France Is Bacon

[FLips]

I was well into adult years before I knew how to say Hyperbole properly so you’re not alone there.

[JLM]

In keeping with the rule that The Simpsons has a moment for every occasion, they nailed it with this gag. I now only use this expression as per Marge’s pronunciation:

 

Edited January 22, 2024 by JLM

[Lorne Malvo]

A mate of mine (who, to be fair, is usually very smart) once posted on our Whatsapp group "I don't get any restbite while I'm at work". We've taken the piss out of him ever since.

[Carbomb]

[Chest Rockwell]

27 minutes ago, Sergio Mendacious said:

There was the Step Foot Wives, I think that's where it came from.

I'm not a big fan of sequels. I preferred Step Foot and the Hendersons.

[Ronnie]

8 minutes ago, JLM said:

I thought “I could care less” was infuriating enough

I can't make up my mind how I feel about it. The inflexion is the same as "I should be so lucky", and it probably has the same Yiddish origins, where it would have been used ironically. I have no problem with every-day English's "I love how you [do something which I really don't like]", which never seems to cause anybody to bat an eyelid: it's used to mean the opposite, we know it's used to mean the opposite, and we all seem to use it ironically. The same with: "Wow, such a great post, Ronnie."

On the other hand ... plenty of people who say "I could care less" don't seem to be aware that the sentence and its meaning are the opposites. It's not that they know it's ironic; they haven't analysed it at all. And my pernickitiness gets me looking down my nose at them ... until I think back to a colleague of mine (a dictionary compiler, as it happens) bemoaning that "flammable" had to be invented because so many people believed that "inflammable" meant ... well, "non-inflammable", I suppose, although I wanted to type "non-flammable". And I'd gone my whole life being unaware of what "inflammable" actually meant.

But then I remember an additional definition of "literally" having to be added to dictionaries because so many people used it to mean its opposite, and my blood literally starts to boil again.

[Lorne Malvo]

Wow! Such a great post, Ronnie.

[Sergio Mendacious]

7 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I'm not a big fan of sequels. I preferred Step Foot and the Hendersons.

I think Step Foot 2: The Streets would change your mind on sequels.

[JLM]

I firmly believe most Americans are trying to say “I couldn’t care less” when they say that and, as you say, haven’t given any thought to it. 
 

“Literally” is a tough one yeah. I try my best to be descriptive rather than prescriptive with language. It’s an endless journey, constantly evolving, I still one day hope to marry Susie Dent etc. etc.

However, the pedantry is strong in me and I can’t get past feeling like some definitions are sacred. If we completely use the utility of “literally” then what do we say when we truly mean “literally” and we’re not using it for emphasis or to mean “figuratively”. I feel like that particular change is hurting the language, especially given that “Actually” has already been lost. 

[Sergio Mendacious]

I feel the spelling for the "literally" that doesn't mean literally should be amended to "liderally," so it's easier to tell apart from the real meaning, and also makes people using it sound like Smashy and/or Nicey.

[SuperBacon]

And I thought the things that annoyed me were trivial. Good God

[JLM]

 

6 minutes ago, Sergio Mendacious said:

I feel the spelling for the "literally" that doesn't mean literally should be amended to "liderally," so it's easier to tell apart from the real meaning, and also makes people using it sound like Smashy and/or Nicey.

I love this so much. An upvote didn’t quite express it strongly enough. Love. It. 

[JLM]

25 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

that "flammable" had to be invented because so many people believed that "inflammable" meant ... well, "non-inflammable", I suppose, although I wanted to type "non-flammable". And I'd gone my whole life being unaware of what "inflammable" actually meant.

 

Sorry I know this isn’t a “post Simpsons clips” thread but:

 

[Loki]

21 minutes ago, JLM said:

Literally” is a tough one yeah.

Not for me.  We have the word figuratively.  If we change the word literally to mean figuratively, then we have no word for literally.

I don’t mind linguistic shift, it’s inevitable (and, as it happens, necessary) but not where it denudes and reduces the lexicon which has already become dangerously limited in some places.  

This is a heel I will dye on etc.

Edited January 22, 2024 by Loki

[SuperBacon]

19 minutes ago, Sergio Mendacious said:

I feel the spelling for the "literally" that doesn't mean literally should be amended to "liderally," so it's easier to tell apart from the real meaning, and also makes people using it sound like Smashy and/or Nicey.

Those characters were so far ahead of their time. "A lot of work for charidee"