Mean What You Say

Throught the years, language goes through fads.. Words come in and out of style, and their meanings change depending on how they are currently being used. Although to be sick is to be ill, depending on who says it and how it is said, it can also mean to be cool. What can often happen with some of these words though, is that they become so over used, that their meaning becomes lost on their user.

Sometimes I think it is important to take a step back, and look at the words you are using. Do they accuratly express the meaning you are trying to convey? Here's an example.

You're talking to a friend. You are being told a story. They're telling you about a television show they watched the previous night or something. They recount their feelings upon seeing one of the main characters die. They say, "I was on the edge of my seat, thinking that surely, he couldn't be beheaded. But before I knew it, Ned's head was chopped off. I started to scream at the screen and I literally died!".

Did you really? Are you sure about that? You literally died?

lit·er·al·ly  (ltr--l)

adv.

1. In a literal manner; word for word

 

Seeing as you are currently living, and I am doubting my participation in an apocalyptic society brought on by the undead, I think I can safely assume that you are not literally dead. I understand that this character's beheading must have been quite traumatic to for you, but maybe you could think of a more appropriate way to describe your crushing sorrow. Perhaps in a manner that does not make you sound like a gossiping female teenie-bopper. 

 

Like I said, I realize that words come in and out of style, and not all of them accuralty express the message desired in relation to their definition, and for the most part I can live with that. I successfully endured months of people's "epicness" without strangling anybody, but I cannot seem to get past their being so "literal" all the time. There's something about it that makes me feel like I'm in some bad remake of Mean Girls.

 

So please, at least when around me, either mean what you say word for word, or do not say that you do.

 

Thank you kindly!