A language learners’ forum

Ezy Ryder wrote:People who insist "I believe you meant to say 'figuratively'", whenever they encounter the word "literally" used as an intensifier
I think most people would use the word "figuratively" in such contexts predominantly in a mocking way. Just because it could fit in some (if not most of the) cases, it doesn't necessarily mean that's what the speaker meant.

I suppose you're a fan of "I could care less" too then?

People, mostly journalists, who say something like "I cannot underestimate the importance of this development" when they mean overestimate. It happens very often. Similar with under emphasise, etc.

leosmith wrote:literally

As in "we literally got our asses handed to us". No, that would be figuratively I hope.

"literally" here is an intensifier and cannot be replaced by "figuratively". It can be replaced by "fucking" though, if that's up to your taste.

leosmith wrote:

Ezy Ryder wrote:People who insist "I believe you meant to say 'figuratively'", whenever they encounter the word "literally" used as an intensifier
I think most people would use the word "figuratively" in such contexts predominantly in a mocking way. Just because it could fit in some (if not most of the) cases, it doesn't necessarily mean that's what the speaker meant.

I suppose you're a fan of "I could care less" too then?

Far from it! But I don't think I've got any basis on which to claim that expression to be "incorrect" or something. I may not like it myself, but it certainly gets the idea across (it's not like all idioms, for example, are immediately clear outside of any context either). I like to say: Language doesn't have to make sense, as long as it conveys sense.

leosmith wrote:literally

As in "we literally got our asses handed to us". No, that would be figuratively I hope.

It's probably useful to your own peace of mind to get over this. Being annoyed by common ways of speaking simply means being annoyed most of the time. There was a time when I would have been annoyed by an "error" in your message -- using a synonym for donkey instead of a colloquial term for a person's bottom.

Then I came to accept that that's just how language is, and that the things that really annoyed me in other people's language were simply them being different from me. Why be angry at people for not being the same as you? Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side.

*There's many things people find annoying.

There are many things people find annoying.

Marais wrote:Come on, we all have them.

Mine is when people say 'I have a couple questions' without putting the 'of' in there. To me, it should be '...couple of questions'.

Another thing is English people overusing the word 'like' (which is definitely the most used word in the English language now) and French people saying 'bah', 'bon', 'voilà' or 'quoi' all the time.

I'm a Manchester United fan and i saw an interview with Eric Cantona and every other word was 'quoi'. Possibly the only thing in the world that can make me hate him haha. That and his rubbish acting.

I agree with you about 'quoi' but not 'voilà' - in Belgium people often say it two times, so 'voilà voilà' but it doesn't annoy me, I like it.

In Dutch it's annoying when they say 'hoor' or 'ja, hoor' because so many Dutch make the r like an extreme American one, and with annoying Dutch intonation. Dutch intonation in general is very annoying (Randstad Dutch, other varieties are less annoying).

I can't think of annoying things in English or German. Some regional accents are annoying, like the strict school teacher lady type of German, and the Essex English.

I was thinking about the things I wrote, and I've realised that they don't annoy me, but they are ugly: the Dutch intonation is annoying and ugly, when people say 'quoi' all the time it's tiring, possibly a bit annoying, but the German and English examples aren't annoying, only less elegant or not as nice as the other varieties and anyway I hear them seldom.

The way every sentence in English now seems to start with "So".

"On a go-forward basis" or "going forward" instead of "from now on". Those and other examples of corporate speak permeating everyday language annoy me.

The word "moist". I just hate the sound of it.

And the expression "in as many years" seems useless to me.

embici wrote:And the expression "in as many years" seems useless to me.

What's the alternative? Repeating the number is surely inelegant and doesn't emphasise the link between the number of things/times and the number of years.

"He's had three wives in as many years."
vs
"He's had three wives in three years."