# Ad copy or statements that make no sense **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493 "2007-04-24T18:57:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/181 "2007-05-05T05:17:23Z")
[QUOTE=Indygrrl] I’m with you on this. Anytime I hear someone use ‘literally’ incorrectly I just assume they don’t actually know what it means. [/QUOTE] Well, you might as well add Nabakov as well to these English language idiots who don’t know what “literally” means. When I hear people gripe about misuse of the word “literally”, I assume they can’t identify a figure of speech. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/182 "2007-05-05T05:21:27Z")
I have to put in a mention for Suave hair products, whose slogan is, “For less than the more expensive brands.” Of course it’s going to be **less** than the more **expensive** brands. _Anything_ will be less than something more expensive! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/183 "2007-05-05T06:20:08Z")
[QUOTE=Pyper] I have to put in a mention for Suave hair products [/QUOTE] What? This is a discussion of usage and style focusing on a single much-abused word, man! Get back on topic! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/184 "2007-05-05T12:26:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Advertisers, please, please, please get it right: > > Fewer or Less? Meijer (the one in Lexington, KY, anyway) actually has express lanes for people with twelve items _or fewer_. I wanted to find the person responsible and kiss him. > [@](#): > > “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could know the moment you got pregnant?” Science isn’t there yet, but Such-and-such can give you results two days sooner. > No product can determine pregnancy at the moment of conception. Not to mention that people in pregnancy test ads are always thrilled when it comes up positive. This is very much not my experience. > [@](#): > > I wonder about that too. Unless there’s more than meets the eye. For instance, maybe when you take it you have to refrain from eating for a period of time, or something like that. As was mentioned upthread, you have to sit up for 30 minutes or so after taking it. Also, a lot of people (mostly older people) make a huge three-ring production out of taking their meds, so it’s more trouble than just popping a pill. What gets me about those commercials is Sally Field’s repeated use of the word “girlfriend”. “I was talking to **MY GIRLFRIEND** about my osteoporosis, and **MY GIRLFRIEND** told me about a new pill called Boniva.” I know she’s just referring to a female friend, but she sounds like she’s trying to make it clear to her parents that she’s a lesbian and they need to get over it. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/185 "2007-05-05T12:41:12Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] Are we going to EAT the car? Lick the steering wheel? [/QUOTE] Well there’s autoeroticism, and then there’s _auto_eroticism 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/186 "2007-05-05T13:02:08Z")
I’ll see your Tom Waits and raise you some Steve Goodman: > [@Steve Goodman](#): > > Vegematic > > Fell asleep last night with the T-V on. Oh, what a dream I had. > I dreamed I answered every single one of those late night mail order ads. > And four to six weeks later, much to my surprise, > The mailman came to my front door, and I couldn’t believe my eyes > When he brought the Vegematic, and the Pocket Fisherman too, > Illuminated illustrated history of life, > And Boxcar Willie with a Ginzu knife, > A bamboo steamer, and a Garden Weasel too, > And a tie-dyed, dayglow souvenir shirt from Six Flags Over Burbank. > > … > > I got the egg scrambler, with a Seal-a-Meal carrying case, > A set of presidential commemorative plates > So I could eat my eggs off the President’s face, > A Minute Mender, and a needle that’ll knit or crochet, > And an autographed photograph of Rin Tin Tin at Six Flags Over Burbank. Not exactly the same jist, but I’ve gotta think they go together somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/187 "2007-05-05T13:20:56Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] And how do people live without something that is “essential”? Or is it not essential to your customers’ well-being, but rather essential to your financial health to sell the stuff? [/QUOTE] Look up the meaning of “essential.” It’s simply the adjectival form of “essence.” Therefore you can legally describe concentrated vanilla essence as “essential vanilla.” Beware of advertising trying to sell you “[essential oils](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oils)” And “vital” really means “alive.” Don’t you just love words. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/188 "2007-05-05T17:35:29Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Intelligent people can disagree about whether this is “improper” usage or not, without feeling like we’re “dumbing down” or some bull hockey like that. Seriously, I am insulted by that insinuation. [/QUOTE] I didn’t intend to insult you. I really (literally!) didn’t understand why people misuse words on purpose. You’ve answered my question for at least one person: you don’t consider it misuse because other people that you respect use it the way you’re using it. If I understand you correctly, you feel that using “literally” to mean the same thing as “figuratively” _in a phrase that’s already hyperbole_ simply intensifies the hyperbole. Okay. Whatever. As for me, the word “literally” has a unique and very useful meaning as the antonym of “figuratively.” I tend to speak literally most of the time, and I’m not going to weaken the primary definition of the word by using it in a way that I consider wrong, no matter what Mark Twain says. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/189 "2007-05-06T14:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] If I understand you correctly, you feel that using “literally” to mean the same thing as “figuratively” _in a phrase that’s already hyperbole_ simply intensifies the hyperbole. Okay. Whatever. [/QUOTE] Yes, my point is that “literally” _does not_ mean “figuratively” in these sentences. It means “literally.” The entire phrase is meant as a hyperbole, headed by “literally.” “Literally” is traditionally used to intensify literal statements, as in, “If I screw this report up, I’ll literally be out of a job.” The word “literally” is not necessary there. After all, how else can the statement be taken? But that’s how the word works. It’s an intensifier, among other things. In the mid-19th century, the word began being used to intensify figures of speech, such as hyperbolic statements. The way my brain parses it (and I believe most people who use the word “literally” know damn well what it means literally), “literally” followed by a ridiculous proposition (such as eating a horse), means “wow, he can’t literally mean he’s going to literally eat a horse, he’s being hyperbolic.” If I used “figuratively” in such a sentence, there would be a psychological distance created. It’s like the difference between a simile and a metaphor. “My love is like the burning sun” vs “My love is the burning sun.” The first is a weaker comparison. Yet, they both mean essentially the same thing, and readers are attuned to know when a comparison is literal and when it is figurative. That said, I could see an objection to “literally” (and one which I may make) as being a superfluous word. It’s generally not needed in hyperbolic statements. Then again, it’s generally not needed in many literal statements either. But it functions like a linguistic bold faced font, so I could see why its used. Anyhow, I think I’ve hijacked this thread enough. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/190 "2007-05-06T17:56:45Z")
My personal un-favourite: _Sale: prices up to 50%._ Which taken \*\*literally \*\*would mean that half price is the maximum. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/191 "2007-05-06T19:11:15Z")
> [@](#): > > The way my brain parses it (and I believe most people who use the word “literally” know damn well what it means literally), “literally” followed by a ridiculous proposition (such as eating a horse), means “wow, he can’t literally mean he’s going to literally eat a horse, he’s being hyperbolic.” Which is exactly the problem. Because occasionally, just occasionally, the ridiculous proposition is true, and when that happens, there’s no way to indicate that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493/192 "2007-05-07T15:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Which is exactly the problem. Because occasionally, just occasionally, the ridiculous proposition is true, and when that happens, there’s no way to indicate that. [/QUOTE] Context. Like I said, we make judgments in reading like that all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-copy-or-statements-that-make-no-sense/401493.md?page=9)