Does rampant use of the word “literally” literally make you want to scream? Then this new browser plug-in will figuratively make your heart sing.
The free plug-in, appropriately titled Literally, replaces the word “literally” with “figuratively” in online text. “That’s literally all it does,” the description reads.
Created by New York programmer Mike Walker, the plug-in can be downloaded for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Just pull up a Web page and watch instances of “literally” disappear.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透社
The Web site and download pages for the plug-in bear an image of actor Rob Lowe, whose Parks and Recreation character Chris Traeger uses the word “literally” quite, well, liberally.
Though the amusing plug-in may soothe the frayed neurons of grammatical purists, dictionaries have in the last couple of years allowed for a second, less formal definition of the word literally. As Oxford’s entry now reads: “Used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true: I have received literally thousands of letters.
(Liberty Times)
濫用literally這個字眼是不是讓你氣得很想尖叫？那麼這種新的瀏覽器外掛程式將能象徵性地讓你樂得心花怒放。
這種免費外掛程式取了一個非常合適的名字Literally，它會把線上文字裡的literally一字改為figuratively。「這個程式真的就只做這件事，」程式的敘述裡寫道。
這個程式是由紐約程式設計師麥可‧沃克所創造，可以在Chrome、Firefox及Safari等瀏覽器中下載。只要打開一個網頁，就能看著頁面裡所有的literally一字消失。
這個外掛程式的網頁及下載網頁都配上了演員羅勃．洛的照片，因為這位演員在影集《公園與遊憩》裡的角色克里斯．崔格就超愛用literally這個字。
雖然這個有趣的外掛程式或許能安撫文法純粹主義者的受創心靈，但近年來各大字典多已把literally一字加上第二種較不正式的定義。牛津字典的條目就寫道：「用來強調或表達強烈、但字面上不一定為事實的感受，例如我真的收到了數千封信。」
（自由時報／翻譯：俞智敏）
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