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MineralMan

(146,254 posts)
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 09:06 PM Dec 2016

Grammar Note: Bigly is an adverb.

It should only be improperly used to modify a verb.

For example, you can say, "Donald Trump always lies bigly."

You shouldn't say, "Donald Trump is a bigly asshole."

If you're going to use an invalid word, do use it as the correct part of speech.

Thanks,

The Grammar Nazi...

42 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Grammar Note: Bigly is an adverb. (Original Post) MineralMan Dec 2016 OP
You'll need to join the Grammar Resistance marylandblue Dec 2016 #1
He is also wanting to change the national language to Russian. nt madinmaryland Dec 2016 #3
OMG, totes 4 realz? NightWatcher Dec 2016 #6
While I understand the word "bigly" is accepted in the English language, madinmaryland Dec 2016 #2
It is not an acceptable word in English. It is a Trumpian malapropism for "hugely." nt tblue37 Dec 2016 #14
I think it is his corruption of the term awoke_in_2003 Dec 2016 #21
It is. Ms. Toad Dec 2016 #22
no it's not vlyons Dec 2016 #4
I'm guessing it will be NLT 2020. n/t Different Drummer Dec 2016 #15
Will all forms of US literature have a 144 character limit? guillaumeb Dec 2016 #5
144 characters seems to be about the limit... 3catwoman3 Dec 2016 #8
Thank God you only used 112 characters. More and I would have stopped reading. eom guillaumeb Dec 2016 #9
Does correcting grammer and spelling confirm... yallerdawg Dec 2016 #7
Once again you've seized onto the pressing problem. rug Dec 2016 #10
Once again, I have applied humor to an ugly situation. MineralMan Dec 2016 #23
Pedantry is not humor. rug Dec 2016 #27
I see. Well, thank you for your reply. MineralMan Dec 2016 #28
The OP is as far from sardonic laughter as electronically possible. rug Dec 2016 #31
I dunno. This topic came up during Christmas dinner, so it is something to discuss. TheBlackAdder Dec 2016 #29
There's boredom and then there's self-indulgent boredom. rug Dec 2016 #30
MM has corrected several of my word misuses, so there is a benefit to his posts. TheBlackAdder Dec 2016 #32
All of this Jamaal510 Dec 2016 #11
language should be used any way your brain believes it's communicable bigtree Dec 2016 #12
That isn't true. Most moderately educated people are bothered by significant violations tblue37 Dec 2016 #17
I just disagree bigtree Dec 2016 #18
language directs our thoughts, sloppy grammar, sloppy language, is an indication of sloppy thinking. niyad Dec 2016 #19
that's positively elitist thinking bigtree Dec 2016 #33
and there we have anti-intellectualism in all its self-righteousness. niyad Dec 2016 #37
you don't get to turn your snobbery around onto me bigtree Dec 2016 #38
oh, my, touched a nerve, did I? niyad Dec 2016 #39
I'd let you have it for insulting me, my family, and friends bigtree Dec 2016 #40
Donald Trump is not a bigly asshole but he sure is a big league asshole. Glimmer of Hope Dec 2016 #13
Adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs. aidbo Dec 2016 #16
Yes, indeed. MineralMan Dec 2016 #25
I think that I will punch the next person who actually uses the word "bigly" in ANY context, niyad Dec 2016 #20
And there you have it. MineralMan Dec 2016 #24
oh, I know. it was actually wonderful. niyad Dec 2016 #35
niyad, you going nucular? nt JustABozoOnThisBus Dec 2016 #26
aaarrrggghhhhh!! niyad Dec 2016 #36
She is gonna get Skittles to kick some bigly butt! (Does this post make my butt look bigly?" nt tblue37 Dec 2016 #41
Bigly is an adverb, and you're using it as an adjective. ... JustABozoOnThisBus Dec 2016 #42
Ah. rec, nt. Mc Mike Dec 2016 #34

marylandblue

(12,344 posts)
1. You'll need to join the Grammar Resistance
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 09:12 PM
Dec 2016

Since Trump plans to abolish English and replace it with TwitterSpeak.

madinmaryland

(64,931 posts)
2. While I understand the word "bigly" is accepted in the English language,
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 09:14 PM
Dec 2016

it to me sounds like a very juvenile word. Why not just use the "huge"?

And don't get me started on the word "irregardless".

My Mom was an English major in college and spent twenty years reviewing college student's papers for grammar. I get where you are coming from!

Ms. Toad

(33,992 posts)
22. It is.
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 05:06 AM
Dec 2016

He just doesn't enunciate clearly. But if you watch and listen, he is saying "big league," but "swallowing" the hard g sound in league.

3catwoman3

(23,947 posts)
8. 144 characters seems to be about the limit...
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 09:28 PM
Dec 2016

...of many people's thought depth.

Twitter is definitely contributing to the dumbing down of the US.

yallerdawg

(16,104 posts)
7. Does correcting grammer and spelling confirm...
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 09:25 PM
Dec 2016

we are lib'rul elitists?

If you read the Dumb One's twitter replies, "Yes, it does!"

 

rug

(82,333 posts)
27. Pedantry is not humor.
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 07:36 AM
Dec 2016

It's a thing with you, I see.

The remedy for trump is not dusty chuckling.

