h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>> I'm literally at death's door now. <<

The problem with the general misuse (and overuse) of 'literally' was, for me, a strictly subjective and subliminal association with 'literarily' which kept misleading me into thinking there was some literary element involved. But as this usually turned out not to be the case, I would be disappointed and become quite annoyed.

Were those who liberally use literally deliberately playing upon my interest and reverence for literature and the generally high esteem in which the world of letters is held?

Eventually it would become clear that most people simply misuse 'literally' thinking it somehow suggests an emphatic quality to whatever they are espousing. But this new-found understanding of mine would come too late to stop my, by now semi-automatic, judgement that anyone using the word is simply being pretentious.

So thanks to Ictoan SHADOW for the clarification of the, until now unknown to me, homonym of 'literally' and 'lidrally'. I will be more forgiving of those who are, I see now, merely confused.


~jwf~

Perhaps even worse than the misuse of literally (to suggest some sort of absolute) is the widespread misapplication of 'virtually' to mean 'almost'.

One wonders why both these words, which are supposed to suggest a specific exactness, are now being employed to hyperbolically assert and promote lesser realities.


~jwf~

We hold out manfully to prevent useful things breaking down, like the little Dutch boy in the story (not literally true, we're now told; literarily true, perhaps).

Sometimes we hold onto things that are themselves corruptions of a previous meaning: 'presently' meant 'right now' in the eighteenth century, and only later took on its 'soon' meaning, which is (at present) being demolished by people ignorantly supposing it to mean 'right now'.

The one for which I hold out a last ditch defence is 'begging the question' which has a useful meaning in logic, and is not synonymous with 'prompting' or 'raising the question'.

I have treated myself to another half shelf of non-fiction this week. One tome is David Crystal's "As they say in Zanzibar" which is a collection of proverbs. Some of them sound plausible, but I cannot believe that anyone (even an Irishman)would be thinking of bolting his door with a carrot!
I'm seriously thinking of posting one unbelievable a day in my journal.
"Seriously" is another word going the way of literally and virtually,stm

* Removes carrot from door.*

I've recently noticed the meeja use of the word 'confessional' to refer to Muslim factions in Iraq (eg 2nd para, http://www.slate.com/id/2156273/) or Muslim/Christian/Druze factions in the Lebanon.

Nonsense, surely? I'd have thought that it refered to the Christian practice of confession, and the the nomination by the various Christian factions of authorities for the receipt of confessions. In fact...most specifically it refers to Catlicks, since many Prop factions don't practice concession, except in a general way.

Is virtually literally or virtually literally or literally not literally?

If it was to do with faith, which is normally professed, it would be professional violence wouldn't it?

Or is that something totally difrint?

I thought the "presently" confusion was one of those US/UK separated by a common language things.

Edward the Confessor was not a chap who owned up to misbehaviour (like the mythical George Washington) (as opposed to the historical one) but a chap who was keen on Christianity http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/edward_confessor.shtml

What intrigues me is the fact that "fesse" is the French for buttock. Has "con-fess" got anything to do with accepting due punishment? Turning the other cheek?

Pro-fess: to be in favour of buttocks?

Ah, and hence "pro-fess-or": one who favours buttocks on account of having to sit in a "chair".

But returning to the serious(ish) point...

So was Edward the C so called because as a devout he was never out of the confessional, even if he wasn't confessing to anything specific?

ie is 'confession' synonymous with Catholicism or with religion in general?

With Christianity in general, anyway.

The word "confession" has a heap of meanings. It can mean admitting to something which will put you in a bad light, or acknowledging a sin (which probably applies to many religions), or it can mean the Catholic telling of sins thing.

It can also mean "acknowledging a person or thing as having certain claims", which could certainly apply to Sunni/Shi'ite for example. Or to various traditions in Bhuddism for that matter.

>>acknowledging a person or thing as having certain claims

However...surely in that sense the word 'confessional' could be applied to pro-and anti-American, Kurd and Arab, Big-Ender and Little-Ender. So while it's accurate in the case of Sunnis and Shi'ites, it's also meaningless?

Most words with lots of meanings can be seen as meaningless though. I couldn't tell you what 'on' means unless I knew the context, but it has more meanings than 'confession'.

Indeed...but what I meant was that the word 'confessional' seems to have been extended from 'Christian factional' to 'Muslim factions'. It may be meaningful to extend it to mean simply 'factional' - but it doesn't make much sense to apply it only to Sunni vs Shi'ite, as opposed to, say, Insurgents vs Occupiers.

Incidentally...talking a while back to a veteran of The Great War for Democracy, I came across the acronym 'ODC'. The various factions involved out there include the Mahdi Army, Ba'athists, Al-Q, etc. etc...and ODCs. 'Ordinary, Decent Criminals'.

The 'acknowledgement of sin' meaning wouldn't have much application for the other examples you give though. (Those meanings in the earlier post were paraphrased and shortened ones from the complete OED).

Perhaps it's an evolution of the word - it's what a word connotes as much as what it means that matters.

ODCs started off as a bit of a dark joke, though. "Shoot me, rape me, take my car and kill my family, as long as it's nothing to do with politics!"

I think it's maybe something else. 'Sectarian' used to be the word in your part of the world. But religious groups don't like to be refered to as 'sects'. It's polite-but-misleading to call them 'Confessions'. People do talk about 'the Catholic confession' or 'the Anglican confession' meaning worship under the auspices of their respective officers.