This Week: More on the language of politics and literature on the podcast + literally

literally
Like “incredible,” “literally” has been so overused as a sort of vague intensifier that it is in danger of losing its literal meaning. It should be used to distinguish between a figurative and a literal meaning of a phrase. It should not be used as a synonym for “actually” or “really.” Don’t say of someone that he “literally blew up” unless he swallowed a stick of dynamite.


____________



This week on the podcast we continue our discussion of political language and literature.

This Week: The language of politics and literature on the podcast + ambivalent/indifferent

ambivalent/indifferent
If you feel pulled in two directions about some issue, you’re ambivalent about it; but if you have no particular feelings about it, you’re indifferent.

 

____________



This week on the podcast we discuss the language of politics and literature.

This Week: The language of elections on the podcast + new blog post by Paul Brians + electorial college/electoral college

electorial college/electoral college 
It’s “electoral.”
 
____________

Paul Brians’ most recent blog post follows up on a previous podcast, where we had brought up the word “epicenter.”
____________



This week on the podcast we discuss the language of the election season.

This Week: Eggcorn Database founder Chris Waigl on the podcast + wholistic/holistic

wholistic/holistic
This trendy word is correctly spelled “holistic.”



____________



This week on the podcast we discuss eggcorns a bit more with Chris Waigl, founder of The Eggcorn Database. You can also catch up with our previous discussion on the topic.