[lg policy] A literal paradox: literally almost always means figuratively

[Dennis Baron]

There's a new post on the Web of Language:

A literal paradox: literally generally means ‘figuratively’ 
The English language is full of paradoxes, like the fact that “literally” pretty much always means “figuratively.” Other words mean their opposites as well -- “scan” means both ‘read closely’ and ‘skim.’ “Restive” originally meant ‘standing still’ but now it often means ‘antsy.’ “Dust” can mean ‘to sprinkle with dust’ and ‘to remove the dust from something.’ “Oversight” means both looking closely at something and ignoring it. “Sanction” sometimes means ‘forbid,’ sometimes, ‘allow.’ And then there’s “ravel,” which means ‘’ravel, or tangle’ as well as ‘unravel,’ as when Macbeth evokes “Sleepe that knits up the rauel'd Sleeue of Care.”

No one objects to these paradoxes. But if you say “I literally jumped out of my skin,” critics will jump on your lack of literacy. Their insistence that literally can only mean, well, ‘literally,’ ignores the fact that word has meant ‘figuratively’ for centuries.

read the whole post on the Web of Language: http://bit.ly/weblan

____________________
Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English                    
University of Illinois 
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801                                               

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

http://www.illinois.edu/goto/debaron

read the Web of Language:
http://www.illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage








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