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As you may or may not have noticed, I haven’t been writing blog posts. I’ve been hibernating and finishing my fantasy novel so I can send it off to be copyedited. Am I done?
No. I’m taking a break to say, “Holy shit, have we lost our minds?”
George Orwell warned us about language and ignorance: “War is peace.” “Freedom is slavery.” “Ignorance is strength.” And now, “Literally is figurative. Go read “Politics and the English Language” before it’s too late.
What we have here is 1984 meets Brave New World. Stupidity, ignorance, and an overwhelming desire for mindless pleasure win.
I believe this began with Google, which may be systematically destroying Western Civilization and promoting mindless gibberish, in order to take over the world. If you want hyperbole, that should do the trick.
But wait, the dictionary defines hyperbole as “exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.†Literally? Which literally?
Several dictionaries now define “literally” as “figuratively” because TV and film personalities, sitcoms, and clueless people have misused the word so often the definition has changed. Literally is now the opposite of literally. I’m still not sure what happens to hyperbole.
This is news. I’m not making it up: Salon.com and CNN
Have you ever wondered why people in other countries think we are uneducated? I wonder if people in other countries use literally in place of figuratively? Maybe it’s a worldwide trend? Also, I wonder about other things: if we start using another word in a hyperbolic sense, will the dictionary definition of that word get changed? For example, we could make cold mean hot. What would happen when people got in the shower? Would there be hot and cold water? But is cold really hot?
I have to go.
George Orwell’s ghost is on my roof. He’s up there screaming, “Bloody hell.” The neighbors are complaining.
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