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Essay Writing Videos 71 videos

What Not to do in an Introduction
32969 Views

This video offers some rules of thumb for writing a good introduction. It covers everything from tone (confidence is key!) to phrases and clichés...

What Not to do in a Conclusion
7001 Views

Even the best essays can go wrong in the conclusion—this video covers what not to do in a conclusion to help avoid any essay-ending problems. The...

Using Citations Effectively
3756 Views

You want to be as picky with your citations as Goldilocks was with her porridge—not too many, not too few... juuust right. You want to prove that...

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Literally 611 Views


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Description:

Want even more deets on "literally"? Click here to review. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.

Language:
English Language
Common Core Standards:

Transcript

00:01

Literally, a la Shmoop. Lots of people like to have fun with the word

00:09

“literally”. They throw it around like a baseball or a frisbee...

00:12

...never realizing that the word doesn't mean what they think it means.

00:15

“Literally” is defined as “in a literal sense”.

00:19

Need a shorter definition? “Literally” means “actually”...

00:23

…“exactly”...

00:24

…“for realz”. Here are some examples. The car literally

00:28

exploded when Toby turned the key in the ignition.

00:32

The fuzz literally showed up two minutes later...

00:35

...but there was literally nothing they could do.

00:37

Um, yeah, because you can't unscramble an egg.

00:42

Here's how not to use the word “literally” in everyday conversation...

00:46

...or against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

00:50

You might want to say, “Cindy's head literally exploded when she found out Bob was cheating

00:55

on her.”

00:56

But you don't mean that Cindy's head actually blew up.

00:59

You just mean that she was really, really angry at Bob, the two-timing twit.

01:03

We understand the temptation to use the word “literally” to spice up a sentence. All

01:08

the other kids are doing it, after all.

01:10

However, using “literally” as conversational cayenne is a big grammar no-no.

01:16

Just ask Vizzini. <<vuh-zee-nee>>

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