Actually, This Is A Call To Abolish, "ACTUALLY" (writer-type rant)

[Rumple Foreskin]

Actually, This Is A Call To Abolish, "ACTUALLY"

Actually, a previously unoffending adverb, is fast replacing "like" and "you know" as the "filler" word of choice here in the first decade of the 21st century. Consider, for example, this sentence from from today's, Those Were The Days: http://www.440.com/twtd/today.html "The new six-figure price: $110,700, actually, was up from $94,600."

Sad to say, but this use and abuse is, actually, not limited to the printed word. Ask a cashier for directions to the Necessary Room and you're likely to hear something along the lines of: "Well, actually, it's right over there behind that stack of motor oil. The signs on the doors, actually, read, POINTERS and SITTERS."

Since this constant repetition of "actually" is enough to actually drive any halfway observant person nuts, join the fight to abolish "actually" -- if not actually for the sake of the English language, then actually for your own sanity.

"Actually" Rumple Foreskin

 

[Stella_Omega]

Actually, I one hundred percent agree with you.

I prefer "yanno" myself, actually...

 

[Jack_Samuel]

Its strange that one caught on as it has too many syllables for the average celebrity

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Actually, I one hundred percent agree with you.

I prefer "yanno" myself, actually...

Like, whatever.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Well, actually, its use can be referenced as far back as Gilligan's Island. It's use was instigated by none other then Thriston Howell III, actually.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Well, actually, its use can be referenced as far back as Gilligan's Island. It's use was instigated by none other then Thriston Howell III, actually.

The dastardly dude.

Other space-wasting adverbs include: literally, basically, and that long-time favorite, hopefully. All are bad, but basically, "actually" just literally gags me. Hopefully, this overuse and abuse will soon, you know, like end.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Xelebes]

Good news everyone!

 

[DeeZire]

I've always been a fan of the word. It's a good way to make one's writing appear more pompous and profound. I use it quite often, actually. It's also a good word to use during the "Really?" segment of the SNL newscast.

 

[damppanties]

The dastardly dude.

Other space-wasting adverbs include: literally, basically, and that long-time favorite, hopefully. All are bad, but basically, "actually" just literally gags me. Hopefully, this overuse and abuse will soon, you know, like end.

Rumple Foreskin

I can't get rid of 'totally' when I'm talking.

 

[Safe_Bet]

Like, whatever.

Whooow, dude! Are you mocking me???




ETA: My personal favorites are "honestly" and "To be perfectly honest..." I makes me wonder if they are lying to me the rest of the time...

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Whooow, dude! Are you mocking me???

Not you, no. Stella

 

[DesertPirate]

Its strange that one caught on as it has too many syllables for the average celebrity

*coffee spew*

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Our fucked up beliefs about english composition begin in the 7th grade. Before 7th grade youre busy with vocabulary and basic sentence structure. Then in 7th grade you get a shit-wit who obsesses about memorizing auxillary verbs (and diagramming when I was a youngster).

I'm guessing RF's comp teacher had a phobia about adverbs.

But adverbs are your friends. Words like REALLY and ACTUALLY are code words for much worse. They prevent physical violence. They keep the conversation polite. Theyre the UN peace-keepers of composition.

ACTUALLY, I think RF is a composition terrorist and rabble-rouser. REALLY!

 

[sadangel]

The dastardly dude.

Other space-wasting adverbs include: literally, basically, and that long-time favorite, hopefully. All are bad, but basically, "actually" just literally gags me. Hopefully, this overuse and abuse will soon, you know, like end.

Rumple Foreskin

I use hopefully too often. I know that. Just seems to be the right word quite often...
Hopfully not too often.

 

[shereads]

Do you literally want to abolish "actually?"

 

[sr71plt]

Editors are told never, never to let "hopefully" and "importantly" creep through. Often there doesn't seem to be an elegant substitute, though, and I think common usage is going to beat the barriers down on these word usages sooner rather than later.

I don't pay too, too much attention to adverbs; I certainly don't do a separate run to kill them all. They were put in the language to serve a purpose and if they seem more comfortable for the reader than losing precise meaning or doing something convoluted to avoid them, they can stay as far as I'm concerned.

I don't mess with them much in dialogue. People use them in speech, so if they seem natural coming from that character, they can stay.

 

[R. Richard]

Some of the arguments are compelling, but I intend to use 'actually,' irregardless.