According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “figuratively”

Re:According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “... by lutusp on Friday August 23, 2013 @06:43AM (#6262673)

> Linguistics is a science and it is inherently descriptive.

One might go so far as to say that, because linguistics is a science, it is therefore descriptive.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “... by claudius on Friday August 23, 2013 @07:10AM (#6262756)

However, there are linguists working in institutions that do prescribe the proper use of language – e.g. [0] in France and [1] in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The idea to pass laws to change spelling may appear somewhat strange to others, though…

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Académie_française

[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwischenstaatliche_Kommission_... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_German_Orthography

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:According to the dictionary, “literally” now also means “... by lutusp on Friday August 23, 2013 @11:48AM (#6264312)

> However, there are linguists working in institutions that do prescribe the proper use of language ...

That may be, but such behavior contradicts their supposed status as scientists, i.e. dispassionate observers of nature. Imagine a scientist in the Australian outback, yelling at a Platypus, "You're doing it all wrong!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus

> The idea to pass laws to change spelling may appear somewhat strange to others, though ...

One might as well try to stop evolution in its tracks.

[ Parent | on HN ]