"People are literally tearing their hair out!"

Misuse of the word 'literally' can conjure up some strange mental images.

"You'll literally laugh your head off!"

I read in the paper recently that one of the things that annoys a lot of people about modern language is the misuse of the word ‘literally’. Apparently some people are literally tearing their hair out at the regularity with which this word gets used incorrectly.

However, I remember watching Stephen Fry argue once that language is a living thing and that language is constantly evolving. So if people are constantly using a word to mean something other than what it was originally intended, you could therefore argue that after a certain length of time this word then acquires a new meaning. For example the word ‘fabulous’ originally meant ‘pertaining to fables,’ i.e. a centaur or a griffon, for example. However, nowadays ‘fabulous’ is just a word which posh people use to mean ‘brilliant’.

I remember arguing with a mate once about language and when I quoted the wisdom of Stephen Fry on language in support of my viewpoint my mate then suddenly conceded the argument stating, ‘You can’t argue with Stephen Fry when it comes to language.’* I would have to agree, so maybe you could argue that the word ‘literally’ has now developed a new meaning, i.e. ‘literally’ now means ‘not literally at all’.

* Although you can certainly argue with him when it comes to many other subjects.

Anyway, whether the word ‘literally’ has obtained a new meaning or not, when taken literally it can produce some interesting mental images, so I thought it would be a cool idea to compile a list of quotes which quite literally use the word ‘literally’ in a totally non-literal sense.

True or false: Six New Year themed 'facts' from around the world

New Year celebrations: Pregnant pranks, smashing guitars and insect roulette.

One of my favourite things in the world which I like doing more than anything else is travelling and over the years I’ve been lucky enough to experience New Year celebrations in England, Scotland, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam and Fiji.

So following on from my previous True Or False posts for Halloween and Christmas, here’s another True Or False quiz featuring traditions from round the world to celebrate the new year. Just to clarify, some of these ‘facts’ are true but others are totally made-up. See if you can guess which is which...

Guitars beware.  Prepare for a smashing time at a Fijian New Year.

Fact 1) Fiji – Lock up your guitars!

In Fiji the locals have the strange but fun tradition of smashing up a guitar (rock star style) to see in the New Year. If you don’t want to destroy your precious guitar (or if you’re a tourist who forgot to pack a guitar in your backpack) then you can buy miniature sized guitars purely for the purpose of smashing up. I decided to join in with the local custom when I was in Fiji for New Year and I have to say it was a lot of fun and very satisfying to re-enact the classic guitar smashing ritual.

Charles Fudgemuffin's New Year's resolutions

Charles Fudgemuffin's plans for 2013.

Start a band. A cool New Year's resolution.

A few days ago I posted a list of the top ten most popular New Year’s Resolutions, and also included a few amusing resolutions I stumbled across while doing my research. To carry on the New Year theme, I thought I would post my own New Year’s Resolutions for the coming year.

Before I do though, here are a few more cool noteworthy New Year’s Resolutions I came across while compiling the top ten for my previous post:

1) "Take a picture of myself every day for a year and post a time lapse video on YouTube."

This is a cool idea which I’m tempted to do myself (not for YouTube, just for my own entertainment). It would probably be cooler though if you had just got a puppy or a kitten, then when you watched the finished video you would be able to see it growing before your eyes.


2) "Start a band."

I would definitely recommend this resolution to anyone who loves music. It can involve a fair amount of work to get a band up and running, but once the ball is rolling it’s a total buzz to record your own songs and to play live to an enthusiastic audience.

Top ten New Year's resolutions

The tradition of making resolutions to celebrate the New Year.

Start the year with a change for the better.

To see in the New Year I thought I would compile a top ten of the most popular New Year’s resolutions that people make each year. Just to clarify though, this isn’t a comprehensive scientific report or survey. I’ve simply looked up a load of top ten charts and tables on the internet and then compiled the results into an overall chart based on which New Year’s resolutions featured the most often.

Before I get to the results though, here are a few amusing New Year’s resolutions I stumbled upon while compiling my statistics:

"I’ll think of new excuses for when I ring in sick."

"On days when I’m ‘working from home’ I will actually work from home."