Literally literally means literally.
It also means “in effect; virtually”.
Literally.
People say it’s freezing outside, but it’s a few degrees above water becoming a solid. What gives?
They say they’re starving even though they just haven’t eaten all day.
People need to follow the rules when it comes to words or else we descend into chaos. It’s literally a highway to hell!
Right, that’s “speaking figuratively.” There are rules for that.
But a word that means the opposite of what it means is not a useful word.
I’d hate to find a box in my lab marked “inflammable.”
Plenty of words mean the opposite of themselves, so much so that there’s multiple words for it; autoantonym, contranym, or Janus words.
This morning my alarm went off so I turned it off.
I wanted to buy a new console as soon as it was out but they were all out.
Two people were left so I left.
I fought with Bob over chores, but I fought with Bob in the war.That’s actually pretty cool.
I’m aware of the existence of contranyms. None of the examples you gave apply, as they just have different meanings, or the same leaving with different connotations.
Context is as important to language as syntax. If you see a box marked “inflammable” and the box is made of cardboard, you know it’s quite inflammable. If it’s made of metal, most people would think it’s inflammable, but if you’re in a lab you’ve probably got a few ways to prove them wrong.
Context is as important to language as syntax.
Context is important to the message, yes. But if I need the context to understand a particular word, I would understand the message just as well without that word.
Those are exaggerations, not comparisons.
Sounds like something that literally Hitler would say.
I don’t think he spoke enough English to understand what “literally” means, so I’d guess not.
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English is fluid. Give it time.
Sure, but you can literally use “literally” figuratively and people will still know what you mean
That’s what the word “figuratively” is for. You don’t say fat to mean figuratively thin.
The way I see it is that language inevitably evolves over time. Not all of those changes make sense to everybody, and not everybody likes them, but that they will keep occurring will stay true as long as language is what we use to communicate.
It’s all approximation anyway, so I just don’t think it matters very much as long as we understand each other. To each their own though.
But if something is “literally like” alleging else, does that not just equate to similar too since the literal definition of similar is to be like something else?
Mere similarity implies incomplete equivalence.
Never thought about it like that actually, that’s good.
Yes, something that’s like something else is also literally like it, because literally emphasizes that it’s really true. But “I literally died laughing” is wrong unless you’re actually dead.
