• unenlightened
    8.7k
    Is it really the case that any trite piece of verbal imagery becomes a legitimate topic with the addition of 'really'?

    Rhetorical commands to do the math are not really commands to calculate.
    Do rivers really have mouths?
    Will anyone really hang themselves however much rope you give them?
    Is reality really real? (Is realism really realistic?)

    Your insights and contributions to realology are awaited with real bated breath. I'm already turning purple, so please hurry.
  • Baden
    15.6k


    It should really be restricted to expressing surprise, interest, or emphasis. It doesn't really make much difference in a sentence otherwise.
  • Hanover
    12.1k
    It should really be restricted to expressing surprise, interest, or emphasis. It doesn't really make much difference in a sentence otherwise.Baden

    It can also be used to try to clarify if something really is true. If I said "'Really' means duck in French," you might say, "really"?, and I'd say, "no, not really."
  • T Clark
    13k
    Your insights and contributions to realology are awaited with real bated breath. I'm already turning purple, so please hurry.unenlightened

    This is a serious attempt to address the issue you've raised. Well, no, I guess it's really not. Maybe semi-serious. Pseudo-serious? Quasi-serious? Quantum serious?

  • unenlightened
    8.7k
    Really appreciate that. It's not ideal, but what can one expect?
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    You can blame Plato. He was the dolt that kept insisting upon what the Good the True and the Beautiful really were, in contrast to all the other stuff they apparently really weren't.
  • unenlightened
    8.7k
    The whole issue with the "free" part is whether you really have different options or not. Whether you can really make a choice, including seemingly arbitrary choices.Terrapin Station

    I chose to quote this here, but did I really choose?
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    I chose to quote this here, but did I really choose?unenlightened

    In contexts such as you're quoting, it alludes to the appearance/reality, phenomena/noumena distinction.

    For example, "Eureka! There's an oasis at the bottom of the next sand dune! . . . Oh crap, not really."

    It's not a very useful distinction if you're not a realist. If you're not a realist, you have to say, "Crap there was an oasis there, but when I got closer, it popped out of existence."
  • unenlightened
    8.7k
    since the quintessential metre is not a metre long, is the quintessential Hamlet, not actually Hamlet?Banno

    Are we talking real actuality here? or actual reality?
  • Banno
    23.3k
    @Terrapin Station says you are free to choose...
  • ArguingWAristotleTiff
    5k
    I chose to quote this here, but did I really choose?unenlightened
    I am pretty sure you choose because I didn't.
  • Fine Doubter
    200
    Real it in quick, before it gets away!
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