Grammar scolds unite!

[Luschen]

Here is the latest episode of Lexicon Valley, a radio show all about language, usually English. This one's subject may be of interest to some people here on the forum (though I am not naming names!)

http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2013/08/lexicon_valley_with_john_mcwhorter_on_why_prescriptivism_lives_in_all_of.html

[Luschen]

An interesting example from the show is how Webster's dictionary definition of "literally" now includes "figuratively". Yes, now it is official that literally can mean figuratively - oh the horror! And this sad decline actually started in the 1800's - Dickens in 1839 :(

[Our Tort System]

I remember watching Weird Al's mock interview with Avril Lavinger where he made fun of her use of "literaly":
She said: "I literally live out of a suitcase". And he replied with an emphatic "literally???" and followed up with "it must smell like crap in there".

(3:00)



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"He who tries to establish his point by much yelling shows that his reasoning is weak"
-Jodi Ann Arias

[Alan]

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What is a 'Grammar Scold' when it's at home? Or is Grammar scolding Unite? Sounds weird but 'Unite' is the name of a trade union in this country. Funny old thing, language, isn't it?
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English as a Second Language
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