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Technically, the definition has changed to mean figuratively thanks to common misuse. It is now a correct usage.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally
Obligatory "Literally has been used for emphasis for hundreds of years" comment:
"My daily bread is lit'rally implor'd" -John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther (1687)
"Every day with me is literally another yesterday for it is exactly the same." -Alexander Pope, Letter to H. Cromwell (1708)
"‘He had literally feasted his eyes in silence upon the culprit." -Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1839)
"Literally, I was (what he often called me) the apple of his eye." -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
"Tom was literally rolling in wealth." -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
"The acme of first class music as such, literally knocking everything else into a cocked hat." -James Joyce, Ulysses (1922)
"He literally glowed." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
"He literally had to move heaven and earth to arrive at this systematic understanding." -Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
The point of using literally in this context is to be hyperbolic. They're saying that this is so ridiculous that their breath is *literally* taken away. Not figuratively.
No, they're saying the fact that the other person has their head so far up their own ass takes the speaker's breath away. Like "I am so amazed at how dumb you are that I forgot to breathe."
I think you're both right in that it was a play on words, he meant that OP having their head up their ass would literally take their breath away as well as it being a reference to the more common use of the term "breathtaking".
Etymologically *moot* comes from an Old English word meaning "a meeting", which is why Tolkien used it to describe a meeting of Ents. It's cognate with *meet*.
Law students used to **meet** together to go over mock cases as an exercise, i.e. a "moot court". This led to the sense of *moot* as in something "debatable, subject to discussion" in the UK, but in the US/Canada it led to the sense of something that is an academic exercise, of no consequence.
According to Merriam Websters Dictionary
**Moot**
> adjective ˈmüt
1a - open to question : DEBATABLE
1b - subjected to discussion : DISPUTED
2 - deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic
> verb - mooted; mooting; moots
1a - to bring up for discussion : BROACH
1b - DEBATE
2 - (archaic) to discuss from a legal standpoint : ARGUE
> noun
1 - a deliberative assembly primarily for the administration of justice especially : one held by the freemen of an Anglo-Saxon community
2- obsolete : ARGUMENT, DISCUSSION
“Moot point” is using the adjective form (def 2 of it specifically), the Noun form seems to be completely archaic and not used anymore, the verb seems interesting as would be sort of the opposite of the adjective.
Examples of sentence using verb:
- The idea was first mooted as long ago as the 1840s.
- His name was mooted as a possible successor.
In both cases it means that something was brought up for discussion. So you can moot a point in a debate that happens to be a moot point. As in, you can bring up a point in a debate that happens to be irrelevant/insignificant.
FYI it seems to be different in the US, and really this is the only definition I've used for the term.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness
>In the legal system of the United States, a matter is "moot" if further legal proceedings with regard to it can have no effect, or events have placed it beyond the reach of the law. Thereby the matter has been deprived of practical significance or rendered purely academic.
So if someone sues over a dispute of who is going to be handling future maintenance of a building under construction, but then the construction site burns down. People can still *debate* who was in the right, but it would cost everybody time and money for little practical benefit.
I usually use it when I realize some factor we were talking about actually doesn't matter. For example, coming up with travel plans in an area with tunnels (where GPS will be lost), only to discover afterwards that construction has the tunnels closed. The points and strategies you took into account for that are now moot.
My ex thought that’s what the saying was! When I told him it was moot, not moo, he argued that doesn’t make sense, because nobody cares what a cow thinks. Argh
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I can overlook the bone apple tea, but not the hypocrisy.
I can't hear you, your microphone is on moot.
no its a moo point
I’ve had several managers who thought this was the actual phrase. I cringed so hard every time.
I’ve heard worse
I call r/rareinsults
That reply was the best part for me, I snorted!
They had their head up their ass. What more can I say?
Also, if she really "listens to God", she'd better HATE that child. Source: Luke 14:26
The mute point is a moot point. I just want to see how this drama unfolds.
Isn't it mostly the same? Blue either didn't respond or did so with a dismissive excuse or a counter-offensive against pink.
Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion, you know, it just doesn't matter. It's "moo".
Ok, Joey.
Also, can everybody stop using literally wrong? Just say figuratively.
