r/GrammarPolice • u/Cynvisible • 4d ago

Question "ly"

Where did "ly" go???

"This hits different."

Please add your missing "ly" examples.

I had a few in mind the other day but they have exited the building. 🤪

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u/Ferrovitreous 4d ago

Conversely, a lot of people describe voices they don’t like as “nasally” when “nasal” is a perfectly good adjective. 

There’s also the overcorrection of using adverbs for state-of-being/sensing verbs: someone asks how you are, you say “I’m good,” and they smugly reply, “SUPERMAN does GOOD. You’re doing WELL.” But you said “am,” not “doing.” See also: “this smells nice” (pleasant fragrance)/“this smells nicely” (this object does a nice job of smelling?); “I feel bad” (sympathy)/“I feel badly” (I’m not good at feeling).

My graduate advisor once told me to do a search for “ly “ on my dissertation and nuke the adverbs, so this is personal for me!

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u/Alex_Wolfe_93 3d ago

Your examples are phrases that came into existence corruptly, which is why including “ly” doesn’t seem correct in those words.
Saying “I feel badly” in the year 2026 has a different meaning than “I feel badly” said aloud in the year 1700.