Too much "literally"

I've noticed this on a lot of podcasts and daily conversations lately: over-use of "literally" for emphasis instead of to describe something happening in fact. I've noticed it on the Bombcast for the last three or four weeks.

It's distracting because I always have to stop the flow of listening to the conversation and parse out whether or not the "literally" is correctly applied. Off the top of my head I remember (Patrick) saying "the guy literally flew 20 feet in the air" which probably isn't correct because if someone is thrown into the air they're not literally flying. And I'm not sure if anything could be said to be literally happening inside a video game.

Something to think about anyway. What do you guys think? Do you even notice this?

Nope, I don't let extremely small and unimportant things like that bother me! :D

All I think of when I hear/read the word literally is Rob Lowe in Parks and Rec and the way he says it.

This thread is literally the worst thing ever.

Literally.

@Cloudenvy: The devil is in the details =)

I literally don't see this as a major problem, but I'm one to say literally far too much in daily conversation any way, so I never pay it much attention

Welcome to conversational English. People talk silly, get used to it.

i think you literately being to pedantic

thats it i was about to subscribe to whiskey media but im not anymore until they learn how to talk properly

@jetsetwillie said:

i think you literately being to pedantic

Eh, maybe so. Just posting something that was on my mind.

"I think you're literally being too pedantic." <--That's me being too pedantic.

@Toms115 said:

thats it i was about to subscribe to whiskey media but im not anymore until they learn how to talk properly

I just cancelled my subscription and am expecting a full refund because of this serious breach of language.

Ever since David Cross complained about people using "literally" incorrectly 10+ years ago, hipster schmucks have been complaining about it as well.

My head literally exploded when I saw this topic. It was literally the end of the world, know what I'm saying?

@DeeGee said:

@Toms115 said:

thats it i was about to subscribe to whiskey media but im not anymore until they learn how to talk properly

I just cancelled my subscription and am expecting a full refund because of this serious breach of language.

literally?

@vonFlampanker said:

@jetsetwillie said:

i think you literately being to pedantic

Eh, maybe so. Just posting something that was on my mind.

"I think you're literally being too pedantic." <--That's me being too pedantic.

<3 pedantry

ITT people compete to see who can sound the most ignorant...

Sorry, I meant: Irregardless what literally means, ain't never gonna stop none saying it wrong.

@vonFlampanker said:

@jetsetwillie said:

i think you literately being to pedantic

Eh, maybe so. Just posting something that was on my mind.

"I think you're literally being too pedantic." <--That's me being too pedantic.

Looks like it's par for the course from what I can see. Find something important to concern yourself with.

People on this forum actually complain about how many times people use a word?

Wow, you guys are impossible to please.

@RedDragon123 said:

People on this forum actually complain about how many times people use a word?

Wow, you guys are impossible to please.

Welcome! next week it'll be all about how Vinny is too Italian!

What's it like? Getting upset by literally nothing?

It used to bother me, then I took an arrow in the knee

@W0lfbl1tzers: Watched that whole thing. It was nice. It's an interesting point toward the end about context, and I think it applies as a good enough counter to what I originally posted. I don't necessarily agree with the point about joy of language. Sure there's a fine art to language as well, but I think the first purpose of language is to serve a practical purpose. To address another part, I don't think I was haughty or rude in the original point (assuming you wanted that part of Fry's statement to apply to the original point), didn't intend it that way at any rate.

Regardless, language is important. Of course there's room to change and evolve (and dear god I hope we all choose to forget that Fry just said "sound-sex"). There's also got to be a common standard or things start breaking down. This isn't going to happen over one particular word or due to a podcast about video games, but it's worth pointing out.

Anyhow I'm way off topic now. Thanks for considering it anyway.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, literally can mean

"informal used for emphasis while not being literally true:

I have received literally thousands of letters"

I literally have no idea why there has been an increase in the number of threads made about stupid petty shit.

Even as a lurker who generally only posts to the most recent threads as shown on the front page, it's gotten a little ridiculous.

