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The Oxford English Dictionary has accepted a new definition for the word literally - and it's not the only word changing beyond recognition. It's enough to, like, make one despair

The Oxford English Dictionary has accepted a new definition for the word literally - and it's not the only word changing beyond recognition. It's enough to, like, make one despair (Blog)

Opinion on the re-definition of "literally"

Opinion on the re-definition of "literally"

A new browser plug-in displays all instances of the much-abused adverb as its traditional opposite. It's a figurative blast.

A new browser plug-in displays all instances of the much-abused adverb as its traditional opposite. It's a figurative blast.

Eric Liu is an Asian American: "I never asked to be white. I am not literally white. That is, I do not have white skin or white ancestors. I have yellow skin and yellow ancestors, hundreds of generations of them. But like so many other Asian Americans of the second generation, I find myself now the bearer of a strange new status: white, by acclamation."

Eric Liu is an Asian American: "I never asked to be white. I am not literally white. That is, I do not have white skin or white ancestors. I have yellow skin and yellow ancestors, hundreds of generations of them. But like so many other Asian Americans of the second generation, I find myself now the bearer of a strange new status: white, by acclamation."

Eric Liu's essay examines the meaning of assimilation, and what it means to be a "banana", an Asian American who identifies as white.