Which is correct: 'Hold me tight' vs 'Hold me tightly'

[Alan]

Hi Nessie,

I fear my throwaway line has been taken too seriously. Liverpool is a large city in the northwest of England, famous for the humour of the people and also for the accent they use when they speak English. The accent or language is called 'scouse' and the people who speak that way are called 'scousers'.

Scouse is also the word for a very simple and filling dish, containing mainly sausages. The local people refuse to be depressed and are known for not taking themselves at all seriously and for laughing at themselves. Here is a typical joke:

[Yankee]

Now that we've cleared that up, let's get back to hold me tight vs hold me tightly. I disagreed with Alan's take on that.

One of the accepted uses of the word 'tight' is as an adverb, and this usage dates back to 1680.
tight

In addition, 'hold tight' can be used as a synonym for 'embrace':
hold tight

Here is a usage note for the word 'tight' from the American Heritage Dictionary. I think it addresses the original question nicely. I've put one of the sentences into boldface type:

[Alan]

Hi,

[Yankee]

Hi Alan

Yes, in a very romantic moment, a person tends to voice a desire to be in a 'state of close embrace'.

Why make fun of respected sources of information such as the American Heritage Dictionary and the British National Corpus? Is it not the goal of your forum to answer questions? Do you believe your opinion and personal dialect to be superior to all others in the world?

The usage note from the American Heritage Dictionary was a very good one, in my opinion. Why suggest to people with your flippant posts that it is not? Is the goal of this forum to help or to mislead?
.

[Alan]

Hi,

I do wish you would sometimes lighten up. Whenever I attempt a lighter note, you always accuse me of being 'superior'. How wrong you are! I fail to see how anything I've written could be construed as 'misleading'.

Alan
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[Yankee]

.
My goodness! I may understand comments such as the one about Liverpool as meaningless throwaway remarks, but clearly there are those who don't. This is an ESL forum after all.

Even though it was entertaining to learn that you apparently take you cue from London bus conductors on the use (or non-use) of 'tight', the original question about 'hold me tight' vs 'hold me tightly' had not been addressed very well, and the initial responses seemed contradictory.

Would you prefer that I post meaningless remarks and jokes about all of your posts in the future? I seriously doubt you'd take that any better. It often seems that your so-called "humor" is simply a way of side-stepping a valid point and making fun of someone else.

Come to think of it, you never did manage to address my question about your use of 'by the time' to mean 'after'. That question was side-stepped with what you seem to find 'humorous', too.
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[Suhneigh]

a.) The boy runs so quick.
b.) The boy runs so quickly.

For me, these two sentences mean the same thing. But, when do we use adverbs which end in -ly?

If "tight" denotes the state resulting from the process, whereas "tightly" denotes the manner of its application, can we conclude that all adverbs which end in -ly imply manner of application of the verb?

Thanks for all your posts!

[Suhneigh]

Guys, I'm having problems with tenses.

Should I use "is" or "was"? Is it okay to use "is" since the sentence implies a general fact?

a.) This painting is first exhibited in Fragonard Museum.
b.) This painting was first exhibited in Fragonard Museum.

Since both sentences describe a past event, what makes them different from each other? Is sentence B more "past" than A because it uses "had"?

a.) I have seen the creature.
b.) I had seen the creature.

Which is correct? Do I have to observe parallelism of verbs here?

a.) She said she will be joining our group.
b.) She said she would be joining our group.[b]

I hope you can help me. Thanks!

Post away!

[Nessie]

As for "He runs so quick" and "He runs so quickly", I think the former sentence is more suitable because it doesn't emphasize the manner here
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... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Mister Micawber]

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Should I use "is" or "was"? Is it okay to use "is" since the sentence implies a general fact?-- It does not imply a 'general' fact; it states a past fact. A 'general' or universal fact is such as 'The Earth is round'. Use this:

b.) This painting was first exhibited in Fragonard Museum.

a.) I have seen the creature. -- The sighting was between some past point in time and now.
b.) I had seen the creature.-- The sighting was sometime between two points in the past.

a.) She said she will be joining our group. b.) She said she would be joining our group. Which is correct? Do I have to observe parallelism of verbs here?-- Both are correct; when the reported statement continues to hold true in at the moment or in the future, the writer has the option of keeping the present or future verb form or regressing the verb. Native speakers tend to regress the verb.
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