Comment on billionaires are a cancer on society [literally]
tate@lemmy.sdf.org 1 day ago“Billionaires are literally cancer” is simply a false statement, unless “literally” was used, incorrectly, as hyperbole.
That is my point. Literally can be used correctly in a statement that is not correct, and my reading of the original post is that was OP’s intention. They did not misuse the word “literally.”
I’m not debating the meaning of the word cancer.
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 1 day ago
So, billionaires are not “literally” cancer, but “billionaires are literally cancer” is supposedly a correct use of “literally”?
“Literally” was not correctly used in this sentence. As used in the sentence, “literally” is synonymous with “figuratively”, which is an incorrect useage of “literally”.
tate@lemmy.sdf.org 1 day ago
Sorry for the multiple replies btw. My app is acting weird.
tate@lemmy.sdf.org 1 day ago
Correct. But that is not what OP said. Read it again and I think you will see that OP is saying that “Billionaires are cancer” is not a figurative statement at all, but a literal one. You can disagree with them (I do, btw), but they have not misused the word “literally.”
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 21 hours ago
It is a metaphorical statement rather than a simile, but both metaphors and similes are figurative, not literal.
tate@lemmy.sdf.org 20 hours ago
You are refuting an argument that I did not make.
I enjoy this type of debate, but this one doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere. I’m moving on. Thank you, sincerely.