Re:Succinct Data Structures
by gwd on Friday March 07, 2025 @04:19AM
(#43288543)
It never has, it always will. We've already lost a host of words that meant "I'm not exaggerating, I actually mean it": "really", "very", etc. I'm going to keep up the fight.
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| on HN ]
Since there are _literally_ people who use, and have been using for a while, the word without the same exact meaning as we both agree on... well.
Having said that, I will join you in this fight.
See also: exponentially.
“Exponentially” and “quantum” are the only language hills I’d die on.
Why a quantum leap isn’t the length of an Ångstrom will always sadden me. I’m sure there are other scientific concepts you can use to describe a Great Leap Forward…
I think the Quantum Leap expression can also be understood as a "step" with no intermediate stages, i.e. very abrupt or transformative.
Language is defined by its speakers, as basically a "vote". I'm going to keep voting for "literally" meaning "this actually happened" as long as it's practical, because 1) there are dozens of other ways to emphasize something 2) we need some way to say "this is not an exaggeration".