• samus12345@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 months ago

    I’m something of a grammar Nazi, but just like I support letting “whom” die, “less” and “fewer” might as well just be interchangeable. There’s no loss of language utility in doing so, unlike “literally”'s tragic demise.

      • samus12345@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        5 months ago

        I’m aware, but it was done so sparingly, as opposed to being used to mean its opposite far more than its original meaning nowadays.

        • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          5 months ago

          That is how language works. It starts off small, then it catches on over time, and after a long time has passed, it either gets filtered out, or it becomes commonly used. The case for literally being used, for reasons other than its original one, started a couple hundred years ago. Today it is super commonly used that way, as it didn’t get abandoned. You are mad at the nature of the beast.