Random thoughts on most things from A. M. Craig.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Literally

I'm not one of those people who are really nit-picky about language, I'm not, really. If you've read any of this blog, you must realize I'm not a stickler for grammar, punctuation, or even spelling. But there is one thing that really bugs me when people us it wrong. When people say "literally" to add emphasis, that just doesn't make sense. Example.

"I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally."


or maybe...

"Food for thought…literally
:-)"

Really, doing that with a smiley face just makes you sound like an idiot. Both of these are examples pulled from things I have read recently online. It just doesn't do what they want it to (unless they are hoping to sound stupid). English is versatile, malleable even, but not this. Don't mutilate the language like that, please.
HONESTLY, IF THEY WOULD JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE SAYING FOR JUST ONE SECOND, THEY MIGHT REALIZE IT IS NONSENSE!

With that out of the way, you may all now feel free to mock me for my own minor imperfections just as I've condemned a group of people for theirs.

3 comments:

Emily said...

Austin, you have so nailed my pet peeve right on the head.....figuratively! :)

That is a major annoyance of mine, too. We have so much in common.

How have you been? Call your brother when you can. He'd love to have a diversion from the figurative hell of work. I'd love for him to have a diversion, too.

Emily said...

And I know he'd love to talk to you.

Nancy said...

Austin, you haven't written on your blog in such a long time...literally :)