![]() “Oh yeah? Writers have been using adverbs to modify entire sentences for hundreds of years. “Usage experts used to insist, and many traditionalists still do, that there’s only one correct way to use ‘hopefully’-as an adverb meaning ‘in a hopeful manner.’ (‘Did my horse win?’ Nathan asked hopefully.’) It’s a hanging offense, the sticklers say, to use it to mean ‘it is hoped’ or ‘let us hope.’ (‘ Hopefully he won,’ Nathan said.) The word ‘hopefully,’ the argument goes, should modify a verb, not a whole sentence. “It’s hopeless to resist the evolution of ‘hopefully.’ If you don’t mind our cribbing from our own book, here are a few passages from Origins of the Specious: The second believes that “hopefully” can modify an entire sentence, and that it can have the meaning “it is to be hoped that.” (Example: “Hopefully it will rain.”) ![]() ![]() The first school believes that “hopefully” should modify only a specific verb, and that it should have the meaning “in a hopeful manner.” (Example: “He prayed hopefully for rain.”) We devoted a section of our book about language myths, Origins of the Specious, to the subject. Q: In a recent blog post, you wrote: “Interestingly, there may be a connection here (however, tenuous) with the verb ‘schmooze.’ ” The word “interestingly” could be replaced by “happily,” “sadly,” “frankly,” etc., and no one would complain. But if it were replaced by “hopefully,” hackles would be raised. I’m interested in your thoughts.Ī: The adverb “hopefully” has been hotly debated among usage authorities for the last 50 years or so.
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