1/6/2024 0 Comments Hopefully we canYou may also find the note at of interest.Īlthough I don’t find hopefully particularly objectionable as a sentence adverb, I have to acknowledge that audience is everything. Michael Quinion has an excellent discussion of hopefully at World Wide Words But hopefully? (Excuse me while I put on my catcher’s mask. tax all people 90% for misusing “hopefully.”Īnimosity towards hurtful ethnic or gender slurs are one thing. This comment by a guest of Charlie Rose is what prompted me to write about hopefully: I often wonder what it is about some words or expressions that causes people to harbor such strong feelings against them. The second sense of hopefully is entirely standard. Many other adverbs (as interestingly, frankly, clearly, luckily, unfortunately) are similarly used most are so ordinary as to excite no comment or interest whatsoever. 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. Hopefully in its second sense is a member of a class of adverbs known as disjuncts. A surge of criticism followed in reaction, but the criticism took no account of the grammar of adverbs. Usage 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. On the other hand, here’s the note at Merriam-Webster: Incorrect: Hopefully, they will come in time. Nonstandard English sometimes substitutes the word hopefully for I hope (or some other subject with the verb hope).Ĭorrect: They listened hopefully for the sound of the rescue party. Hopefully is an adverb which means what it ought to –“full of hope” or “characterized by hope.” It normally modifies verbs. This use of hopefully is disdained by many. Hopefully we are not headed for disaster in Cairo. Hopefully we’ve won some fans over today, (This from a British source) Hopefully, they will end college the way they started it – together. His parting remark was, “Hopefully, they will get it right next time.” Today’s shibboleth is the word hopefully used with the meaning “it is to be hoped that.” Since when is it a requirement of an English idiom that it be logical? The argument that the “couldn’t care less” form is more logical moves me not at all. I still have the bruises to show for voicing the opinion that as far as I’m concerned, either is acceptable to convey the idea that one cares very little about a matter. We’ve already dealt with that shibboleth at DWT. Why do some say “I could care less” -when they really mean “I couldn’t care less.”? In a recent email reader Phil Dragonetti raises the specter of “could/couldn’t care less. Hopefully Caring Less About Shibboleths By Maeve Maddox
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