dllt.bsky.social
8 posts
11 followers
13 following
comment in response to
post
I actually wonder whether it was a similar dynamic that made "really" an intensifier once upon a time.
comment in response to
post
"Literally" used as intensifier is extreme exaggeration. I figuratively (say) died to such an extent it's as if I literally died. That it's the antonym is coincidence. It's simply that something being real is "more extreme" than something not being.
comment in response to
post
In a similar vein, if somebody says "you left me waiting for days" we never say "sometimes days means minutes" - we say that people exaggerate.
comment in response to
post
Right, but it would also be understood to be figurative without either, and more importantly if "literally" just meant "figuratively" there would be no hyperbole, which I think misunderstands the use.
comment in response to
post
I cope with "could care less" by pretending there's an omitted "... hypothetically, if I really, really tried"; I don't think that's actually what's going on, though.
comment in response to
post
"Literally" used hyperbolically as an intensifier, even in figurative speech. You are welcome to object on grounds of clarity or style, but it is a different thing than "literally" meaning "figuratively", which I have literally never encountered. I know that at least one dictionary got this wrong.
comment in response to
post
So excited!
comment in response to
post
A little more augury in our inauguration?