social topic

2015-10-02 05:23:04 pm

That or some ancient Germanic dialect.

2015-10-02 05:23:35 pm

Quote from Opium:

Yes and the only reason people started using it as an intensifier is because they heard someone else use it properly and erroneously assumed that the person was using it as an intensifier. This baffles me because everyone already knows what 'literal' means, so why is it so hard to connect the dots?

possibly. not everyone has the same level of familiarity with words

Opium

2015-10-02 05:23:42 pm

Quote from arkarian:

no, i'm really not

most people don't care about language nearly as much as you or i do, and there's nothing wrong with that. that's my point. people shouldn't care about whether they're being perfectly "correct" (because there is no such thing as "correct" english) in their speech. who gives a shit. the only point of language is to convey meaning. if you understand the meaning but complain about the way it was conveyed, you're being pedantic and silly.

You make it sound like the only people who should care about the words they choose when they communicate are shakespearean elitists. Everyone should care about what they say for a host of good reasons.

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:24:18 pm

red chamber dream

yeah. they should care about conveying the meaning they intend ... that's it lol

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:24:35 pm

red chamber dream

there is no other reason to be "correct" other than "my english teacher told me so in fifth grade"

absolutely none

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:25:10 pm

red chamber dream

and most people just take that and go ok, what i learn in elementary school must be true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and of course they couldn't be more wrong

Opium

Edit history:

Opium: 2015-10-02 05:26:37 pm

2015-10-02 05:25:43 pm

Quote from arkarian:

yeah. they should care about conveying the meaning they intend ... that's it lol

lol isn't that the entire purpose of choosing your words?
The misuse of 'literally' leads to major communication fail in many cases.

BioSpark

2015-10-02 05:26:24 pm

you choose words you think the other person will understand, no matter how "wrong" they are

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:26:28 pm

red chamber dream

yep. but most people aren't pedants and understand when someone uses literally to mean figuratively

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:26:38 pm

red chamber dream

and don't care

we should all be more like that

because it doesn't matter.

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:27:17 pm

red chamber dream

basically, american schooling sucks majorly

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:27:29 pm

red chamber dream

they teach you soooooooooooo much shit that doesn't matter AT ALL

BioSpark

2015-10-02 05:27:34 pm

yeah. i could care less

see what i did there

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:27:58 pm

red chamber dream

zomg u heathen

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:28:23 pm

red chamber dream

i really feel like most people base their arguments on what they learned in school

what an awful position to take lol

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:28:37 pm

red chamber dream

you don't learn anything valuable in school

Opium

2015-10-02 05:28:43 pm

The purpose of language is communication. Fuck correctness. If the other person knows what you are communicating then the communication was effective. What else matters? I get that.

BUT - the misuse of a word like 'literally' causes communication fails. That's why it's important.

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:29:14 pm

red chamber dream

not if you understand that people have been using literally to mean figuratively for literally hundreds of years ...

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:29:22 pm

red chamber dream

go mark twain

Opium

2015-10-02 05:31:20 pm

Mark Twain was a master wordsmith who was very intentional in his selection of words. He never misused 'literally' out of ignorance resulting in a communication fail.

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:32:22 pm

red chamber dream

right. and neither do most people. it's just pedants like you, who do understand the intent but purposefully misconsture it, who annoy everyone :P

Opium

2015-10-02 05:34:18 pm

So if someone calls me and tells me that they literally cut their finger off while slicing potatoes, I should have to stop and ask them if they really cut their finger off or if they're just exaggerating? Wouldn't it be better if I could just know what they were saying without having to ask for more details?

BioSpark

2015-10-02 05:34:52 pm

i think they would call 911 instead of you

Opium

2015-10-02 05:35:27 pm

lol yeah if they JUST did it, not if they're calling me a week later to catch up and tell me about how their week went.

arkarian

2015-10-02 05:39:14 pm

red chamber dream

Quote from BioSpark:

i think they would call 911 instead of you

rotflmao