Mostly, I just found this comic hilarious so I wanted to share it with all of you! But I do know a lot of controversy has arisen on the use of the word “literally,” so I thought I’d tackle that as well in this post. I know the one and only Mr. Maas has recently gone on one of his fantastic rants on the ill-uses of the word. I personally believe people can casually throw the word into conversations and it shouldn’t be a huge deal, or at least as big a deal as some people like to make it. And don’t lie to yourself, as a crazy AP English student, you probably fit into the mold of the insane bearded man in the comic above more than any of the average stick figures. Sometimes, I feel that way as well: angry at the ignorance of some “literally” fans. But after much deliberation and thought, I decided we should just view the use of “literally” as simply a tool to add color and excitement to an otherwise boring story. Hyperbole at its finest. It makes things more fun, especially if you, as I frequently do, adopt some Allie Brosh/Hyperbole and a Half-esque techniques to deal. Imagine things literally happening exactly as the storyteller describes them—that’s what the “literally” perpetrator intended, right? To so exaggerate his/her point to the point of ridiculousness in order to get the point across. I like the word “literally,” haters can hate, but I think it would do us all some good to take everything less seriously and accept its modern though incorrect usage.
For all those who disagree, find solace and enjoyment in The Oatmeal, I particularly enjoyed this one also: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally
I have to admit, I am probably more like the crazy man in the cartoon when it comes to mistakes like this. On a recent episode of "Modern Family" this same topic was brought up when Cam said "I could care less," to which Mitchell corrected him by saying he actually meant he could not care less, because otherwise he cares a little. This caused Cam to exclaim that his head wad "literally" going to burst, which of course caused another sassy remark from Mitchell. Sadly, in this case, I am like Mitchell.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the use of "literally" to exagerrate statements is fine and can enhance conversation when used in moderation. People who casually throw this hyperbole into every single description they make though, is when it becomes annoying and when we need a bearded man to pop in and stop them. I am not a "literally" hater either, but it is interesting to reflect on how little we use this word in the correct way these days.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I am unfortunately more like the strange man in this comic. Meghan Shroyer just last week posted about how the word "friend" has been overused and exagerated. My youth group discussed how overused "love" has also been overused. What of it though? Do we now switch over to new words such as "for real" instead of "literally", "buddy" rather than "friend", and "adore" as opposed to "love". (You get the point) I guess we are just stuck in a world of overused words and even phrases. This whole "chill for days" thing is starting to get old! Nice Blog MaryBeth!
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