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Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All
- Thread starter User 85168
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This isn't about the meaning of a word changing because of widespread changes in societal values ("nice") or the broadening interpretation of a definition ("awful"). It's about people misusing a word so often that dictionaries are forced to amend the meaning. The meaning hasn't changed; the word now has two diametrically opposed meanings. So in a sense it has become meaningless.
And yet the definition of the word "literal" hasn't changed at all.
EDIT: Sorry to go off-topic.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
The entire quote above kind of encapsulates almost everything about trump. the bolded at the end, the cold fact that nobody will notice I expect will be kind of how the history books read.
I was the president for 4 years, it was my country, and it was number 1. Some say it was the greatest presidency of all time. (it was not.).
Bruce Springsteen
Member
Dictionaries have also added txt words to make them "official"
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
some people literally cannot adapt to the idea that just being a lazy piece of shit and fucking up word usage is OK. If you do something wrong for so long it becomes right. That sounds like something a trump voter would do.
literally literally meaning figuratively is worse than the whole addicting/addictive mess.
eddievanclaylen
Member
This is an old story and didnt catch on last time. The National media blew it off, i think bill mahwr brought it up but nothing came up. Try it again, hopefully some trumpers can actually read by now.
Doubt it.
I hate trumpiblicans i promise.
Juat adding my 25 cents.
Doubt it.
I hate trumpiblicans i promise.
Juat adding my 25 cents.
As someone who is not a native speaker, what word do you now use when you want to make clear something is actually meant in a literal sense? The word starts to get the same meaning as it's antonym, makes no sense.
More_Badass
Member
TheGreatDirector
Banned
First thing I thought of.
one way ticket to Mars? you in?
you used it
The Oxford English Dictionary has said "literally = figuratively" for over 100 years, with the earliest example from 1769:
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/08/literally/
Link
The Autumn Wind
The point was that he's got the attention span of a gnat.
Free publicity by the media circus who now refuse to admit they propped him up all last year on a pedestal for ratings is how he got anywhere close to as popular as he is right now.
That and appealing to a lot of hatred in the country, mixed with desperation for an upending of the status quo. I agree with the latter of those, but Trump as a person literally has no idea how he got to where he is most likely, which is just being a narcissist who can talk in a loud and brash manner.
It speaks to his attention span. Which is that of a gold fish.
I'm not sure I want the most powerful county in the world to be run by someone doesn't have the patience for reading, and therefore, learning.
User 85168
Banned
It might not matter to some. Notably, a lot of presidents (including Bush Jr. and Obama) who I am sure are just as, if not more busy as Trump, are big fans of reading. It matters to me for a couple of reasons:
1. It's a good thing to be a role model of.
2. I'd like my leaders to be intellectually curious. When people read (no matter what it is), it shows me that they're learning about something, following their curiosity.
3. Reading comprehension. I am not questioning Trump's ability to read, as much as I am questioning his patience. As president, metric tons of information flows through advisers, memos, and so much more. If you can't bring yourself to read through a book, how will he process all the information that is presented to him and make an informed decision?
Frozenprince
Banned
Yeah thats pretty much as if Satan himself called you a dick.
So the whole world has been using the term incorrectly all these decades?
You literally derailed the thread, which is literally the worst thing ever.
Trump is terrifying.
Because theres a lot of dumb motherfuckers i this country who will vote for him.
The world has been using it correctly. It has two meanings, based on context, just like "cleave" has two meaning based on context. Sanction means to permit as well as to penalize for something not permitted. Bolt means to leave and it also means to fasten together.
Yeah, but unlike those three words, "literally" is the only homonym I can think of where I never heard people use it for something other than "actually" (or at least, not knowingly).
B-B-Bomba!
Member
America, please take your cue from Brexit, remember we are in a dark timeline. You need an intelligent, powerful and robust platform for dismantling this guy, the ad hominem most likely will just work in his favour!
This isn't an ad hominem, though.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Bojack is likable.
You can be intellectually curious without reading books.
I hear it and read it all the time. It was in this very thread. Mark Twain used it in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", F. Scott Fitzgerald used it in "The Great Gatsby" and James Joyce used it in "Ulysses". Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, et al used it. If you've never heard people use it in the figurative sense, you may need to listen and read more.
User 85168
Banned
Sure. The reason I said that is being a reader is an easy way for me to tell if someone is intellectually curious.
nelsonroyale
Member
Sounds like literally one of the worst people ever. It is an indictment alone about the state of the US that this guy is getting so far. So many people have a self destructive impulse to vote for this guy.
WhiteRabbitEXE
Member
A word being literally synonymous with its own antonym will literally never stop being ridiculous. It's functionally a worthless word if you accept both definitions.
I should have clarified, but i meant to say that yes, people have used the word like that, but I figured that was more due to them not knowing what it meant. T.V. shows make jokes about that all the time.
This guy gets it.
Context exists. I don't know what it is about this word that brings out the inner semantic arbiters in everyone.
Also I'm glad the thread has decided to discuss the important questions this article brings about. Like how to use literally.
Everything I read or learn about Trump makes me more terrified at the very real prospect of him becoming president. Tony is absolutely right to think that this moron becoming President could lead to the end of the world, when diplomatic relations and nukes are involved.
The people that could even considering voting for him after reading stuff like this scare me just as much as Trump himself.
The people that could even considering voting for him after reading stuff like this scare me just as much as Trump himself.
I know I wouldn't want to be a political journalist under a Trump administration.
Highly unlikely.
Oh, I'm aware. But the bowel-disruptor technology isn't there yet, unfortunately.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Not even Roy Cohn liked him.
Roy fucking Cohn.
holy fuck
Roy fucking Cohn.
holy fuck
It amuses me that literally is no longer literal.
True, but context and tone aren't always as clear as I would like when reading articles and especially when reading posts on the internet, maybe partially because English is not my native language and Dutch is. We use the word "letterlijk" and "figuurlijk" as clear-cut antonyms. Offcourse, when I see something like "the guy is literally burning through his money" I don't imagine a guy literally burning his way trough his money. But I feel not all situations are as clear-cut as that.
I always thought the use of "actually" kind of implies it is against common/initial believe/perception.
Anyways, sorry for going offtopic. My opinion regarding Trump is that the guy is an incompetent liar and I sincerely hope he won't be your next president, which thankfully seems unlikely at this point.
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