Friday, March 11, 2005
Literally!
One of my pet peeves is the misuse of the word literally. It's not uncommon to hear people use it in a way diametrically opposed to what it really means. But unlike when we call something good "bad," these people actually think they're using the word correctly.
The worst offender in my experience was my high school band teacher. I count him as one of the most influential people in my life, and I love and respect him, but the man over-misused literally all the time. A typical example: "If the sax section misses that note one more time, my head's going to explode. Literally!" Fortunately for the band class, his head never actually exploded.
Recently, I heard a new father talk about the experience of watching his wife give birth, and he said something to the effect that it was amazing "to watch her literally become an angel." Did she sprout wings and a halo right there on the delivery room table? Did she die and go to heaven in the process? No. She became a figurative angel by bringing into the world their little miracle. There was nothing literal about it.
I think people think that literally means "really" or "very much" or something. They don't know that it should only be used sparingly, in cases where the idea it's modifying has no symbolic aspect about it. Oh well.
The worst offender in my experience was my high school band teacher. I count him as one of the most influential people in my life, and I love and respect him, but the man over-misused literally all the time. A typical example: "If the sax section misses that note one more time, my head's going to explode. Literally!" Fortunately for the band class, his head never actually exploded.
Recently, I heard a new father talk about the experience of watching his wife give birth, and he said something to the effect that it was amazing "to watch her literally become an angel." Did she sprout wings and a halo right there on the delivery room table? Did she die and go to heaven in the process? No. She became a figurative angel by bringing into the world their little miracle. There was nothing literal about it.
I think people think that literally means "really" or "very much" or something. They don't know that it should only be used sparingly, in cases where the idea it's modifying has no symbolic aspect about it. Oh well.
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