0 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: The history of the /r/xkcd kerfuffle.
One of the dictionaries already included the definition of figuratively under the word literally.
It was easier to change the definition than to make people speak correctly.
Comment by Duhem-Quine at 01/03/2014 at 15:15 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Language changes.
Comment by Batty-Koda at 24/04/2014 at 00:54 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Even ignoring the "language changes" argument, people weren't speaking incorrectly before.
When you say "Man I LOVE it when they fuck up my order at mcdonalds, that must be why they do it every time!" you aren't incorrectly using "love". You're using it sarcastically.
When you say "I literally laughed my ass off" you aren't misusing "literally". You're using hyperbole. Plenty of words are used in a way that is non literal. For some reason people just can't accept that words are used for things other than their literal meaning for the word "literally."
Comment by Wyboth at 28/02/2014 at 03:44 UTC
0 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Interesting. Is it online? I'd like to read how they phrased the new definition.