this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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submitted 6 days ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] maryjayjay@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Literally has been used as an intensifier for over 200 years. The Oxford English Dictionary includes the definition of "figuratively". Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, James Joyce, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain all used it that way in their writing.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It is truly bizarre that one of the definitions of the word is literally the opposite of the primary definition of the word, however.

[–] maryjayjay@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The dictionary is descriptive, not proscriptive. Language evolves

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I knew I'd receive that reply, and I know it to be true. It's still very odd, as noted. I'm sure there are other examples where one definition contradicts another, but none immediately spring to mind.