Pedants are Literally Climbing the Walls
by
Howard Richler
The
language scolds are literally apoplectic. By 2013, several prominent
dictionaries, such as Oxford and Webster's had expanded their
definition of literally to mean “figuratively.” In response,
the British magazine The Week
averred, “The dictionaries have.. bowed to the will of the
grammar-averse public. As anyone who paid attention in grade school
knows, 'literally' means 'in a literal or strict sense, as opposed to
a non-literal or exaggerated sense, and is the opposite of
'figuratively,' which means 'in a metaphorical sense.' ” An
article in The Guardian
entitled “Language is Literally Losing its Meaning” displayed
similar vexation: “The
OED has accepted a new definition for the
word literally – and it's not the only word changing beyond
recognition. It is enough to, like, make one despair.” This
conservative cause even extended to the English colonies. An employee
at Words Worth Books, a Waterloo, Ontario bookstore, wrote on
Twitter, “One of our staff was so upset about this, he had to lie
down #literally.”
These
defenders of the English language are objecting to the morass of a
word meaning its opposite. It is as if the word fair
can mean foul and yes
can mean no. As Spock
might say “This is eminently illogical.”
But
languages, unlike mathematics, are not logical constructs, and many
words can mean contradictory things. For example, ravel can mean
“knit together” and “untangle”; sanction, “permit” and
“forbid”; cleave, “separate” and “join together” and
flammable and inflammable both mean to catch fire easily.
At
oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/literally it states,
“Informally used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while
not being literally true.. In recent years, an extended use of
literally has become very common, where literally is used
deliberately in nonliteral contexts. This can lead to unintentional
humorous effects, (e.g., 'we were literally killing ourselves
laughing') and is not acceptable in formal English.”
The
OED revealed that it
included the figurative sense of literally because of its ubiquitous
use by the hoi polloi. Surprisingly, the new definition was added in
September 2011 but went unnoticed until August 2013. Senior OED
editor Fiona McPherson quipped. “It seems
to have literally slipped under the radar.”
In casual conversation, literally is often used as an intensifier much in the way that we use the word “certainly” and “really” to transcend meaning “with certainty” and “in reality.” And contrary to the claims of some critics that this in a modern aberration, we have ample documentation that this usage has been around for centuries. The process began in the 17th century, but only for true statements. For example, John Dryden wrote in his poem The Hind and the Panther, “my daily bread is literally implored,” meaning that one must seek sustenance daily as there are no storage facilities. But within a century literally was used as an intensifier for things that weren't true. Frances Brooke writes in her novel The History of Emily Montague, “ He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival, it is literally to feed among the lilies.”
In casual conversation, literally is often used as an intensifier much in the way that we use the word “certainly” and “really” to transcend meaning “with certainty” and “in reality.” And contrary to the claims of some critics that this in a modern aberration, we have ample documentation that this usage has been around for centuries. The process began in the 17th century, but only for true statements. For example, John Dryden wrote in his poem The Hind and the Panther, “my daily bread is literally implored,” meaning that one must seek sustenance daily as there are no storage facilities. But within a century literally was used as an intensifier for things that weren't true. Frances Brooke writes in her novel The History of Emily Montague, “ He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival, it is literally to feed among the lilies.”
And as
words are essentially metaphors, it is not surprising that the
figurative sense of literally often occurs in literature. Hence in
1839, Charles Dickens presented us with this line in
Nicholas Nickleby, “'Lift him out,' said
Squeers, after he had literally feasted his eyes in silence upon the
culprit.” Similarly in 1876 we find this usage in Mark Twain's The
Adventures of Tom
Sawyer: “And when the middle of the
afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the
morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth.” In the 20th
century, Saul Bellow provided us with this sublime usage in
Humboldt's Gift, “The
earth is literally a mirror of thoughts. Objects themselves are
embodied thoughts. Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if
we are to see anything.” All these writers' use of literally
serves the purpose of reminding us that reality is multi-layered and
things are often not what they appear to be.
This is
not to say that all figurative senses of literally should be
tolerated. Like any form of hyperbole, the figurative sense of
literally can be overused and descend into cliché.
A rule of thumb for creative conversationalists should be only to use
the word figuratively if it creates an interesting picture. If not,
one might be advised to choose another adverb or adjective. But alas,
most banter is banal, so I'm afraid we're stuck with an overuse of
boring, figurative “literallys.”
Also, one should take care that its use doesn't cause confusion. For
example, if someone says (at least in North America) “my school is
literally 1000 years old,” we know that the use is figurative. If
the time frame, however, is 100 years old, we can't discern whether
the use was figurative or literal. I also would not recommend its
use in academic papers or legal prose, lest you receive demerits from
professors or judges.
Howard's
latest book is How Happy Became Homosexual and
other mysterious semantic shifts.