@GlenTennis: Well there you go. Weird that they'd use the word in its own definition, isn't it?

OED also has listings for "OMG" "mankini" and "cyberbullying". I don't really care for that fact, but I guess their approach is to reflect what people are doing vs trying to establish their authority on what the correct usage is. It's a way to do things.

@dekkadekkadekka: It's just a little constructive criticism for the podcast. Helping things get better is still a worthy goal.

...but I guess their approach is to reflect what people are doing vs trying to establish their authority on what the correct usage is. It's a way to do things.

It's those hard swings.

I don't notice it because I'm not insane.

boohoo

@W0lfbl1tzers said:

I love this video a lot and it has become the basis of my view of language.

I find the part that speaks about the joy of language, the "sound-sex" part if you will, particulary compelling as I remember taking pleasure in pronunciation from an early age. "Purple" being a early favorite when I first started learning English, "perpetuate" being a more recent one. Listening to Stephen Fry talk in that video is at the same time enlightening and enjoyable, I'm actually a bit jealous.

My love extends beyond English though; I love saying all Japanese names that start with "Yu" Yuuto, Yukari, Yusuke, Yuki and so on. Of course I think that my own language Swedish, when spoken with simple clarity, can be pretty awesome as well, I suppose that could be said of a lot of languages though. In the end I guess I just believe that language is something by the people, for the people and that it should remain as flexible as possible.

That said I often have to fight off the urge to reply to someone posting things like "your not serious, are you?" with "My not serious?".

Do you have asperger's

I don't even notice it. However, I was listening to the bombcast when I saw this thread title, and Patrick said "literally" as I was opening it. So there's that.

Ritelarry.

I figuratively see what you did there

Jeff is bias. Giant Bomb hates the PS3 and now we are complaining about a word used during the podcasts. Jesus Christ, people.

@YI_Orange said:

All I think of when I hear/read the word literally is Rob Lowe in Parks and Rec and the way he says it.

I especially think of this when Ryan says it.

@vonFlampanker: It does annoy me a bit as well, mostly because literally is not an easy word to say. You have to go out of your way to say it. It's a bit like when people use big words they clearly don't understand.

You seem like you're a lot of fun at parties.

I'd blame it on the California influence, but that's just Jeff and Ryan.

I bet in the next Bombcast, they're REALLY going to overuse "literally" just to spite you. That's how they roll.

@vonFlampanker said:

@GlenTennis: Well there you go. Weird that they'd use the word in its own definition, isn't it?

OED also has listings for "OMG" "mankini" and "cyberbullying". I don't really care for that fact, but I guess their approach is to reflect what people are doing vs trying to establish their authority on what the correct usage is. It's a way to do things.

Modern dictionaries should define words based on common usage. It's not just a way, it is THE way. It's why you have (not literally, of course) Old English dictionaries and other English dictionaries based on regional dialects. There is no "correct" way to speak and use English. There is the English that the English use today, but even that is subject (especially so considering that different regions of Britain all use different slang, euphemisms, etc) to change. And you know what? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Change and variations are good. It makes the English language more colorful, diverse, adaptable, and flexible; many reasons for why English is so widely used Globally today.

I get it. It's like when every time I hear Jeff call something "weird" for the 1,000,000th time I cringe. No Jeff, it's not weird. Everything in the world CANNOT BE WEIRD!!!!

I'm literally sure I've heard them criticize the overuse of the word.

@Cloudenvy said:

@RedDragon123 said:

People on this forum actually complain about how many times people use a word?

Wow, you guys are impossible to please.

Welcome! next week it'll be all about how Vinny is too Italian!

Fuhggettaboutit

@W0lfbl1tzers: I was hoping he'd start talking about Sackboys somewhere in there, lol. The video was great!

It's ok I guess... I'm more annoyed by Patrick's apparent incapability of using a comparative/demostrative adverb other than LIKE

like you know English isn't even my native language but like you can talk without saying like... like 10 times in a single sentence. Hearing like so much is like tiresome you know.. like there is more words in the English dictionary.