I've never heard 'colloidal' as an intensifier, but I love it
April 14, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I've never heard 'colloidal' as an intensifier, but I love it
3-y.o. has interpreted the “lemon” from “easy peasy lemon squeezy” as an all-purpose intensifier.
If something hurts: “Owie”
If something *really* hurts: “Owie owie lemon owie”
If something hurts: “Owie”
If something *really* hurts: “Owie owie lemon owie”
September 13, 2026 at 9:58 PM
3-y.o. has interpreted the “lemon” from “easy peasy lemon squeezy” as an all-purpose intensifier.
If something hurts: “Owie”
If something *really* hurts: “Owie owie lemon owie”
If something hurts: “Owie”
If something *really* hurts: “Owie owie lemon owie”
in praise of the most useful intensifier, “fucking”
July 21, 2025 at 8:29 PM
in praise of the most useful intensifier, “fucking”
It's more... the "broadcasting" creates a multiplier/intensifier effect for "stupidity."
September 24, 2026 at 10:50 PM
It's more... the "broadcasting" creates a multiplier/intensifier effect for "stupidity."
Look carefully - that's not an intensifier
Hello from Kruger National Park in South Africa where we are seeing awesome things but my creative process is being restrained.
You have to be quiet when you see big cats, so I was forbidden from singing “can you feel the love tonight” to these fucking lions we saw
You have to be quiet when you see big cats, so I was forbidden from singing “can you feel the love tonight” to these fucking lions we saw
October 9, 2024 at 3:10 AM
Look carefully - that's not an intensifier
XTRM Handheld Intensifier
Experience an entirely new dimension of intense and exciting moments with the XTRM Handheld Intensifier.
https://loom.ly/5FnSv_c
Experience an entirely new dimension of intense and exciting moments with the XTRM Handheld Intensifier.
https://loom.ly/5FnSv_c
June 2, 2026 at 11:44 PM
XTRM Handheld Intensifier
Experience an entirely new dimension of intense and exciting moments with the XTRM Handheld Intensifier.
https://loom.ly/5FnSv_c
Experience an entirely new dimension of intense and exciting moments with the XTRM Handheld Intensifier.
https://loom.ly/5FnSv_c
When people say a phrase or usage is "wrong" - people using "literally" as an intensifier, people saying "I could care less," etc. - it's like they've forgotten sarcasm or hyperbole exists in language.
"Really," the go-to intensifier, literally means "literally" too, but no one's pissy about that.
"Really," the go-to intensifier, literally means "literally" too, but no one's pissy about that.
November 29, 2023 at 3:08 PM
When people say a phrase or usage is "wrong" - people using "literally" as an intensifier, people saying "I could care less," etc. - it's like they've forgotten sarcasm or hyperbole exists in language.
"Really," the go-to intensifier, literally means "literally" too, but no one's pissy about that.
"Really," the go-to intensifier, literally means "literally" too, but no one's pissy about that.
Is the derivative a rhetorical intensifier? mathwithbaddrawings.com/2024/06/25/i...
Is the derivative a rhetorical intensifier?
An acceleratingly strange quirk.
mathwithbaddrawings.com
June 25, 2024 at 1:33 PM
Is the derivative a rhetorical intensifier? mathwithbaddrawings.com/2024/06/25/i...
In the expletive intensifier sense, or the carnal sense?
I don't think it matters because the answer is the same, but I just like clarity.
I don't think it matters because the answer is the same, but I just like clarity.
September 4, 2025 at 7:39 AM
In the expletive intensifier sense, or the carnal sense?
I don't think it matters because the answer is the same, but I just like clarity.
I don't think it matters because the answer is the same, but I just like clarity.
a stunning number of people in the replies seemingly not understanding that "unbelievable" is a straightforward intensifier rather than an automatic expression on something's veracity
February 5, 2026 at 1:19 PM
a stunning number of people in the replies seemingly not understanding that "unbelievable" is a straightforward intensifier rather than an automatic expression on something's veracity
When we were young, we used Like as the intensifier, because had we used our real natural language intensifier (fuck) we would have been punished.
But fuck is the intensifier that the lead welded into our DNA.
But fuck is the intensifier that the lead welded into our DNA.
July 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
When we were young, we used Like as the intensifier, because had we used our real natural language intensifier (fuck) we would have been punished.
But fuck is the intensifier that the lead welded into our DNA.
But fuck is the intensifier that the lead welded into our DNA.
As long as you’re talking about this can you please use your platform to point out that it’s never actually a contronym? Literally’s use as an intensifier doesn’t carry a lexical meaning of “figuratively”, it’s much closer to “hyperbolically”, but really just an intensifier.
/exasperated linguist
/exasperated linguist
May 20, 2024 at 7:25 PM
As long as you’re talking about this can you please use your platform to point out that it’s never actually a contronym? Literally’s use as an intensifier doesn’t carry a lexical meaning of “figuratively”, it’s much closer to “hyperbolically”, but really just an intensifier.
