Certain words in all languages lose their original or literal meaning through overuse. In contemporary American English no word meets this definition more closely than absolutely, which has become simply a vocable used for emphasis or affirmation, replacing words like yes, right, or such phrases as “you can say that again.” Another such word is great, as when a waitress asked a customer in my Sunday Stammlokal, Up for Breakfast, whether he would like a regular coffee rather than a flavored one, and he answered, “That would be great!”
As has been registered here before, absolutely as a habitual emphatic or affirmative is yet another example of American English’s tropism toward overstatement (i.e., linguistic hypertrophy). Tant pis!
MICHAEL SHAPIRO
*Absolutely* is also improperly used when *indeed* or *in fact* would suffice. Truly, there is very little that is *absolute* in the world. Thanks for this post, Michael. It was great! :- )
Good point as always, friend Gary!