This secondary definition for the word tiptoed into online versions of such dictionaries as the OED and Merriam-Webster a couple of years ago. Taking its place alongside words like “fast” or “awful,” “literally” has now become an auto-antonym – a word with two meanings that contradict each other. But while there has been quite a bit of clamoring over this recently, many esteemed figures of literature have been using the word as hyperbole for several centuries. “Lily, the caretaker’s daughter, was literally run off her feet,” wrote James Joyce in Dubliners. Or how about Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov’s poem-novel:

"All colors made me happy: even gray.
My eyes were such that literally they
Took photographs."

The word’s use as an “intensifier” goes back even further than modern fiction. There’s something to be said for the power “literally” has in continuing to stir up debate, even after a visit from the Cautionary Ghost.

ir·re·gard·less
adjective & adverb
1. regardless

The word is considered non-standard – basically, its existence is acknowledged, but still not welcomed with open arms. It’s one of those words that’s like your rude, jocular third cousin at the family reunion. Picking through the canapés and mingling with the guests, his or her presence is accepted very begrudgingly and everyone averts their eyes when it’s time for a drunken, fully clothed belly flop into the pool. Irregardless, cousin continues being invited to all social functions.

It might seem like a lazy term that has popped up fairly recently, but its usage actually can be traced to at least 1912, but perhaps even earlier. Should we keep using it? This is one of those instances where I would personally err on the side of caution and simply say “regardless.” It’s a couple of letters shorter, but it still means the exact same thing. On the other hand, I won’t begrudge you if you think it’s a perfectly cromulent word.

Mc·Job
noun
1. a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement.

The word gained popularity in 1991 when Douglas Coupland included it in his satirical novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, but its appearance in print goes further back than that. In 1986, sociologist Amitai Etzioni published an article titled "The Fast-Food Factories: McJobs are Bad for Kids," in which he thoroughly criticized places like McDonald's, KFC and the like as detrimental to the growth and education of teenagers they employed. Etzioni described the fast-food chains as “breeding grounds for robots working for yesterday's assembly lines, not tomorrow's high-tech posts.” Going to need some ice for that burn. Mostly due to Coupland’s popularization of the word, though, McDonald's complained, indignant at the disrespect aimed at the company by associating it with such a negative definition. It’s hard to feel sympathetic to a multi-million dollar corporation when they do stuff like this, however.

hip·ster
noun
1. a person who follows the latest trends and fashions.

Methinks it’s time for an expanded definition for the word “hipster.” Considering how often it’s trotted out in articles, conversations and lists on Buzzfeed, it could be defined as “member of an arbitrarily categorized group of individuals or trends that journalists don’t quite know how to tackle but feel like they should still say something about it, right?” In his piece on Slate, Luke O’Neil points out that the word has become “a choose-your-own-ending story where every option leads to the same page, you standing there in some silly hat or other.” The etymology of the word itself is almost as much debated and divergent as the definition of a hipster. Due in part to the research David Dalby, a scholar of West African languages, some credence has been given to the word “hip/hep” deriving from the Wolof “hipi” – “to open one’s eyes.” The first written definition of “hipster” appeared on Harry Gibson’s 1944 album “Boogie Woogie in Blue,” defined as “characters who like hot jazz.” Maybe rigorously researching the etymology of the word can be the next cool thing?

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