Tag Archives: literally

A very timely piece on Dutch “literally”

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Ingrid Tieken

Thank you, Ewoud Sanders, for choosing to write on Dutch literally just this weekend. A very welcome piece for my comparative paper on the English, Dutch and German usage guide traditions later this week. We’ve written on this topic (from … Continue reading →

Posted in announcement, usage features | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Literally and figuratively

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

The use of literally has been a frequent topic on this blog. Here is another contribution, from my MA student Iméne Walles, this time on Dutch. The opposite of literally is figuratively. Of a sentence one could say ‘I meant … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Sitcoms and language humour

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Viktorija Kostadinova

Those who are familiar with Frasier would certainly recall that language was one of the things Frasier and Niles were nitpicky about. In one episode, Frasier manages to irritate a caller by commenting on his inappropriate use of literally: “I’m sorry Doug, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Literally, too big a fuss about nothing – the latest English Today interactive feature

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Viktorija Kostadinova

The sixth installment in the Bridging the Unbridgeable series of interactive features was published in the June 2015 issue of the English Today journal. In this feature, we ask readers to contribute to investigating the issue of the non-literal, intensifier use of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Practicing with the HUGE database

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Robin Straaijer

Last week we ran a workshop with a group of language professionals in which they explored the HUGE database with some practice searches. Those practice search questions are now also available on the database page so you can do the same. … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fix Your Grammar

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Carmen Ebner

If you are in a grammar or usage dilemma and looking for a clarification, you can find a huge number of useful and informative websites on grammar and usage advice online. Sometimes you come across advice presented in a somewhat … Continue reading →

Posted in cartoons, usage features | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When Literally means Literally…

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

Jasper Spierenburg is another of my MA students working on prescriptivism. Here is his first blogpost: Literally is an adverb that leaves a lot of listeners in an absolute state of disbelief. Paralyzed and shell-shocked they try to recover from … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Pietersen and Prescriptivism (ctd.)

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

In an earlier blogpost, Ash Navrady commented on how the star cricketer Kevin Pietersen was sacked by the English Cricket Board (ECB). Here follows another blogpost, in which Ash again focusses on an issue of prescriptivism, in this case the … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden, usage features | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

These are literally my favourite expressions

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Robin Straaijer

I think we all have our opinions about the use of the word literally as an intensifier in expressions where it doesn’t literally mean literally. Personally, it doesn’t usually bother me, so for me there is hardly an ‘incorrect’ use … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Some words are(n’t) better than others

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Morana Lukač

Michael Proffitt, the new Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, was recently interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour (see video here) commenting on the place of the largest English dictionary in the modern age. Although the O.E.D. was one of … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment