this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's not how 'literally' works

[–] maryjayjay 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Literally has been used as an intensifier for over 200 years. The Oxford English Dictionary includes the definition of "figuratively". Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, James Joyce, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain all used it that way in their writing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It is truly bizarre that one of the definitions of the word is literally the opposite of the primary definition of the word, however.

[–] maryjayjay 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The dictionary is descriptive, not proscriptive. Language evolves

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I knew I'd receive that reply, and I know it to be true. It's still very odd, as noted. I'm sure there are other examples where one definition contradicts another, but none immediately spring to mind.

[–] maryjayjay 1 points 1 month ago

Here's a fun list: https://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-contradictory-meanings/

It literally includes literally 😉