Words like fantastic amazing awful very really ultimately actually have meanings that have become less literal over time. Even ‘literally’ has been a victim of semantic bleaching. - ThreadSky

merriam-webster.com • 13 days ago

Words like

fantastic
amazing
awful
very
really
ultimately
actually

have meanings that have become less literal over time.

Even ‘literally’ has been a victim of semantic bleaching.

Comments

defaulty.bsky.social•13 days ago

How has "very" become less literal? What did it used to mean?

helopait.bsky.social•13 days ago

Literally!
(sorry, i couldn't resist)

aafror.bsky.social•13 days ago

Where are we on a new 'literally' that literally means 'literally'?

dreverettmann.bsky.social•13 days ago

The problem with literally is that we don't really have another term that means that.

merriam-webster.com•13 days ago

We sometimes find NSFW terms enter our everyday vocabulary through semantic bleaching.

‘Food porn’ isn’t anything scandalous, it’s just appetizing pictures of food.

‘Pimp my ride’ means making additions to your car (i.e. putting a PlayStation 2 in the trunk).

ileft.bsky.social•13 days ago

So it’s also happening to ‘fuck’, am I right?

bedlamatcbp.bsky.social•13 days ago

did you just conflate i.e. and e.g.?!

merriam-webster.com•13 days ago

We absolutely did.

Thank you for catching it!

merriam-webster.com•13 days ago

Thank you for reading and we hope you have a terrific day!

Also, when we say ‘terrific’ we don’t mean have a day that is frightful, or very bad.

merriam-webster.com•13 days ago

Editor's note: we should have used 'e.g.' instead of 'i.e.'...

We won't stop thinking about this mistake for the rest of the week.

Thank you to @bedlamatcbp.bsky.social for catching it!

ajardim1.bsky.social•13 days ago

i.e. to say, you’re mortified.

merriam-webster.com•13 days ago

One. Hundred. Percent.

babsallday.bsky.social•13 days ago

merriam-webster.com•13 days ago

sebasz99.bsky.social•13 days ago

Are „in essence“ and „example given“ the actual meaning of the abbreviations? Or do they mean something different and this is just a way to remember?

jillpiggott.bsky.social•13 days ago

Genuine question from a retired writing prof: Why use single, rather than double quotation marks for the words you're defining in your posts?

I enjoy your posts very much. They're a smart break from political insanity.