"the lethal literal" archive
Monday 7 March
- Tipping, turning, non-returning point - "The Iraqi elections, imperfect as they were, convinced some American leaders that the Iraqi people had reached a point of no return — quite literally turning a corner in the direction of democracy." - ABC, "Has Iraq Passed a Tipping... Posted in the lethal literal
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Saturday 25 December
- Guess what, kiddies - thinkness is back. Oh yes. And just like the official shower of thinkness [ie, the shower in my apartment] that backed up a couple of months ago, I am oh so backed up with ideas [okay, yes, the shower doesn't... Posted in language
, the lethal literal
, thinking progress
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Friday 13 August
- A literal toning down - Back in the old days, people used to say that Oprah's show literally made their kids' heads explode. Now, everybody's reading thinkness and being really careful and, well, literal about their "literal". Now you have Chris Heinz saying, "I literally... Posted in the lethal literal
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Tuesday 4 May
- Lethal Literal - thinkness, you might think, is a pretty serious blog. Then how do you explain this: The Oprah show described with graphic detail a sexual term known as "tossing salad." It was so offensive that my child's head literally exploded. Please... Posted in the lethal literal
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Thursday 29 April
- Sick man dragged to exuberance - I like the main conceit of this Thomas Friedman column: "Even through my jet lag, I can see that the sick man of Asia, otherwise known as the Japanese economy, just jumped out of bed and is now running laps... Posted in language
, the lethal literal
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Monday 19 January
- Literal watch strikes back - Part I: I was at a meeting last week in which one presenter said a former art teacher told him, "The paint literally explodes off the canvas." Wow. Art rocks. Part II: Paul Krugman says, "Mr. Bush has, of course,... Posted in language
, the lethal literal
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Saturday 20 December
- Literal hits the big-time - Earlier I showed how 'literal' frequently means exactly the opposite. This new use [some might call it a misuse] hit the biggest story of the week: 'The former Iraqi strongman was "literally a rat trapped in a hole," said NBC's... Posted in the lethal literal
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Wednesday 10 December
- Literally not literally - Okay, I've been gone for long. But I'm back. I was sick and travelling. It seems that blogging, for me, is kind of like exercising: easy to do when you're doing it, tough when you lost the momentum. My brother... Posted in language
, the lethal literal
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Tuesday 14 October
- Floating on exaggeration - Heh. I saw this article that committed one of the funniest fallacies I know of, and I see it everywhere. ''I'm not worried about a military quagmire,'' says a congressman. ''People worry about a financial quagmire in a country literally... Posted in language
, the lethal literal
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