Literally and Figuratively

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:13 PM -0400 4/16/05, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>So what, then, for this person is the difference between "literally" and
>"figuratively"?

The difference is that Mr. Singer was using "literally" figuratively
and vice versa.    ;-)

larry

>The use in this contrasting way indicates that the author must
>believe that the two terms mean something different. So what is it?
>
>On the other hand, if this is just a formula, in which the author is
>mindlessly repeating a phrase that she has heard without really
>assigning meaning to
>except 'intensifier', can we really say that, for her, "literally" has
>"changed" meaning at all (except that it means little more than
>'intensifier')?

(Actually, I think this is more what's going on, although we can't be
sure.  Once "literally" has shifted to its figurative (opposite)
meaning, "literally and figuratively" ends up being like "kith and
kin", "null and void", "cease and desist",...)

>In a message dated 4/15/05 3:53:44 PM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:
>
>
>>  >Here is what I thought to be a nice citation demonstrating how clearly the
>>  >meaning of "literally" has changed.
>>  >
>>  >Benjamin Barrett
>>  >Baking the World a Better Place
>>  >www.hiroki.us
>>  >
>>  >-----Original Message-----
>>  >
>  >
>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/04/14/state/n163438D28.
>  > >DTL [...]
>>  >--> "She really had been, literally and figuratively, married to San
>>  >Francisco for the last 15 years," Singer said.
>>
>>  So while she'll be leaving office, she literally and figuratively
>>  left her heart in San Francisco.  Ouch.
>>
>>  L
>>
>>