Recently, one of my tutors pointed out my use of thusly in an essay. I used it thus: (except I would have added -ly there). Frankly, I was surprised to see it. Thusly was not a conscious choice during composition. Nevertheless, I mounted an ad hoc defense. The -ly does lead the listener nicely into the list which often follows, right? At the same time, as a proponent of the flat adverb mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I felt guilty about my neglect of thus. A quick google search provided more fodder for my usage conflict.
On Wiktionary.org the etymology of thusly is described thus: dating from the 19th century, seemingly coined by educated writers to make fun of uneducated persons trying to sound genteel. The OED lists thusly as colloquial, with its first recorded usage occurring in a December 1865 issue of Harper’s Magazine. The tone there clearly seems to be mocking. But the usage from 1893 already appears more neutral.
This post on thusly provides an interesting overview.
I’m not sure when or how I acquired thusly in my personal lexicon. For me, The Urban Dictionary‘s first lemma for thusly called to mind an image of my brother using thusly while performing a goofy demonstration – so maybe that’s an explanation. Meanwhile, you may have noticed my decision to use thus in this blog post. I’m still developing my personal usage guidelines regarding thusly. For the moment, I’ve decided to heed the advice of my tutor and the squiggly red line.
I look forward to having the project’s database available to consult many usage guides in one fell swoop. I’d also be very interested to hear readers’ opinions. Is thusly a superfluous synonym? Or does it have its own thing going? and if so, in which contexts?
In reading through some of my American usage dictionaries I came across the following entries for ‘thusly’.
Wilson Follett’s Modern American Usage (1966, p. 308), has the following to say:
“We add -ly for ridiculous or jocular effects to forms that are already adverbs: muchly, thusly. Consciously or not, -ly is sensed as eenfebling to prose; it contributes to the sinuosities of style, but enervates its muscle. [...] With the rough justice of oversimplification it is often decreed that the fewer adverbs writing can get along with, the better it is.”
Margaret Nicholson’s American English Usage (1952, p. 591) states:
“thusly: (colloquial, facetious) is unnecessary & no longer (if it ever was) amusing.”
Garner’s Modern American Usage (3rd ed. 2009, p. 814) says:
‘Thus’ itself being an adverb, it needs no ‘-ly’. Although the ‘NONWORD’ [see entry] thusly has appeared in otherwise respectable writing, it remains a serious lapse [...].
Personally, I once heard the famous bass guitarist T.M. Stevens use it in one of his instructional videos. He is quite the entertainer/eccentric, and when demonstrating one of his techniques he says: “I strike the string thusly”. I am not exactly sure what to make of his use of thusly, but I would agree that it is in some sense used jokingly. It’s interesting to see that the the use of “thusly” is referred to as jocular and facetious in Follett (1966) and Nicholson (1952), yet by the time Garner (2009) got to it, he deems it a ‘nonword’, and he does not cite its use as having comic effect.
These entries are fantastic, thanks! If you googled ‘thusly’ you may have also noticed this quote from Dr. Sheldon Cooper (who’s a character in the series ‘The Big Bang Theory’): “Under normal circumstances I’d say I told you so. But, as I have told so with such vehemence and frequency already the phrase has lost all meaning. Therefore, I will be replacing it with the phrase, I have informed you thusly.” The entry from Nicholson’s ‘American English Usage’ might be in need of an update! :)
I must admit that thusly doesn’t sound quite right to my ears, but I’ve been trained in BrE and its use is apparently much more accepted in AmE. Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage says the following about it: “thusly is not now merely an ignorant of comic substitute for thus: it is a distinct adverb that is used in a distinct way in standard speech and writing”, specifying that “[t]husly appears to be appreciably more common than thus when the adverb follows the verb and precedes a colon”. They also reassure users of thusly by saying that “[k]nowledge of the subleties of its use may give you the courage to face down its critics”. (1989: 907)
A little late in coming to the party, but I had posted “thusly” in a blog of mine, and got rewarded with a red squiggly line (http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/06/spinning-wheel.html). Which lead me to search it, and I found your blog, and also Merriam-Webster’s definition and history (first know usage- 1865). http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thusly