EDIT: you guys have dug up some truly horrible pisstakes :D Thank you for those.

To the serious folk - relax a little. This is Mildly Infuriating, not I'm dying if this doesn't stop. As a non-native speaker I was taught a certain way to use the language. The rules were not written down by me, nor the teachers - it was done by the native folk. Peace!

  • EatATaco@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    If I start calling dogs “cats” tomorrow, am I wrong?

    If your audience knows what you mean? No. If your audience has no idea what you mean? Yes.

    Or have I just taken the first steps towards making my mark on the English language?

    If it becomes a norm? Yes.

    But what does this have to do with the price of tea in China? We were talking about literally, and how it is literally (the way you mean it) a contranym now. Using it to only mean figuratively (the way you want it to be used), especially when it had been used that way for a long time and even has a history of using is no longer “idiotic” it’s just a common usage of the term. It mildly irks me too, however, I can’t remember the last time I was actually confused by the intent of the speaker.