This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
- Dale
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This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
My language-related pet peeve: Misuse of the word literally. Just heard a classic example on the TODAY SHOW. Campbell Brown interviewed CNN's Lou Dobbs about immigration reform. (Lou Dobbs's thing about immigration reform is another pet peeve of mine, but that's for another day.) Campbell said to Lou, "This is really your issue; you talk about it contantly on your program; and when you do there is literally steam coming out of your ears."
That Lou. What a hothead.
I have a family member who shall remain nameless who is an offender. She'll say "I'm literally freezing to death" when it's a bit chilly in the house. "I'm literally starving to death" when lunch is a bit late.
There'll be a special citation for the person who can point out the largest number of English errors I made in this post.
That Lou. What a hothead.
I have a family member who shall remain nameless who is an offender. She'll say "I'm literally freezing to death" when it's a bit chilly in the house. "I'm literally starving to death" when lunch is a bit late.
There'll be a special citation for the person who can point out the largest number of English errors I made in this post.
Last edited by Dale on Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Tyler
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Lou Dobbs is a steam locomotive?
I had no idea!
This <literally> blows my mind!!
I had no idea!
This <literally> blows my mind!!
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown
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Doesn't seem to have the verbal impact the speaker was going for...Wombat wrote:Hmmmmm. 'I'm figuratively freezing to death' and 'I'm figuratively starving to death' don't seem to cut it either.
no oooommmph.
Insert any number of synonyms or antonyms into a "literally" sentence for more fun (wow, just like MadLibs!!)
actually, completely, correctly, direct, directly, faithfully, indisputably, literatim, not figuratively, plainly, precisely, really, rightly, rigorously, sic, simply, straight, strictly, truly, undeviatingly, undisputably, unerringly, unmistakably, verbatim, veritably, absolutely, de facto, genuinely, in fact, in reality, in truth, indeed, literally, really, truly, veritably, very, candidly, face-to-face, honestly, in person, literally, openly, personally, plainly, point-blank, truthfully, unequivocally, verbatim, without prevarication, altogether, bang, carefully, completely, correctly, definitely, explicitly, expressly, faithfully, faultlessly, for certain, for sure, indeed, just, literally, methodically, no mistake, positively, precisely, quite, right, rigorously, scrupulously, severely, sharp, specifically, square, strictly, the ticket, totally, truly, truthfully, unequivocally, unerringly, utterly, veraciously, wholly, about, approximately, around, inaccurately, inexactly, roughly, ambiguously, equivocally, indirectly, figuratively, loosely, metaphorically.
My favorite is 'ambiguously.'
"I'm ambiguously starving to death"
"Steam ambiguously comes out of your ears, Lou!"
This all ambiguously blows my mind.
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown
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No, but the best is saying, "Man, it's f**king cold in here!" It has the oomph required in such a situation.Wombat wrote:Hmmmmm. 'I'm figuratively freezing to death' and 'I'm figuratively starving to death' don't seem to cut it either.
Mark
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This reminds me of a story.
I'm in college, which means I spend more time listening to other people talking on cell phones than actually learning. So imagine how amused I was when, the other day, one particularly loud female declared that, upon some particularly surprising event, she had "literally sh*t her pants."
I might have giggled.
I'm in college, which means I spend more time listening to other people talking on cell phones than actually learning. So imagine how amused I was when, the other day, one particularly loud female declared that, upon some particularly surprising event, she had "literally sh*t her pants."
I might have giggled.
oh Lana Turner we love you get up
- Dale
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Yeah. That's a good one.Congratulations wrote:This reminds me of a story.
I'm in college, which means I spend more time listening to other people talking on cell phones than actually learning. So imagine how amused I was when, the other day, one particularly loud female declared that, upon some particularly surprising event, she had "literally sh*t her pants."
I might have giggled.
Re: This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
I thought you'd never askDale, the lastnameless one wrote:There'll be a special citation for the person who can point out the largest number of English errors I made in this post.
Sentence fragment: missing the verb.Dale wrote:My language-related pet peeve: Misuse of the word literally.
No subject here, move along.Dale wrote:Just heard a classic example on the TODAY SHOW.
