That’s backwards. Celibacy means you don’t have sex at all, while chastity means that all your sex is within the bounds that your society has set for sexual activity.
No, that’s what I meant to convey. Note the some say in my post. It’s not a distinction I hold to.
Nice!
Those are the people I’m referring to when I remind myself that I’m sharing the universe with people who are wrong about things.
Qualifiers can be very helpful. Using another such term:
Stuart: Oh, Sheldon, I’m afraid you couldn’t be more wrong.
Sheldon: More wrong? Wrong is an absolute state and not subject to gradation.
Stuart: Of course it is. It’s a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable, it’s very wrong to say it’s a suspension bridge.
Familiarity with patrilinear naming conventions tells you that they are both Frankenstein.
I strongly resist this, because then we don’t have a word that means “literally.” If someone actually, literally died, how do you say so?
I suppose one could try to argue that there are two separate verbs “to hang” that have different past tenses/participles; but it’s probably not a particularly useful distinction.
Once in a while, using “whom” makes a sentence clearer. I’ve seen examples of this, but I can’t think of any right now.
This is one where it really helps to know about transitive vs. intransitive verbs.
A couple I’d add to your list:
Phenomenon/Phenomena
Criterion/Criteria
In each case, the second word is the plural of the first.
May/Might
This one’s tricky. I often see people use “may” where I think “might” would be more appropriate. Years ago I started a thread asking about this.
If you really want to be precise, you can say vulva. You don’t have to say pussy.
Or you could use “pudenda.”
He died. Or He literally died from starvation.
I think context is key here.
That’s a good one. I think that may has largely been consumed by can, so it is in turn consuming might.
I don’t think it’s a matter of choosing precision. Once kids get past the age where they call their privates my wee wee or whatever term they’re taught, parents have to teach them a new word to use for it in public settings. Something clinical and divorced from the sex act. Vagina has won out for girls.
“He died.”
“He literally died” (because the new definition doesn’t obviate the old defintion)
“He really died.”
“He actually died.”
“No joke, he died.”
“I’m not kidding, he died.”
“He literally-literally died.”
“I’m not exaggerating when I say he died.”
“'He’s passed on! He is no more! He has ceased to be! He’s expired and gone to meet his maker! He’s a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! He’s off the twig! He’s kicked the bucket, he’s shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible!!”
etc.
Anyway, here’s the interesting thing about the whole “literal means figurative” debate. The usage that the literalists are defending? It’s a figurative usage. The literal meaning of “literal” is “relating to, or expressed in letters.” The use of the word as a synonym for “actually” started in the Middle Ages, when the only written words most people encountered were in the form of a Bible. Hence, something being “literally” true meant it was as true as something written in a book.
Nice list!!! The one that really caught my attention was ‘comprises’…we have quite a few reports at work that contain wording to the effect of “The assembly is comprised of the following components.” I’ll try to remember to do something about that the next time one needs to be revised.
I think “comprised” is literally the most mis-used word in current biz-speak.
Perhaps “literally” now qualifies as a contronym?
Think of it this way:
X comprises A, B, and C = X is composed of A, B, and C
I have two I would like to bring up.
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In the accident lawyers’ ads (I think this is a fairly recent thing) where they say “Call us and find out what your accident is worth!” Maybe I should be in favor of such truth in advertising, where they acknowledge that the whole operation of suing over accidents is a money grab, mostly for the lawyers.
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In those awful ads with grotesquely aged former celebrities where they encourage you to “get all the Medicare benefits you deserve.” Or any other kind of benefits that “you deserve.” Not that you are I are special, or deserve more than anyone else, but I (the grotesquely aged former celebrity) will do my best to make it seem that you do, if you are smart enough to call This Number Noooowwwwww. Every time I hear this usage, I hearken back to Will Munny: “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”
Some people have to use lawyers to sue those responsible for accidents to get medical bills paid. I’ll never see a penny but hope to avoid medical bankruptcy.
I didn’t say, and don’t believe, that that there is anything “wrong” with using the words under discussion to denote these things. Anyone who wishes to go on using these words in this fashion doesn’t need my permission. Similarly, I am free to list them as usages I find aggravating. If you are irritated with my expressing my opinion, that is a matter for you.
As I said earlier, I don’t offer unsolicited advice on how people speak or write.
I am therefore not going to make further replies to messages in this thread, whether pro or con. So if you feel like having the last word, don’t regard my silence as discourtesy.