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Monday, November 6, 2006

For the Literal-Minded

posted by on November 6 at 15:39 PM

From today’s New York Times:

“People have literally picked up their house at the foundations and shook it upside down like a piggy bank,” said Ed Smith, chief executive of the Plaza Financial Group, a mortgage brokerage firm in La Mesa, Calif., near San Diego.

RSS icon Comments

1

Oh, so they finance cardboard boxes for transients as well?

I guess microcredit IS a proven success then.

Posted by Gomez | November 6, 2006 3:39 PM
2

Trying to meet your post quota for the day, Erica?

Posted by bc | November 6, 2006 3:43 PM
3

Erica, I noticed the egregious verbage in the Times today too. I tried to explain it to my cubicle mates but they don't understand good english. Please post any typos or grammatical errors you find in publications. I keep a list and every fortnight send letters to the offending publications.

Posted by captious | November 6, 2006 3:58 PM
4

Boy, are my arms tired.

Posted by Fnarf | November 6, 2006 4:12 PM
5

http://literally.barelyfitz.com/

Someone shares your ire.

Posted by Megan | November 6, 2006 4:26 PM
6

That usuage of literal has been used for literally hundreds of years: OED (literally the most authoritative source on english etymology) marks the first citation of the used that way as long ago as the 18th century!
That use is basically accepted grammar now, so get over it.

No one gets upset when someone says something like "I'm really starving", when really means, um, real.

Posted by Andrew | November 6, 2006 4:29 PM
7

So, if I get an Adjustable Rate Mortgage with Zero Down, does that mean I need to adjust the rate at which I shake my upside down house, or that I need to do it while standing on top of the headstone of Zero Mostel?

My arms are tired.

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 6, 2006 4:35 PM
8

literally still matters. don't get over it.

Posted by SEAN NELSON, EMERITUS | November 6, 2006 5:06 PM
9

No it absolutely doesn't matter. It's pointless to get your knickers in a bunch each time a word is used in way that you think is incorrect, but has in fact been widely used and accepted for hundreds of years.

If you want to focus on word use, pick interesting words whose meaning is being corrupted today, right now!
How about the "relief" in "tax relief" or "reform" in "social security reform". Worse yet: 'freedom', 'terror', 'extremism', 'abuse', 'rendition'. Those words are having their meanings changed by ideologues. How about the phrase "reforms promoting community-based care". That is far more offensive than "literally picked up their houses".

Posted by Andrew | November 6, 2006 5:39 PM
10

Andrew: Soon you will be the recipient of a free gift.

Posted by some deaths take forever | November 6, 2006 5:42 PM
11

When you say Pick, Andrew, does that mean you're doing that right now?

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 6, 2006 5:48 PM
12

Literally matters, but this was a quotation. Pity the quotee and move on.

Posted by annie | November 6, 2006 5:59 PM
13

Literally matters because it is an essentially meaningless word if used as in the quote above.

A publication inserting what amounts to an unneeded word into a sentence is unprofessional. It also undermines the word's true meaning which is actually quite useful.

Posted by Lanik | November 6, 2006 6:43 PM
14

Lanik - So you're saying the meaninglessness of the word is essential?

Posted by smiles | November 6, 2006 7:07 PM
15

'Literally' is apparently the new 'figuratively'.

If we let usage dictate, then it will be interesting to look in the dictionary in a few years and find 'figuratively' listed as both an antonym and a synonym for 'literally'.

Heard on a local newscast describing a function at the Human Society over the weekend: "It's LITERALLY raining cats and dogs here."

Posted by I'm with Lanik | November 6, 2006 7:34 PM
16

Degrade the meaning of words like "literally" and pretty soon you're believing the alibis of hypocrites like Ted Haggard and the platitudes/rationales of George W. Bush. Slippery slope, people, slippery slope.

Posted by some deaths take forever | November 6, 2006 8:08 PM
17

Literally doesn't matter: if that use was good enough for Dickens and Thackeray, it's good enough for you pedantic rubes:
www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/CLliterally.pdf

Get upset about something that isn't so commonplace.

Posted by Andrew | November 6, 2006 9:29 PM
18

Misuse of "literally" is infuriating. Like David Cross says, it's using the word in the exact opposite way that it was intended.

Also, ECB was just tossing it up here. She wasn't saying she was upset.

Posted by jolla | November 7, 2006 8:11 AM

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