"Virtually" is not a Synonym for "Literally"

In the past week, I have noticed on three occasions, people using "virtually" incorrectly.

I try not to be a grammar snob, because I know I am not perfect with the English language.

However, I do not ever try to sound smarter than I am.

There has been a lot of flak recently about people misusing "literally." I can only assume that this sudden rise in the use of "virtually" is an attempt to continue using an adverb.

Literally and virtually do NOT mean the same thing. "Virtually" is like a measurement – it means “almost.”

Unless, you have the goggles on and you are virtually doing something like petting a dog. Then it’s the OPPOSITE of literally, but it isn’t quite figuratively either. It’s an alternate reality - it's virtual.

vir·tu·al·ly

ˈvərCHə(wə)lē/

adverb

    1. nearly; almost.

    "virtually all those arrested were accused"

    synonyms: effectively, in effect, all but, more or less, practically, almost, nearly, close to, verging on, just about, as good as, essentially, to all intents and purposes, roughly, approximately, pretty much, pretty well;

"the building is virtually empty"

    2. by means of virtual reality techniques.

"Lazy Word Choice"

I received this email from "Daily Writing Tips," and thought my writing blog was a perfect place to share it.

Thanks to today’s instant communication, words used by one blogger or celebrity catch on at an astounding rate, spilling over into advertising, entertainment, and website comments.

One evening I became aware of two television ads airing back to back. One was for a telephone service; the other for a car. Both hammered the word crazy to describe features of their products: “crazy, crazy generous, crazy efficient, crazy protection.”

This mindless kind of usage strips words of meaning. It wastes the power of words that have more appropriate uses.

Take this headline, for example: Daylight Saving Time Is America’s Greatest Shame

Shame can be used in more than one sense, including a fairly meaningless social convention: “It’s a shame you couldn’t join us for dinner.” Used as it is in the headline, however, shame is a strong word, calling up images of the Indian removals known as the Trail of Tears, the WWII internment camps for U.S. citizens of Japanese descent, and the Tuskegee syphilis experiments that used untreated black Americans as a control group.

Daylight Saving Time may be a fraud. It may be annoying, unnecessary, disruptive or any number of disagreeable things, but is it really “America’s Greatest Shame”?

Sometimes the intended purpose of a piece of writing calls for deliberate misuse of words. Advertising and political speeches come to mind.

We live under a constant verbal barrage. It’s impossible to ignore the catch phrases of our culture. They enter our minds and speech. If we are writers, they creep into our first drafts. Happily, we can replace poorly chosen words as we revise.

Very. "Very" is the word I most despise using.

"Amazing" is the word I am guilty of overusing the most. I know it, and I have tried to work on it. Unfortunately, that meant on our recent trip to Bernheim for fall color enjoyment, I said, "remarkable" at least 32 times.

The English Language is a Mighty Splendid Thing!

Thanks to Daily Writing Tips for this list of grammar blogs!!

Wordsplosion!

English FAIL

This particular post made me laugh so hard, I spewed coffee on my computer screen!

And the BEST blog EVER!!!! Or should I say, "The 'BEST' blog EVER!!!!"

Grammar Problems

Similar to borrow/loan, many confuse the use of bring/take.

Both bring and take have numerous meanings.

One can, for example, take medicine, take the Fifth, take a liking to, take it on the chin, take a partner, take in a stray, take up for a friend, take out a date, and take an oath.

One can bring to bear, bring tears to the eyes, bring something up, and challenge someone to bring it on.

The OED entry for take lists 93 numbered definitions. The one for bring has 27 numbered definitions. The definition that concerns us here is Number One:

bring: 1. To cause to come along with oneself; to fetch. It includes ‘lead’ or ‘conduct’ (F. amener) as well as ‘carry’ (F. apporter); it implies motion towards the place where the speaker or auditor is, or is supposed to be, being in sense the causal of come; motion in the opposite direction is expressed by take (Fr. emmener, emporter).

When the words are used to express the conveying of something or someone to or from a given point, the choice between bring and take is clear:

If the person or thing is going away from where you are, use take. If the object or person is coming to where you are, use bring.

Some examples of the correct use of bring and take:

I’m taking this blender back to the store.
I’m taking my girlfriend to the movies.
Please bring your wife to the party.
Don’t forget to bring me that book next time you visit.

Jacquelyn Landis has also written a DWT post on “bring” and “take” for DWT.

In the Past

Passed is the past tense form of the verb to pass:

to pass: transitive verb meaning “to go beyond a point or place”
The principal parts are pass, passed, (have) passed, passing
Examples: I pass my evenings alone. Please pass the potatoes.
I am passing my days in the garden. I am passing all my courses in college.
The truck passed the house. His uncle passed away. I have passed my driving test. Charlie has passed out the papers. The cat had passed beyond the fence before we noticed she was out.

The word past can be used as more than one part of speech, but never as a verb.

past: noun meaning “that which has happened in past time.”
Ex. That’s all in the past. It’s usually preceded by the word “the.”

past: adjective meaning “gone by in time; elapsed.”
Ex. I haven’t seen him for the past month.

past: adverb meaning “beyond.” Usually the point of reference is supplied by the context.
Ex. I cowered as the bullets whizzed past.
past: preposition meaning “beyond.” It differs from an adverb because it is followed by an object.
Ex. The bullet whizzed past my head.

Two more handy tips:
The only verb that belongs in front of passed is some form of have:The days have passed quickly.
He had passed his exams before his father lost his job.
The horse has passed the finish line.

If the verb is is, don’t use passed:
For, lo, the winter is past.

Daily Writing Tips

English is a funny language

FYI:

Peruse originally meant to read in great detail.

Somehow, people starting using it to mean to review in a cursory manner.

Now, the definition is both (even though they blatantly contradict). If you use the word, and/or if someone uses the word in directions for you, be sure the meaning is clear!

Main Entry: pe·ruse
Pronunciation: \pə-ˈrüz\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): pe·rused; pe·rus·ing
Etymology: Middle English, to use up, deal with in sequence, from Latin per- thoroughly + Middle English usen to use
Date: 1532
1 a : to examine or consider with attention and in detail : study b : to look over or through in a casual or cursory manner
2 : read; especially : to read over in an attentive or leisurely manner

— pe·rus·al \-ˈrü-zəl\ noun

— pe·rus·er noun

Thanks to DailyWritingTips.com for the heads up!

Another great article I read today is all about buzzwords of 2009.