It's Dobbs'. And I've never liked the double possesive "of mine".Dale wrote:(Lou Dobbs's thing about immigration reform is another pet peeve of mine, but that's for another day.)
You need a "[sic]" after "contantly".Campbell wrote:you talk about it contantly on your program
These look fine...Dale wrote:That Lou. What a hothead.
There's a clause here that's standing literally commaless. (ThisDale wrote:I have a family member who shall remain nameless who is an offender.
is an example of taking "literally" out in the street and shooting it,
which I also witness almost daily.)
I have a friend who not only misuses "literally", but pronounces it
without the second syllable: "lit'rally". This makes me insane with
rage for some reason. It just throws salt on the wound, I suppose.
He also likes to follow all terminal fricatives with stops, like "a
caraft of juice", or "a guitar rifft", or "21 acrosst", but I forgive
him because he's from the mountains.
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Re: This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
a guitar rift...fearfaoin wrote:"a guitar rifft",
I believe the Guitar Rifft was Pete Townsend's specialty...
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown
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Re: This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
I don't know how you people got so learned, I swear. It took me some time to figure out what a "terminal fricative" would be. It sounded sort of like chicken fricasee but then it sort of sounded like friction and the f word so I was literally melting down. Would your friend say "girafft"? That would be sort of funny .fearfaoin wrote: I have a friend who not only misuses "literally", but pronounces it
without the second syllable: "lit'rally". This makes me insane with
rage for some reason. It just throws salt on the wound, I suppose.
He also likes to follow all terminal fricatives with stops, like "a
caraft of juice", or "a guitar rifft", or "21 acrosst", but I forgive
him because he's from the mountains.
Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium. ~ Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence.----Seneca
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Re: This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
Actually, "Dobbs's" is correct. If you pronounce the possessive "ess" as a separate syllable - Dobbs-es - you write it just as Dale did. Only if you don't pronounce it as a separate syllable - as in "the Sagers' dog" - do you put only the apostrophe at the end.fearfaoin wrote:It's Dobbs'. And I've never liked the double possesive "of mine".Dale wrote:(Lou Dobbs's thing about immigration reform is another pet peeve of mine, but that's for another day.)
Susan
This is a cool site about language construction, which gives a simple
overview of consonant and vowel groupings in linguistics/phonetics.
http://zompist.com/kitlong.html#sounds
My favorite use of these terms was in the wikipedia article on
"Bronx Cheer", where the sound was described as a "Linguolabial trill"
(Linguo = toungue, labial = lips, trill is obvious). I think that term is
ambiguously dirty sounding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguolabial_trill
overview of consonant and vowel groupings in linguistics/phonetics.
http://zompist.com/kitlong.html#sounds
My favorite use of these terms was in the wikipedia article on
"Bronx Cheer", where the sound was described as a "Linguolabial trill"
(Linguo = toungue, labial = lips, trill is obvious). I think that term is
ambiguously dirty sounding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguolabial_trill
- Dale
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Re: This literally makes my head spin on its axis.
Deliberate. I hate verbs. I also often avoid subjects.fearfaoin wrote:I thought you'd never askDale, the lastnameless one wrote:There'll be a special citation for the person who can point out the largest number of English errors I made in this post.
Sentence fragment: missing the verb.Dale wrote:My language-related pet peeve: Misuse of the word literally.
I rest my case.No subject here, move along.Dale wrote:Just heard a classic example on the TODAY SHOW.
Yeah, I was just reading in "Woe Is I" about this. She prefers the double possessive. By the way, you misspelled possessive.It's Dobbs'. And I've never liked the double possesive "of mine".Dale wrote:(Lou Dobbs's thing about immigration reform is another pet peeve of mine, but that's for another day.)
No. I just misspelled it!You need a "[sic]" after "contantly".Campbell wrote:you talk about it contantly on your program
Yeah, you know, I've been working on that. I tend to use a lot of commas, and, I'm, trying, to cut, down.There's a clause here that's standing literally commaless. (ThisDale wrote:I have a family member who shall remain nameless who is an offender.
is an example of taking "literally" out in the street and shooting it,
which I also witness almost daily.)