# "Hopefully" doesn't mean "I hope" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 30, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536 "2004-07-30T01:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/1 "2004-07-30T01:31:41Z")
It’s just like every other adjective turned adverb by an -ly suffix - it means “in a hopeful way”. If you say “Hopefully, I’ll get this job”, it means that you _will_ get this job, and you’ll be hopeful as you’re getting it. That’s a odd thing to say. “Hopefully, I opened my Christmas present” is a much more apt usage of the word. Unfortunately, such correct usage would probaby confuse people now, so misapplied the word has been. Out of all other adverbs, why did only this word get so perverted? If you’re hoping something, don’t be afraid to specify that it’s _you_ who is hoping with “I hope” or “I am hoping” instead of trying to conjure a state of generally felt hope by weirdly mismorphing an adverb into an interjection. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/2 "2004-07-30T01:32:37Z")
Thanks! You know, you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/3 "2004-07-30T01:38:08Z")
So can you suggest a vaible alternative for that maluseage? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/4 "2004-07-30T01:39:24Z")
Lost causes: \*hopefully comprised of epitome lay down infer feel badly \* any more? ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/5 "2004-07-30T01:39:34Z")
Noted. You’ve started two threads in the pit about three words. What word are you going to use for your next thread? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/6 "2004-07-30T01:47:37Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Lost causes: > > \*hopefully > comprised of > epitome > lay down > infer > feel badly > \* > > any more? Have we lost “infer”? Really? Shit. By the way, **Pizzabrat** , I said I was on your team in another thread, but you are going to have to learn when to pick your battles. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/7 "2004-07-30T01:58:47Z")
> [@kevja](#): > > Noted. > > You’ve started two threads in the pit about three words. What word are you going to use for your next thread? Perhaps, like **Reeder** being limited to one active Bush thread in the pit at a time, **pizzabrat** will be limited to one word nit-pick thread at a time. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/8 "2004-07-30T01:59:14Z")
Seriously Pizzabrat, shut the fuck up. You get more tiring and inane by the day. Sam ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/9 "2004-07-30T02:10:23Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > Seriously Pizzabrat, shut the fuck up. You get more tiring and inane by the day. > > Sam Uh, did I say anything to _you_? Really, with the _ignore_ feature, I don’t really “get” posts like this. :rolleyes: Idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/10 "2004-07-30T02:11:20Z")
Haha - **Pizzabrat** is a glutton for punishment, methinks. _Mea culpa_ - it was I who, in the “envy/jealousy” thread, agreed about those two words and joked that I would start a thread about “hopefully”. People should be able to remember about “hopefully” merely by thinking of the old saying “to travel hopefully is better than to arrive”. Sometimes I think these mistakes are useful, though, in that they can serve as a label meaning “I’m not very literate, so I am quite likely to be talking nonsense”. Sometimes, also, I think we might be well advised to import the German word “hoffentlich” and allow people to use it. Oh, and I dislike people, often politicians, who seem to quate"deny" with"refute". My cantankerous old fogey training is progressing quite well, I think. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/11 "2004-07-30T02:13:11Z")
You’re only right about this one, for now, because the “Usage Panel” has sand in their vaginas. If it’s all the same to you, I will continue to use ‘hopefully’ in the alleged incorrect sense simply because there is no good synonym, and one can only demurely sigh “With any hope, those darling Manolos can be found on eBay for half the price” so many times. ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/12 "2004-07-30T02:14:47Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > Sometimes I think these mistakes are useful, though, in that they can serve as a label meaning “I’m not very literate, so I am quite likely to be talking nonsense”. Or perhaps a label meaning “I have no sand in my vagina.” ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/13 "2004-07-30T02:15:36Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > You’re only right about this one, for now, because the “Usage Panel” has sand in their vaginas. > If it’s all the same to you, I will continue to use ‘hopefully’ in the alleged incorrect sense simply because there is no good synonym, and one can only demurely sigh “With any hope, those darling Manolos can be found on eBay for half the price” so many times. Why not just say “I hope”? ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/14 "2004-07-30T02:19:17Z")
**Pizzabrat** , what a word meant a century ago is not the sole measure of whether it should be accepted today. “Hopefully”, in the sense you rail against, has been around since the early 20th century and in common usage for at least 50 years. It’s accepted in a variety of dictionaries, including the OED. Let off some steam. I believe you’re in need of a stern rogering. ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/15 "2004-07-30T02:21:22Z")
It would change the gist of the sentence in a manner so subtle I dare not attempt to explain it. Feel free to call this a cop-out if you must. The best I can do, really, is to say that “hopefully” or “with any hope” insinuates that the thing one is hoping for is, or should be, _universally hoped for_ by everyone, whether they know it or not [pretentious? Slightly]. “I hope” isolates the hope to the speaker. I understand completely if that makes no sense to you whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/16 "2004-07-30T02:24:53Z")
What’s the problem with **pizzabrat** posting threads like this? The Dope is supposed to be about fighting ignorance, isn’t it? And that’s what he’s doing. If you don’t like reading his nit-pik word threads, don’t click on 'em. In the meantime, I think I’ll go lay down. I feel like relaxing and my new day bed is the epitome of comfort, comprised as it is of satin and down. Hopefully, no one will feel badly that I’ve gone, or come to infer that I deliberately said something I oughtn’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/17 "2004-07-30T02:30:55Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > What’s the problem with **pizzabrat** posting threads like this? The Dope is supposed to be about fighting ignorance, isn’t it? And that’s what he’s doing. If you don’t like reading his nit-pik word threads, don’t click on 'em. > > In the meantime, I think I’ll go lay down. I feel like relaxing and my new day bed is the epitome of comfort, comprised as it is of satin and down. Hopefully, no one will feel badly that I’ve gone, or come to infer that I deliberately said something I oughtn’t. > > 😃 Bzzzt. You used “infer” correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/18 "2004-07-30T02:33:40Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > It would change the gist of the sentence in a manner so subtle I dare not attempt to explain it. Feel free to call this a cop-out if you must. > The best I can do, really, is to say that “hopefully” or “with any hope” insinuates that the thing one is hoping for is, or should be, _universally hoped for_ by everyone, whether they know it or not [pretentious? Slightly]. “I hope” isolates the hope to the speaker. > I understand completely if that makes no sense to you whatsoever. I’m not calling it a cop-out but I think you are talking about two different things. If you hope you are going to get a promotion you might say “I hope…” Why would this be universally hoped? There might conceivably someone who hopes for just the opposite; perhaps your competitor for the position? And to suggest that “hopefully” and “with any hope” are the same is to beg the question of the OP. I agree with **lambchops** that the ship has sailed on this one. I was just suggesting to you that there is a perfectly good construction that describes what you want (I hope) rather than how you want it (hopefully). ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/19 "2004-07-30T02:35:50Z")
> [@lambchops](#): > > Let off some steam. I believe you’re in need of a stern rogering. Is that the same thing as a rogering astern? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536/20 "2004-07-30T02:38:09Z")
Hopefully, pizzabrat will learn to relax about commonly accepted language usage. Personally, I think he’s just jealous. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hopefully-doesnt-mean-i-hope/257536.md?page=2)