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A bar in New York City is at war with the word “literally,” banning customers who dare say the L-word in conversations.
East Village dive bar The Continental posted a flyer on its window stating the new rule in all caps and bold letters.
East Village bar the Continental expounds on their (tongue-in-cheek) ban on the word literally. Their stated goal now is to stop “Kardashianism.” cc: @edenbrower pic.twitter.com/iI0N41qCgt
— evgrieve (@evgrieve) January 24, 2018
“Sorry but if you say the word ‘literally’ inside Continental you have 5 minutes to finish your drink and then you must leave,” the sign declares.
So why does the management take umbrage with the word? “This is the most overused, annoying word in the English language and we will not tolerate it.”
“Stop Kardashianism now!” it concludes, in reference to reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her family’ manner of speaking.
This isn’t the bar’s first brush with controversy: owner Trigger Smith has been accused of racism when he instituted a dress code that doesn’t allow anyone wearing saggy jeans inside.
Smith states on the bar’s website that fights have never occurred because of his door policy. “I don’t know about you but I’m not exactly interested in seeing someone’s undies and watching grown men waddle like a penguin to keep them up.”
For this new rule, the owner received accusations of misogyny.
“People like this don’t give a sh*t about language. They’re just self-important, generally misogynistic blow hards who get off on feeling superior to (mostly) young women,” declared one tweet.
People like this don't give a shit about language. They're just self-important, generally misogynistic blow hards who get off on feeling superior to (mostly) young women. Anyway, good morning all! https://t.co/gr5A21hcJ2
— Allegra Hobbs (@AllegraEHobbs) January 24, 2018
Smith denied being sexist in a Grub Street interview. “Anybody who knows me knows I’m a feminist who supports women’s rights and is 100 percent behind this whole ‘Me Too’ thing. I guess people will find an issue in anything.”
Unlike Smith, dictionaries have accepted the informal definition of the word. According to Merriam-Webster, its first definition is “in a literal sense or manner” while the second is “virtually — used in an exaggerated way to emphasize a statement or description that is not literally true or possible.” /ra
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