Word or phrase:<\/strong> \u201cLiterally\u201d<\/p>\nWhy? <\/strong>One of the great testaments to the power of metaphor, and the malleability of language, is the metaphorical use of the word \u201cliterally\u201d. My kids do this all the time: There were \u201cliterally\u201d a million people there, or I \u201cliterally\u201d died I was so scared. When people use literally in this way, they mean it metaphorically, of course. It\u2019s a worn-out word, though, because it prevents people from thinking up a fresh metaphor for whatever it is they want to describe. And that\u2019s a shame, because the word literal is actually a beautiful and evocative metaphor in itself. It is derived from the Latin verb linire, meaning \u201cto smear\u201d, and was transferred to litera (letter) when authors began smearing words on parchment instead of carving them into wood or stone. The roots of linire are also visible in the word \u201cliniment,\u201d a salve or ointment. Thus, the literal meaning of \u201cliteral\u201d is to smear or spread, a fitting metaphor for the way metaphor oozes over rigid linguistic borders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIf I were to contribute, I\u2019d submit \u201cunbelievable<\/strong>,\u201d a word that means, obviously, that something cannot be believed.\u00a0 And yet, it seems that I cannot watch a single sporting event or that mundanizer of all things wonderful, ESPN\u2019s SportsCenter (a show that I have come to despise), without hearing multiple iterations thereof: \u201cAnd he makes an unbelievable grab\u201d intones the host, on play #7 of the nightly Top Ten Plays, over a video of a multi-millionaire athlete who makes a similar catch at least once per week.\u00a0 That said athlete has made such a play is, I submit, entirely believable.<\/p>\nHT: Bob Carlton<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the Guardian, a host of writers and thinkers have submitted words and phrases that they think, due to overuse and misuse, need to be retired.\u00a0 Among them, \u201cthinking outside the box,\u201d \u201cawesome,\u201d and, my favorite:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1062],"class_list":["post-3239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"\n
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