please empty your brain below

Most people use these words perfectly.
Don't be the odd one out.
Maybe
Surely you don't mean me? Presumably some might recognise themselves in this, and a few may possibly change their style. But probably most will not!
And there's "could potentially" presented in the same context as "will".
I completely disagree about surely. Consider the following two sentences and see which is totally natural, and which is affectedly literal:
Surely the sun will rise tomorrow.
Surely Norwich will stay up after their performance at the weekend?
Possibly the original function for which language evolved was persuasion. Whereby A could provoke an action by B which was to the benefit of A. The use of 'surely' to mean 'I believe this and I would like you to believe it too' should perhaps be seen in this context. We don't have to like it, but we shouldn't be surprised by it.
I agree with Jimmy's disagreement... Collins dictionary first definition of 'surely' is "You use surely to emphasize that you think something should be true, and you would be surprised if it was not true."

Which seems to apply to most of the examples given in the first section.
Surely one would use 'surely' to present a personal conviction that something is correct, or without doubt, rather than presenting it as unqualified 100% certainty.
My english teacher said that if someone uses the word 'surely' you can be almost sure it's not true.
Surely I am not the only person who will look up the Danish translation of penge.
A DG style guide, English is a living language, unless you are involved in law or science, where its a good idea to be inflexible about its use.

The use of text messages and tweets has accelerated the modification of the language.

Because three of them start with a 'p' I'll use the one that's easiest to spell, although probably also has two 'b's and sounds more upbeat.

What about perhaps?
Surely, all words are used subjectively?

Something may not be probably or only possibly true but if the person making the statement believes that it is undoubtedly true - however irrationally - then 'surely' is correct.

It is like probability. The outcome (calculated chance of something happening) is entirely dependent on what the person knows or believes.

How about misuse of 'allegedly' when 'reputedly' is intended? Or the subtle difference between 'anticipated' and 'expected'?
The online Oxford English Dictionary defines this particular use of 'surely' as:
"Expressing strong belief in an assertion: in all likelihood; as one's experience or common sense suggests, as may be confidently supposed (often implying a readiness to maintain an assertion against denial or disagreement)."
Surely Pedantic of Purley is wrong.
"Surely you can't be serious?"
"I am, and stop calling me Shirley"
Humpty Dumpty: "words mean what I want then to mean, nothing more, nothing less".
DG, surely all your definitions are correct. Will you be on to 'almost unique' next?
I fear I have to disagree.
'Surely' has a long history (as long as I've been aware of language, certainly) as heralding an appeal to confirm something. 'Surely you didn't mean to be so dogmatic?' for example.
The way you are defining it is (surely!) as a synonym for 'certainly' or 'definitely' which to me represents a loss of a useful expression.
A Whitehouse/Enfield skit comes to mind, perhaps?
Probably Scrumpy is right!
I did, and was surprised to find it wasn't dirty!!
Well, yours is most probably the first website I visit every day.
Surely is not a synonym of verily.
DG I love your writing but you are 300 years behind on this one.
Although there are occasions when constructive ambiguity can be helpful, few would argue with DG's general plea for greater precision and clarity in the use of language. Those four words are not synonyms, and can easily be misused.

But what is the true, proper meaning of those words? For example, there are seven main definitions of "surely" in the full OED (plus an eighth as a colloquial "yes").

The first five definitions (some archaic) mean "without danger" or "firmly, securely" (surely fixed, surely anchored, surely kept), or express assurance or confidence (handled surely) or certainty of result (slowly but surely).

The definitions for "II. Emphasizing the truth or likely truth of a statement ..." cover a range of certainty, from "6. Certainly, assuredly, undoubtedly. Also with less emphasis: indeed, truly" to "7. Expressing strong belief ... in all likelihood; as one's experience or common sense suggests, as may be confidently supposed (often implying a readiness to maintain an assertion against denial or disagreement)".

While "surely" has a flavour of "undoubtedly", the OED shows it is not limited to cases of 100% certainty. Sorry.

Perhaps each of those words should come with an implicit expression of subjectivity - "I feel sure that", "I am presuming that", "I think it is probable that", and so on. To which we can all retort "well, you are wrong then".
"I think..." is a very useful phrase.
This reminds me of the Member for the 17th Century, whose recent dictats on use of English in his department made me laugh / cringe. Sadly, I agree with his two spaces after a full stop before the next sentence - so not as progressive as I sometimes think I am... That second space aids readability.

While some wince at occasional word use changes, they slowly take off into regularity. Take 'meet with', which I loathe - a ghastly Americanism overtaking common-sense here - you only need to 'meet'. But I've caught myself using it.

We need reference points to know the degree of 'away' (abuse of a Spike Milligan-ism) but imposing as opposed to guiding is where it falls down. I like 'proper' English but also enjoy seeing it mutate. Comedy depends on it!

I like DG's listing - it gives a reinforcement of that direction of 'away' as do these comments.

End of rant.
(the English) language is fluid, twisted and adapted to suit. not all its users subscribe to the written rules. easy to forget that English is for the first language of many of the worlds citizens...readers of this blog included.

as for Bus Stop M...surely the most written about bus stop in the country, possibly, probably, presumably the world?
Surely there are far worse word crimes to worry about. I cringe at the use of "of" after "could", "would" or "should", which I have even seen written in official documents by surely well qualified authors. There is also surely no need for an increasingly large proportion of television interviewees to start their reply with the word "so".
"Sure" means someone is absolutely confident that something is correct, not that it is proven to be correct, so "surely" does mean "that my opinion".
Then my point is that some people are ridiculously over-sure of themselves.
Perhaps we can also agree on the correct use of "one of the only" - which is never!
Shurely: shome mishtake
I think that some study of Vygotsky's 'co-operative use of language' might throw some more light on the post and subsequent discussion.

(I was tempted to open with my usual 'I suspect...' but thought it wise to use the author's preferred terminology ;))
Surely all MPs are liars.
While DG may well be correct I think it's another lost battle, in a similar way to the increasing use of "hopefully" to mean "I hope", as in "Hopefully it won't rain tomorrow".
But dictionaries don't help. I grew up regarding a dictionary as something that would tell you 'the correct' meaning of a word and how to use it. Then I saw a TV interview with one of the compilers of the OED, who explained that the purpose of their dictionary was to reflect how people actually use words. I was stunned. 'Even if it's WRONG?!' I yelled at the screen, with my confidence in the authority of dictionaries destroyed for ever!
Is DG Jacob Rees-Mogg in disguise?

On a serious note, the use of the word 'literally' drives me mad.
DG will be impressed that I have bought a 1950s enamelled LT bus stop sign, probably.
A whole day, and nobody mentioned Carlsberg!
Absolutely.
Has the use of the word 'literally', literally driven Darren mad ? Surely not !










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