school system.

I literally do not.

The capitalization of "A" in a title? That's all I've got. Now I just want to know.

I'm aware that I frequently make that mistake in thread titles, but I simply do not give a shit about that, as I don't see thread titles as actual titles and are often not even capitalized at all.

[Saniflush]

It wasn't the I/It problem.  You still don't see it?  I blame the Prattville school system.

 

[Buzz Killington]

;

[GH2001]

;

tl;dr

[wesfau2]

I literally do not.

The capitalization of "A" in a title? That's all I've got. Now I just want to know.

I'm aware that I frequently make that mistake in thread titles, but I simply do not give a shit about that, as I don't see thread titles as actual titles and are often not even capitalized at all.

"It Was A Good Run, Educated Society, But We Have Officially Lost"

You either meant that we once had a well-run, educated society...

Or

You meant that we, as a society, had a good run, but we have officially lost.

I read it the first way.  Good /= Well.

[AUChizad]

"It Was A Good Run, Educated Society, But We Have Officially Lost"

You either meant that we once had a well-run, educated society...

Or

You meant that we, as a society, had a good run, but we have officially lost.

I read it the first way.  Good /= Well.

Yes, you read it wrong. The second one.

[wesfau2]

Yes, you read it wrong. The second one.

Then you have a completely superfluous and misplaced clause in the middle ("educated society") and I'm still correct.

[WiregrassTiger]

Then you have a completely superfluous and misplaced clause in the middle ("educated society") and I'm still correct.

What if "for" were inserted before "Educated Society"? Would that alleviate your pain? It literally changes my perspective of the title.

[AUChizad]

Then you have a completely superfluous and misplaced clause in the middle ("educated society") and I'm still correct.

Two words is superfluous?

You are incorrect. Live with it.

Type the sentence "It was a good run, educated society, but we have officially lost." into Microsoft Word and see if you get a green line or not.

Regardless, your misguided rant is distracting from the bigger issue, which is that we have now officially bent to the lowest common denominator who use words that mean the exact opposite of what they are trying to say so often, that it is now considered acceptable.

[Snaggletiger]

I'm beside myself.

[wesfau2]

Type the sentence "It was a good run, educated society, but we have officially lost." into Microsoft Word and see if you get a green line or not.

I'm not trusting any source without a "wiki" in its name.