MineralMan

(146,254 posts)
28. I see. Well, thank you for your reply.
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 07:38 AM
Dec 2016

Sometimes, dry, dusty humor is the only response available. Other remedies are not so simple. Sardonic laughter is useful, at times.

TheBlackAdder

(28,167 posts)
29. I dunno. This topic came up during Christmas dinner, so it is something to discuss.
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 08:14 AM
Dec 2016

.


If DU is just for "pressing" problems, it's going to be a very boring place.


.

TheBlackAdder

(28,167 posts)
32. MM has corrected several of my word misuses, so there is a benefit to his posts.
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 08:32 AM
Dec 2016

.


Like TV shows, there's always another channel (post) to switch over and view.


.

bigtree

(85,975 posts)
12. language should be used any way your brain believes it's communicable
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 10:31 PM
Dec 2016

...language rules are for English majors and editors. The majority of readers couldn't care less.

tblue37

(65,225 posts)
17. That isn't true. Most moderately educated people are bothered by significant violations
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 10:53 PM
Dec 2016

of the rules of spoken and written English, because if a language is not bound by mutually agreed upon rules, it will eventually become multiple mutually unintelligible languages.

Already we have some difficulty understanding the speech and writing of people using different dialects of English, though at the moment most of those difficulties are caused by variations in vocabulary (and using "bigly" would be a vocabulary variation if it became standard over time) or by regional accents that make it hard for some English speakers to understand the words other English speakers are saying.

Languages do evolve, and the rules that govern them also evolve. Grammar evolves slowly, written conventions (like punctuation and capitalization) evolve more rapidly (but still not all that quickly--i.e., over decades rather than centuries). With broadcast media's and the internet's rapid and wide dissemination of coinages and variations, vocabulary and other aspects of wording can change quickly--especially the phrasing of poorly understood old idioms.

For example, the phrase "toe the line" is often misunderstood and rendered as "tow the line," and the snarky, slangy comment "You've got another think coming" is often misunderstood and rendered as "You've got another thing coming." If you google the se variations, the historically incorrect ones will show up many more times than the correct ones, but since they are idioms, not "rules," they are governed by convention, so eventually the newer versions will replace the original ones, especially as those who are aware of the original versions die out.

Before the internet, such a change might take many decades, or as much as a century, especially since teachers and editors would enforce the original (standard--i.e., "correct&quot version.

But with the internet and the general acceptance of poorly written work that is still given high grades in our schools, the mere pervasiveness of the new version online will cause it to become the standard in the blink of an eye--relatively speaking--over a few years, or at most one or two decades rather than many decades.

niyad

(113,055 posts)
19. language directs our thoughts, sloppy grammar, sloppy language, is an indication of sloppy thinking.
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 11:05 PM
Dec 2016

so, whatever you feel about it, grammar, language rules, etc., ARE important.

otherwise, one ends up sounding like the orange foolius, or his twin, the alaska grifter.

bigtree

(85,975 posts)
33. that's positively elitist thinking
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 09:17 AM
Dec 2016

...perhaps you need to broaden your relationships.

Most people don't think or reason with perfect prose. The notion you just expressed is absurd. Many of my older relatives and some friends have not been afforded the benefit of lessons in grammar, yet they function on a high level of awareness and intellect.

...but, you go ahead and ridicule them. It can't be progressive to dismiss the intelligence of folks, just because they don't adhere to your rules of grammar, but such high-minded nonsense isn't a stranger to DU.

bigtree

(85,975 posts)
38. you don't get to turn your snobbery around onto me
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 01:48 PM
Dec 2016

...I'm not the one insulting people who don't use 'proper' grammar. I'm defending the vast majority of people in this world who have every bit as much intelligence as those who obsess over grammar.

As I intimated above, it's your loss for assuming you're infinitely more intelligent than folks who lack your oh-so-superior diction. The 'self-righteousness' is all yours, for assuming intellect can only reside in those who obsess over accepted speech.

niyad

(113,055 posts)
39. oh, my, touched a nerve, did I?
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 01:52 PM
Dec 2016

I will point out that I never once proclaimed any grammatical superiority--that was your projection. I simply pointed out what grammar and language do. anything else was yours.

bigtree

(85,975 posts)
40. I'd let you have it for insulting me, my family, and friends
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 02:02 PM
Dec 2016

...but I'll just take comfort in knowing that this wonderfully, grammatically-incorrect world will provide more of a rebuke (and annoyance) to you than I ever can or will.

Sad that your aspiration on this progressive board is to 'touch a nerve.' Get a life.

 

aidbo

(2,328 posts)
16. Adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs.
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 10:43 PM
Dec 2016

For example in the sentence, "the word bigly is simply absurd" simply is an adverb modifying the adjective absurd

And in the sentence "Donald Trump supporters are almost always racist" the adverb almost is modifying the adverb always which is in turn modifying the adjective racist.

Racist can also be a noun, so one has to look at it in context.

niyad

(113,055 posts)
20. I think that I will punch the next person who actually uses the word "bigly" in ANY context,
Tue Dec 27, 2016, 11:06 PM
Dec 2016

or as any part of speech, in my hearing.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,321 posts)
42. Bigly is an adverb, and you're using it as an adjective. ...
Thu Dec 29, 2016, 09:10 AM
Dec 2016

Not "kick some bigly butt", but "kick some butt bigly".

Threats should always be spoken proper.

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