Quote:
Originally Posted by NobleRot
Since we've entered into the realm of the grammar nazi, does anyone else get irritated by the common misuse of the word hopefully?
When you hear/read this word, it it typically used to mean something like "I hope" or "it is to be hoped" rather than what it actually means -- an adjective meaning "in a hopeful manner."
Just sayin'...
|
I know this is a super old post, but just in case anybody reads it (like I have) due to the extreme inactivity of this forum, let me quote the Merriam-Webster website, which has salient points that I would call to attention:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Merriam-Webster
In the 1960s the second sense of hopefully, which dates to the early 18th century and had been in fairly widespread use since at least the 1930s, underwent a surge in popularity. A surge of criticism followed in reaction, but the criticism took no account of the grammar of adverbs. Hopefully in its second sense is a member of a class of adverbs known as disjuncts. Disjuncts serve as a means by which the author or speaker can comment directly to the reader or hearer usually on the content of the sentence to which they are attached. Many other adverbs (as interestingly, frankly, clearly, luckily, unfortunately) are similarly used; most are so ordinary as to excite no comment or interest whatsoever. The second sense of hopefully is entirely standard.
|
Considering if you've ever read a book not written today, you should be familiar with how old that sense of the word is, so it kind of surprises me anybody would have a problem with it in a grammar nazi sense.