/exasperated linguist
/exasperated linguist
Marijuana is primarily an emotional intensifier
July 20, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Marijuana is primarily an emotional intensifier
"ontologically" is an intensifier that means "really really"
February 21, 2024 at 8:04 PM
"ontologically" is an intensifier that means "really really"
Using "literally" as a generic intensifier honestly makes my blood boil. It's truly a plague on the English language. I'm really laid-back on usage peeves in general, but this one actually drives me insane. In fact, it's quite soul-crushing.
January 13, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Using "literally" as a generic intensifier honestly makes my blood boil. It's truly a plague on the English language. I'm really laid-back on usage peeves in general, but this one actually drives me insane. In fact, it's quite soul-crushing.
It is apparently time for the reminder that I am from New Jersey, my native linguistic intensifier is the word "fuck" in all its variety, and I do not soften my langauge when expressing contempt for a ridiculous idea being advanced deep in a thread that's already covered why it's ridiculous.
July 25, 2024 at 8:07 AM
It is apparently time for the reminder that I am from New Jersey, my native linguistic intensifier is the word "fuck" in all its variety, and I do not soften my langauge when expressing contempt for a ridiculous idea being advanced deep in a thread that's already covered why it's ridiculous.
LITERALLY as an intensifier is really great. Truly.
The figurative use of "literally" has a literally long history, with authors like Charles Dickens and Mark Twain embracing it in their writing. A linguist delves into the word's evolution: https://buff.ly/41ojOnc (Valerie M. Fridland @unevadareno.bsky.social) #literally #linguistics
Love it or hate it, nonliteral ‘literally’ is here to stay: Here’s why English will survive
Language changes because of how it finds itself most gainfully employed by speakers through time. So it’s OK to say “The movie literally blew my mind” and not mean it … literally.
buff.ly
December 7, 2024 at 8:12 AM
LITERALLY as an intensifier is really great. Truly.
Prétendre lutter contre l'extrême droite sur les plateaux-télé, mais partager leurs obsessions partout ailleurs : crucifier les pauvres, chasser les étrangers, intensifier l'autoritarisme. C'est l'histoire de la droite.
L’Assemblée vote à une très large majorité un projet de loi contesté contre la fraude sociale et fiscale
L’Assemblée vote à une très large majorité un projet de loi contesté contre la fraude sociale et fiscale
Le texte, qui a fait consensus de l’extrême droite au centre, est accusé par la gauche de viser les pauvres tout en ménageant les fraudeurs fiscaux.
www.lemonde.fr
April 8, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Prétendre lutter contre l'extrême droite sur les plateaux-télé, mais partager leurs obsessions partout ailleurs : crucifier les pauvres, chasser les étrangers, intensifier l'autoritarisme. C'est l'histoire de la droite.
No, it's been in dictionaries as an intensifier for hundreds of years too. It's mostly in our lifetime that people have pretended it only means one thing.
May 20, 2024 at 6:42 PM
No, it's been in dictionaries as an intensifier for hundreds of years too. It's mostly in our lifetime that people have pretended it only means one thing.
had this exchange with my abuser the other day, it did not end well
the hinge was precisely the same, the word 'fucking' as an intensifier
the hinge was precisely the same, the word 'fucking' as an intensifier
January 2, 2026 at 5:10 PM
had this exchange with my abuser the other day, it did not end well
the hinge was precisely the same, the word 'fucking' as an intensifier
the hinge was precisely the same, the word 'fucking' as an intensifier
Garbage Nazis is not actually an oxymoron; it’s an intensifier.
October 30, 2024 at 4:27 AM
Garbage Nazis is not actually an oxymoron; it’s an intensifier.
New swear unlocked everybody
September 8, 2026 at 7:46 PM
New swear unlocked everybody
that's not fucking as an intensifier that's fucking as a verb
May 3, 2025 at 9:25 AM
that's not fucking as an intensifier that's fucking as a verb
Trump annonce que les États-Unis vont :
- gouverner le Venezuela jusqu'à nouvel ordre
- intensifier leur guerre illégale si résistance
- s'approprier le pétrole vénézuélien
Il bafoue les conventions internationales
Il faut lancer un mandat d’arrêt international car c’est un danger pour tous.
- gouverner le Venezuela jusqu'à nouvel ordre
- intensifier leur guerre illégale si résistance
- s'approprier le pétrole vénézuélien
Il bafoue les conventions internationales
Il faut lancer un mandat d’arrêt international car c’est un danger pour tous.
January 3, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Trump annonce que les États-Unis vont :
- gouverner le Venezuela jusqu'à nouvel ordre
- intensifier leur guerre illégale si résistance
- s'approprier le pétrole vénézuélien
Il bafoue les conventions internationales
Il faut lancer un mandat d’arrêt international car c’est un danger pour tous.
- gouverner le Venezuela jusqu'à nouvel ordre
- intensifier leur guerre illégale si résistance
- s'approprier le pétrole vénézuélien
Il bafoue les conventions internationales
Il faut lancer un mandat d’arrêt international car c’est un danger pour tous.
Gaza : l'armée israélienne va "intensifier" son offensive. Le dessin de Gros ✍️
May 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Gaza : l'armée israélienne va "intensifier" son offensive. Le dessin de Gros ✍️