Literally, A Web Log

literally the last straw

The last straw (Williamsport Sun-Gazette)

“This is it,” I said to my husband, “the last straw.”

And this time, I meant it literally. I held the evidence up for him, demonstrating the obviously chewed silicone tip of the last replacement straw for our kids’ spill-proof cups.

The figure of speech “the last straw” means the final irritation that stretches your patience byond the limit. Since the author is referring to an actual straw, this is a correct use of “literally”.

This entry was posted by Fitz on Monday, June 20th, 2005 at 8:41 am and is filed under Correct. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “literally the last straw”

1. robotomus Says:
   June 27th, 2005 at 10:58 am

   I’m sure you realize this but from your comment it is not totally clear so I will just add that:
   It’s a correct use of “literally” not because of what the figure of speech “the last straw” means (or IRregardless of the figurative meaning), but because they LITERALLY had no more straws - it was the last one.

   Love the site, btw.

2. Fitz Says:
   June 27th, 2005 at 8:52 pm

   Thanks, that’s a good point. I need to come up with a template for these entries where I define both the figurative and literal meaning, then add some commentary.

3. Gem Says:
   August 1st, 2005 at 2:33 pm

   Dontcha love it when you find someone who actually uses the word literally correctly!!! Love your site!

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