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Rule (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I'm something of a grammar Nazi, but just like I support letting "whom" die, "less" and "fewer" might as well just be interchangeable. There's no loss of language utility in doing so, unlike "literally"'s tragic demise.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago

Ah don't let whom die. It's a really good lesson in subject vs object.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Literally has been used for emphasis, hyperbole, and metaphor since at least the late 18th century.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm aware, but it was done so sparingly, as opposed to being used to mean its opposite far more than its original meaning nowadays.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

That is how language works. It starts off small, then it catches on over time, and after a long time has passed, it either gets filtered out, or it becomes commonly used. The case for literally being used, for reasons other than its original one, started a couple hundred years ago. Today it is super commonly used that way, as it didn't get abandoned. You are mad at the nature of the beast.