this post was submitted on 09 May 2026
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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Since it's widely accepted that the word "literally" can be used to add emphasis, we need another word that can be used when you want to make it clear that you really mean "literally" in the original sense.

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[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't understand where this question is coming from. The premise of this question is that "literally" is ambiguous. That its meaning is unclear. How does an ambiguous word add clarity to a sentence?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There was a time when Literally was the word we used to eliminate ambiguity. Using it to mean the opposite of its originally intended, and accepted, definition injects ambiguity, the very thing the word is supposed to prevent.

That's literally an example of IRONY (another often wrongly used word).

[–] howrar@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

OP is asking how to solve a problem. You understand that repeating the problem does not answer the question, right?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That's not what I was doing. I was illustrating that this controversy about Literally is particularly IRONIC, another grammar word that is often used incorrectly.

And you didn't understand that, so your assignment for tomorrow is a 1000 word essay on whether your misunderstanding of my post constitutes irony itself, or if it is another example of false irony, such as the Alanis Morissette song.