literally
英 ['lɪt(ə)rəlɪ]
美 ['lɪtərəli]
- adv.文字通り; 一字一句; 誇張なしに; 正確に; 文字通り.
英語の語源
- literally (adv.)
- 1530s, "in a literal sense," from literal + -ly (2). Erroneously used in reference to metaphors, hyperbole, etc., even by writers like Dryden and Pope, to indicate "what follows must be taken in the strongest admissible sense" (1680s), which is opposite to the word's real meaning and a long step down the path to the modern misuse of it.
We have come to such a pass with this emphasizer that where the truth would require us to insert with a strong expression 'not literally, of course, but in a manner of speaking', we do not hesitate to insert the very word we ought to be at pains to repudiate; ... such false coin makes honest traffic in words impossible. [Fowler, 1924]
例文
- 1. Until next payday,I was literally without any money.
- 次の給料日まで、私は本当にお金がありません。
- 2.To see my body literally wither away before my eyes was exasperating.
- 自分の体が日に日に衰えていくのを見るのはいらいらする。
- 3.Windsor Castle is quite literally an antique treasure trave.
- ウィンザー城はまさに名実ともに古物の宝庫だ。
- 4.If we did all the things we are capable of doing，we would literaly astound ourselves.
- 私たちにできることを全部やったら、最終的には私たち自身もびっくりします。
毎日一言
- 5.The event literally stopped the traffic.
- というイベントは、ほとんど交通を停滞させた。
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