News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “figuratively”. Parent comment

Re:According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “... by ZeroGravitas on Friday August 23, 2013 @06:24AM (#6262623)
Gosh, did they really use really (3 times) in a sentence about the meaning of literally and not see the irony?

For anyone else missing the point "really" doesn't necessarily mean real, "truly" doesn't necessarily mean true, "actually" doesn't necessarily mean actual, they often just add intensity to what comes after them, just like "literally".

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “... by InclinedPlane on Friday August 23, 2013 @06:34AM (#6262643)
Really is usually a no-op word. It's almost like "uh", it can really be added to sentences really almost anywhere without really changing anything or really improving anything. Really.

A quick way to improve your writing is to get in the habit of editing yourself and removing words like "really" or "truly" and either leaving them out or using a better phrasing to get across what you mean.

[ Parent | on HN ]