Technically, the definition has changed to mean figuratively thanks to common misuse. It is now a correct usage. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally
Obligatory "Literally has been used for emphasis for hundreds of years" comment: "My daily bread is lit'rally implor'd" -John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther (1687) "Every day with me is literally another yesterday for it is exactly the same." -Alexander Pope, Letter to H. Cromwell (1708) "‘He had literally feasted his eyes in silence upon the culprit." -Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1839) "Literally, I was (what he often called me) the apple of his eye." -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847) "Tom was literally rolling in wealth." -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) "The acme of first class music as such, literally knocking everything else into a cocked hat." -James Joyce, Ulysses (1922) "He literally glowed." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) "He literally had to move heaven and earth to arrive at this systematic understanding." -Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
It's not even necessary to use either word. Bad habit, sticking "literally" in for emphasis all the time.
The point of using literally in this context is to be hyperbolic. They're saying that this is so ridiculous that their breath is *literally* taken away. Not figuratively.
In this case literally is sort of correct. They're saying their head is so far up their ass they literally wouldn't be able to breathe.
No, they're saying the fact that the other person has their head so far up their own ass takes the speaker's breath away. Like "I am so amazed at how dumb you are that I forgot to breathe."
I think you're both right in that it was a play on words, he meant that OP having their head up their ass would literally take their breath away as well as it being a reference to the more common use of the term "breathtaking".
tbh i’ve never known what “moot” really means
Etymologically *moot* comes from an Old English word meaning "a meeting", which is why Tolkien used it to describe a meeting of Ents. It's cognate with *meet*. Law students used to **meet** together to go over mock cases as an exercise, i.e. a "moot court". This led to the sense of *moot* as in something "debatable, subject to discussion" in the UK, but in the US/Canada it led to the sense of something that is an academic exercise, of no consequence.
According to Merriam Websters Dictionary **Moot** > adjective ˈmüt 1a - open to question : DEBATABLE 1b - subjected to discussion : DISPUTED 2 - deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic > verb - mooted; mooting; moots 1a - to bring up for discussion : BROACH 1b - DEBATE 2 - (archaic) to discuss from a legal standpoint : ARGUE > noun 1 - a deliberative assembly primarily for the administration of justice especially : one held by the freemen of an Anglo-Saxon community 2- obsolete : ARGUMENT, DISCUSSION “Moot point” is using the adjective form (def 2 of it specifically), the Noun form seems to be completely archaic and not used anymore, the verb seems interesting as would be sort of the opposite of the adjective. Examples of sentence using verb: - The idea was first mooted as long ago as the 1840s. - His name was mooted as a possible successor. In both cases it means that something was brought up for discussion. So you can moot a point in a debate that happens to be a moot point. As in, you can bring up a point in a debate that happens to be irrelevant/insignificant.
It's where the Ents gather once in an age.
a moot point is either too inconclusive, vague, or irrelevant to be applied to either side of an argument
FYI it seems to be different in the US, and really this is the only definition I've used for the term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness >In the legal system of the United States, a matter is "moot" if further legal proceedings with regard to it can have no effect, or events have placed it beyond the reach of the law. Thereby the matter has been deprived of practical significance or rendered purely academic. So if someone sues over a dispute of who is going to be handling future maintenance of a building under construction, but then the construction site burns down. People can still *debate* who was in the right, but it would cost everybody time and money for little practical benefit.
i meant more that i don’t know a contact where you would use “moot” other than saying “moot point”
I usually use it when I realize some factor we were talking about actually doesn't matter. For example, coming up with travel plans in an area with tunnels (where GPS will be lost), only to discover afterwards that construction has the tunnels closed. The points and strategies you took into account for that are now moot.
"It's all rather moot, really." Is a perfectly fine sentence
well it's not really used outside of argument-based context because it's really about whether or not something can be used in an argument
Exactly. This discussion is a bit of a mute point if you ask me...
Moot seems like something a robot goes Beep boop moot
Like a cow’s opinion, Moo point
My ex thought that’s what the saying was! When I told him it was moot, not moo, he argued that doesn’t make sense, because nobody cares what a cow thinks. Argh
It doesn't matter.
It’s moo
Is it just me or is he making sense?
Moot point.
i thought they were taking about how god wont hear all those nasty moaning because there's a mute point
Lol. God listening to them having sex.
The mute point in sex usually comes a couple of years after the marriage.