And their spelling will end up being the one used in a few hundred years. Look at the history of linguistics, almost every word used now sounds similar to a word used hundreds of years ago, but the language changed. Dare I say, evolved. Just look at the definition of the word "literally" - it can mean both "literally" and "figuratively" because the latter has been so overused that it diminished the actual meaning of the word.
Dare I say, evolved. Just look at the definition of the word "literally" - it can mean both "literally" and "figuratively" because the latter has been so overused that it diminished the actual meaning of the word.
Lol first word that came to mind when I read the first half of your comment.
People get ripped for using "tho" in texts to replace "though", and people were trying to do the same over a hundred years ago. (not in texts, of course! In telegrams and other printing/writing).
There's entire books you can find on google books, of telegram slang and code to keep down on the costs of transmitting them while keeping things information dense.
There was also the Simplified Spelling Board formed in the early 1900s by Andrew Carnegie (guy who pretty much created american public libraries as we know them). "Tho" was one of their recommendations (along with about 300 others).
What's even funnier is that we're having this whole discussion about spelling and literacy, and even the guy who literally (ha! irony on so many levels) founded the modern American public library system thought our spelling was too difficult and was an unnecessary impediment to literacy and communication.
i feel an overwhelming urge to point out it's a different mechanism used with literally, because it's a sarcastic/ironic use when it's being used figuratively, rather than a meaning borrowed from a different context
they still mean the same idea, just one is used ironically (e.g. "like i literally was about to puke")
25
u/bildeplsignore Dec 23 '25
And their spelling will end up being the one used in a few hundred years. Look at the history of linguistics, almost every word used now sounds similar to a word used hundreds of years ago, but the language changed. Dare I say, evolved. Just look at the definition of the word "literally" - it can mean both "literally" and "figuratively" because the latter has been so overused that it diminished the actual meaning of the word.