Literally

Still wondering what on earth paula 8 might mean by "cute".

Elegran (auto correct changes you to Elegant!)
Are you?

Reasonable people (that does not include absolutely everyone ) are very happy to use Pedants' Corner for . . . ermm . . . pedantry . . . where they can dissect language without slowing down the conversation.

Yes, indeed, anno! We all have our little foibles, papaoscar...

Paula, one good reason for having a pedants' corner is to allow us fusspots to let off steam among ourselves rather than tactlessly correct others' spelling, grammar or vocabulary, in other forums.

"Paula"

I think that "literally" as used in the OP example does not mean literally anymore. Literally no-one thinks it does

Here's one to ponder: is one "privileged" if one sees an owl in a tree, or just lucky and pleased?

No, never heard of Mr Sloane, sorry.
I would not object to anyone saying it's raining cats and dogs as I know it's a figure of speech. The unnecessary use of 'literally' makes the sentence absurd, and it's becoming over used, as other GNs have pointed out with other examples. I did not correct my colleague, as I think it's bad manners.

PS I actually think its a cute thing to feel you have to correct peoples English and count yourself VERY lucky if you have the time or patience to worry about such things--and I am not being carcastic I am being totaly honest.

mrsmopp Have you been watching --Mr Sloane on TV--Your comments remind me of his character

Its funny because people get annoyed when other people try to correct their English, but I think it is the way you correct someone that matters.

My Mum would always correct me when I said I was washing my teeth--of course that is in correct but she used to say it with such snobbery that I had no desire to be more like her or speak more as she did.

Mr Slaone from the TV series, he corrects people but its ok because he does not do it with a negative attitude.

I am fine with people correcting me if I have said something wrong, unless they are really just trying to give you a complex or es look make themselves feel somehow superior.

As far as I'm concerned pedants should be ......and then ......ending up with a good......!

Figuratively speaking...

We seem to be mostly on the same page.

bags

It's all too easy to turn into a grumpy old person so I'm going with the flow and letting it all go over my head!

Bah humbug is uniquely annoying to some pedants

'No way' and 'No problem' - I would consign the pair of them to the dustbin. Their constant and often irrelevant use grates, just like the now universal 'Have a nice day' and 'Guy/s'. Bah, humbug I say!

"Stunning" , really irritates me , every thing these days is "stunning" , not just nice or beautiful ,

There is a commentator on Eurosport cycling who uses the word "obviously" obsessively. He also says "at this moment in time" instead of now. I find myself counting the times he says it and "obviously" this detracts from the information he is trying to impart!

What `literally` drives me up the pole is the overuse of the word "absolutely" and often "abso-flippin-lutely" Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I suppose "quite" (meaning absolutely )unique is tautology but it sounds good and gives emphasis.

Papa - I agree that you can't qualify "unique" but I don't agree that "nearly" or "almost" unique is wrong - I believe you can "approach" uniqueness. If you substitute the phrase "one of a kind" it makes sense. However, a better word would be "distinctive". My pet hate is "less" when it should be "fewer". Oh dear, you've got me started now!

The use of 'invariably' when the person saying it actually means 'usually'...

Unique as in estate agent's descriptions papa, do they really mean this unique house when it is one of 1000 on a housing development?

Unique - a bit, almost, nearly, somewhat, etc. Wrong. Something can only be unique, nothing else.

I hate the use of the word literally, when it is not used literally! As in oh my gosh, i literally died......erm no.....also hate so I turned around to him and said.....I have this vision of people spinning about talking to each other, like ( another word used out of context and too much)