[pedantic rant on] Actually, it's often misused when the speaker or writer means "figuratively," which is almost the opposite of "literally." [pedantic rant off]
It's not just that it's overused or even that it's misused that bugs me — it's that it's misused by people who should know better or those who earn their money as public speakers (specifically, the talking heads on the news).
Another one that I hear all of the time: using a range when describing a maximum, minimum, or threshold value. For instance, the Atlanta Braves are going to win their division by at least five to ten games this year.
Lots of people love Faux News because it's conservative or hate it because it's so biased, but I can't stand it, not because of their views, but because of their abuse of the English language. I only watch about five minutes of it a day, and then only when I'm getting my water bottle out of the fridge in the break room, and it seems that during that short five minutes, on top of one of the errors already discussed, I'll also catch a couple of typoes on the scrolling news tracker.
Like, totally.
ReplyDelete:-)
Honestly is another overused word.
ReplyDeleteRight up there with "seriously".
ReplyDelete[pedantic rant on]
ReplyDeleteActually, it's often misused when the speaker or writer means "figuratively," which is almost the opposite of "literally."
[pedantic rant off]
It's not just that it's overused or even that it's misused that bugs me — it's that it's misused by people who should know better or those who earn their money as public speakers (specifically, the talking heads on the news).
ReplyDeleteAnother one that I hear all of the time: using a range when describing a maximum, minimum, or threshold value. For instance, the Atlanta Braves are going to win their division by at least five to ten games this year.
Lots of people love Faux News because it's conservative or hate it because it's so biased, but I can't stand it, not because of their views, but because of their abuse of the English language. I only watch about five minutes of it a day, and then only when I'm getting my water bottle out of the fridge in the break room, and it seems that during that short five minutes, on top of one of the errors already discussed, I'll also catch a couple of typoes on the scrolling news tracker.