# Removing "ly" from the end of a word... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031 "2008-01-02T20:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/21 "2008-01-03T13:05:41Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] U.S. road sign: “slow” U.K. road sign: “slowly” [/QUOTE] Well, no, not when it’s a command, but we do also have the wonderfully succinct “Reduce speed now”. > [@IntelSoldier](#): > > Don’t forget the triple error, “He done real good.” Excruciating. ‘Error’ when part of a dialect? (I’ll warn you, this is a pet peeve of mine!) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/22 "2008-01-03T13:07:21Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] I knew this was going to come up. It was meant to be: Think “Different” -not- “Think Different” [/QUOTE] Citely? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/23 "2008-01-03T13:14:11Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] U.S. road sign: “slow” U.K. road sign: “slowly” [/QUOTE] I don’t think I’ve seen ‘slowly’ on a sign. ‘Slow’ is quite common though: > **[Google Search](http://images.google.co.uk/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&q=police+slow&btnG=Search+Images)** [http://www.pro-tectsafetysigns.com/images/productimage/761.jpg](http://www.pro-tectsafetysigns.com/images/productimage/761.jpg) [http://www1.istockphoto.com/file\_thumbview\_approve/3732426/2/istockphoto\_3732426\_slow\_sign\_road\_to\_torridon.jpg](http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3732426/2/istockphoto_3732426_slow_sign_road_to_torridon.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/24 "2008-01-03T13:37:58Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] As **An Arky** illustrates, there have long been dialects that omit the “ly.” [/QUOTE] …but it’s not common in the south, where I grew up, I don’t think. I was thinking more Northeast US or W. Pennsylvania or somewhere like that. I actually don’t care for that particular practice. It sounds wrong to me. Of course, most folks probably think all my vowel sounds are wrong. :o ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/25 "2008-01-03T14:00:07Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] from words entire? [/QUOTE] The problem with this bit (poetic as it ls) is that it modifies the wrong thing, if you’re going to call it an adverb. Sounds wrong to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/26 "2008-01-03T16:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] > [@commasense](#): > > Blame it on Apple and that stupid “Think different” campaign. I knew this was going to come up. It was meant to be: Think “Different” -not- “Think Different” [/QUOTE] No, if they had wanted that they would have used quotation marks just as you did to make it unambiguous. The slogan as it actually appeared was meant to attract attention by appearing wrong at first glance, and revealing the second meaning (your interpretation) upon further thought. Unfortunately, as we well know, the vast majority of people are incapable of thinking once, much less twice. So it simply served to provide an apparently authoritative example of an “error” being acceptable. Personally, I also objected to the appropriation of such cultural icons as Einstein, Edison, and Earhardt for crass commercial purposes, but that’s not relevant to this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/27 "2008-01-03T20:07:45Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] U.S. road sign: “slow” U.K. road sign: “slowly” [/QUOTE] As **Mangetout** points out, the sign is an imperative verb (as in “slow down”), not an adverb, and is the same on both sides of the Atlantic. Have you seen UK signs that say “Slowly?” ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/28 "2008-01-03T21:35:17Z")
This is becoming a real ug discussion. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/29 "2008-01-03T22:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] This is becoming a real ug discussion. [/QUOTE] Ug? Ug smash!! No, wait, that’s not right either… 😃 OG SMASH! ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/30 "2008-01-04T12:02:35Z")
[QUOTE=Cerowyn] As **Mangetout** points out, the sign is an imperative verb (as in “slow down”), not an adverb, and is the same on both sides of the Atlantic. Have you seen UK signs that say “Slowly?” [/QUOTE] I haven’t, but I read something on this topic years ago, and it stuck to my mind as being a little strange. Next time I go to England I’ll drive slowly anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/31 "2008-01-04T16:51:57Z")
[R. Ermey] Here you are all equal worthless! [/RE] ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/32 "2008-01-04T17:23:44Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] I haven’t, but I read something on this topic years ago, and it stuck to my mind as being a little strange. Next time I go to England I’ll drive slowly anyway. 🙂 [/QUOTE] [Under 10mph?](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7171154.stm) ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/33 "2008-01-04T18:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] [Under 10mph?](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7171154.stm) [/QUOTE] Under 10mph on a motorway? Jebus wept ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/34 "2008-01-04T19:56:11Z")
She drove overly carefully ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/35 "2008-01-04T20:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] She drove overly carefully [/QUOTE] Hmmm, I would say “over carefully”. Which Google bears out; I get 180 hits for “overly carefully” vs. 145,000 for “over carefully”. But it seems like “overly” would be more correct. Doing a little research, it looks like “overly” is a relatively new word, coined in 1806. Btw, Merriam-Webster says “different” has been used as an adverb since 1744 and makes note use of it being considered incorrect. Maybe that’s a distinction betweem American and British English. MW also talks about “real” and “really”: > [@](#): > > usage Most handbooks consider the adverb real to be informal and more suitable to speech than writing. Our evidence shows these observations to be true in the main, but real is becoming more common in writing of an informal, conversational style. It is used as an intensifier only and is not interchangeable with really except in that use. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/36 "2008-01-04T21:25:22Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] Hmmm, I would say “over carefully”. Which Google bears out; I get 180 hits for “overly carefully” vs. 145,000 for “over carefully”. [/QUOTE] Be careful ( 😉 ) with googlefights such as this. Add the word ‘egg’ and you get 8 results, all giving a whole different context for ‘over’: _“…you might want to flip the egg over carefully…”_ ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/37 "2008-01-05T04:20:04Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Be careful ( 😉 ) with googlefights such as this. Add the word ‘egg’ and you get 8 results, all giving a whole different context for ‘over’: _“…you might want to flip the egg over carefully…”_ [/QUOTE] You might be right but it does look like “over” as an adverb has a much longer history (dating back to before the 12th centruy) than that “overly” which only goes back 200 years. > [@me](#): > > Btw, Merriam-Webster says “different” has been used as an adverb since 1744 and **makes note use of it being considered incorrect**. I’m not sure how I originally intended to phrase this but MW does _not_ indicate that using “different” as an adverb is incorrect in anyway adn list “differently” as a synonym. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/38 "2008-01-05T15:48:10Z")
I’ll put it another way: She was over careful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/39 "2008-01-05T16:45:19Z")
Language be changing right quick, ya feel me? Y’all gotta look real deep at what language is, and what it i’nt. Folk don’t look too close at what they sayin, they just say it. And they say it all natural-like, and that the only way it gotta be. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031/40 "2008-01-05T16:59:27Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] [QUOTE=IntelSoldier] Don’t forget the triple error, “He done real good.” Excruciating. [/QUOTE] ‘Error’ when part of a dialect? [/QUOTE] No, it’s an ‘error’ because the person in question done did real bad. 😉 [QUOTE=TV time] This is becoming a real ug discussion. [/QUOTE] Verily. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-ly-from-the-end-of-a-word/432031.md?page=3)