Editing 1108: Cautionary Ghost

{{comic
| number    = 1108
| date      = September 14, 2012
| title     = Cautionary Ghost
| image     = cautionary_ghost.png
| titletext = But then the Ghost of Subjunctive Past showed up and told me to stay strong on 'if it were'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a comment on the futility of arguing over the commonly mocked usage of the word "literally" to mean "figuratively, with great emphasis."  The comics [http://www.explosm.net/comics/2923/ Cyanide & Happiness] and [http://www.theoatmeal.com/comics/literally Oatmeal] are examples of this sort of derision.

The comic employs the device used in {{w|Charles Dickens}}'s ''{{w|A Christmas Carol}}'', in which the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future awaken the main character in the middle of the night to show him the negative causes and effects of his selfish and uncharitable behaviour. 

The similarity between the two "different" futures suggests that the man's struggle to get people to stop using "literally" incorrrectly will have no meaningful effect on the world, and so the man (and by extension, everyone else) may as well stop wasting time and energy on it. 

The title text indicates that a second apparition encouraged the man to continue the fight on a different grammatical issue: the use of the phrase "if it were," which is frequently incorrectly substituted with "if it was." {{w|English_subjunctive#Use_of_the_past_subjunctive|'Subjunctive past tense'}} is most commonly used in a counterfactual condition (i.e. when referencing something that is not the case). For example, the sentence "If I were rich, I wouldn't have to work for a living," contains the prescribed usage. However, some people would phrase this sentence as: "If I 'was' rich, I wouldn't have to work for a living." This usage grates on the ears of many people -- including, apparently, the man in the comic.  The comic appears to suggest that "if I were" is a more important issue than the incorrect usage of the word "literally."

Another xkcd comic, [[725: Literally]], also refers to the overly mocked usage of "literally."

==Transcript==
:[A man wakes up to an apparition hovering over their bed.]
:Apparition: OOOOOOOOOOOOooooo
:Man: A ghost!?
:Apparition: I bring a cautionary vision of things to come!
:Apparition: This is the future:
:[Two people are standing between a pair of houses. There is a tree. An airplane flies past.]
:Apparition: And this is the future if you give up the fight over the word "literally":
:[Two people are standing between a pair of houses. There is a tree. An airplane flies past. The cynical might suggest the panel is copy pasted.]
:[Back to the man in bed. ]
:Man: They looked exactly the same.
:Apparition: OOOOOOOOOOOooooo
:Man: Ok, I get it.
:Apparition: Seriously, this is duuuuumb .

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]