Re: OT: "literally"

[David Auerbach auerbach@xxxxxxxx]

Harry,
 I don't get it. The use of "literally" as an intensifier of a
metaphor I find very very annoying-- it makes me literally hit the
ceiling. But Pogue's usage? While not elegant writing, it seems OK
to me. He means there's no figure of speech here, he packed two
laptops (i.e., it isn't hyperbole, he doesn't mean two operating
systems, etc.).
 It's another kettle of fish entirely. No?

On Jun 7, at 8:24 PM, Harry Binswanger wrote:
> Are you literally driven up the walls, as I am, by the misuse of
> "literally" as in the start of this sentence? As a list-moderator,
> I see it almost daily. Sometimes its amusing, but mostly it's
> frustrating.
>
> It occurs, in a variant form, in David Pogue's column:
>
> "On trips, I literally used to pack two laptops."
> Gee, he *literally* used to! Not metaphorically, used to. Or is it
> literally pack, with a misplaced modifier? Not metaphorically pack,
> as in, uh . . .Oh, wait, he obviously meant to differentiate from
> the figurative meaning of "two"!
>
> Thanks for indulging my metaphorical venting.
>
>
>
> Harry Binswanger
> hb@xxxxxxxx


David Auerbach
Department of Philosophy & Religion
Box 8103
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slowfoodusa.org
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