Thursday, October 18, 2007

i literally hate this word

what good's a blog if you can't rant from time to time? herein starts a new occasional feature- fink's language pet peeves. it's my attempt to better the world through the proper use of the english language.

i'm literally appalled by the literal overuse of the adjective "literally". from radio and TV interviews, to podcasts, to daily conversation, not a day goes by anymore that i don't hear someone incorrectly use the word "literally".

examples:
  • "i was literally blown away by that movie". no, you weren't, because you're obviously standing in front of me still using incorrect language.
  • "they literally moved 2,000 miles just to be near a white castle." maybe a true statement, but a superfluous use of the word.
the word should be used to describe a situation where an action that has a figurative meaning is carried out in the truer yet possibly less likely way.

example:
  • "while collecting seashells, i was literally swept off my feet by the waves."
this ends todays complaining. tune in next time for a lesson on apostrophes.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My "head" literally explored at the sheer coincidence of coming across this blog after reading your new pledge to spout off about grammar irritants. http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

Also, if you need a guest blog post on maddening improper language usage from 2 White, let me know. . .

Anonymous said...

um, I meant exploded not explored.

fink said...

you're very likely to be tapped as a very special guest blogger for a very important language post...

fink said...

for those of you who literally can't get enough of this topic, here's someone way more peeved than i am...http://literally.barelyfitz.com/

Anonymous said...

If I ever meet ESPN's Linda Cohn, the first thing I'm going to say to her is, "what's so special about the VERY next pitch, the VERY next batter, and the VERY next play?". She drives me insane.

Anonymous said...

apostrophes!
Please do that next. No one knows how to use them.
Biggest pet peeve: Seeing small businesses advertise using the apostrophe in an incorrect manner:

Brendel's Deli now serving:
Panini's!
Soup's!
Chopped Salad's!

Drives me nuts