A Mother's Day Lesson

As mothers we wear many hats, but certainly one of the most important roles we have is to act as a teacher to our children.  There are so many lessons to impart about life and values and how to live, but sometimes you have to step in and help with the homework. 

Which brings me to the subject of this blog.   A few months ago, some formerly well-respected dictionaries added a second definition of the word “literally.”  From Webster’s¹  -

LITERALLY

1:  in a literal sense or manner :  actually  

2:  in effect :  virtually 

Usage Discussion of LITERALLY

Since some people take sense 2 to be the opposite of sense 1, it has been frequently criticized as a misuse. Instead, the use is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis, but it often appears in contexts where no additional emphasis is necessary.

See, this is literally so ridiculous that Webster’s felt it necessary to include a defense of its inclusion of the second definition.  Now, I am not the biggest grammar stickler I know.  Mr. Rip and my sister were shaken to their cores by this travesty.  They were literally sure that this was the end of civilized communication as we know it. 

However, I was literally dumbstruck that a dictionary, the presumed authority on language and its usage, had endorsed a meaning for a word that is the exact opposite of the original meaning of the word.  The dictionary meaning of the word “literal” has not changed, so how can the meaning of the word “literally?” 

I understand that language evolves and that meanings of words sometimes change.  For instance, “awesome” used to mean “full of awe” but now it legitimately means “really great.”  But there are limits.  By including two opposite meanings for this word without identifying one of them as a colloquial or slang usage, the dictionary has rendered the word “literally” completely useless. 

Now for the lesson.  Let me clarify for you the difference between “literally” and “in effect,” or, if you will indulge me, “figuratively” in a manner befitting Mother’s Day.

I was always  a maternal sort.  Two of my best friends were on the track team in college, and the entire team called me “Mom” around campus.  I had this strange effect on guys who drank too much at parties.  They would end up literally (by that I mean “actually”) crying on my shoulder about some girl they liked or some other life problems, and I ended up walking more than one of these young drunks home to make sure they got there safely.

I was not literally their mother.  I did not give birth to them, or adopt them or marry their father.  I was a mother figure to them – in effect acting in a maternal way towards them, but to say that I was literally mother to the track team and random drunk guys at parties in college would be, simply, incorrect.

I literally became a mother when I gave birth to my son, J.J. on February 13, 1985.  While we’re on the topic, let me tell you nothing in my life has ever been more important or enriching than that experience.  He is simply everything a mother could ask for her son to be.  Literally.

¹  Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. .