I'm having some trouble figuring out a sentence.

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Could you please take a look at this?

It’s hard to argue that Malcolm in the Middle wasn’t a game-changer for FOX, but in the context of television history it can be considered a game-changer for the whole genre of the sitcom. The show premiered quite literally at the turn of the century (January 9, 2000) and the pilot episode showcases a lot of the traits that would come to define the most popular sitcoms of later in the decade (Scrubs, The Office, Modern Family, etc.)

What's puzzling to me the 2nd one.

"The show premiered quite literally at the turn of the century."

Premier means, as a verb, to have the first showing to the public, my dictionary says, and 'literally' is 'truthfullly', again according to my dic.

Let me rephrase the sentence then.

The show had its first showing to the public, indeed, at the turn of the century.

Does it indicate that it was at the beginning of the century when people first began to see the TV show?

Did I get it right?

I still have no idea what the sentence could possibly mean.
Would you please help me?

Happy New Year Everybody!

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Type: Question • Score: 4 • Views: 690 • Replies: 15

[+3] - contrex - 01/01/2015The question asked was: [quote="SMickey"]"The show premiered quite literally at the turn of the century." Premier means, as a verb, to have the first showing to the...

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@SMickey,

You must first define game changer, as applied to the sentence.

PS. Malcolm in the Middle, was just another waste of time, that came and went. No different, than Gilligans Island or the Brady Bunch. You considered it a game changer, because you enjoyed the time that this show helped you waste.

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@SMickey,

The question asked was:

SMickey wrote:

"The show premiered quite literally at the turn of the century."

Premier means, as a verb, to have the first showing to the public, my dictionary says, and 'literally' is 'truthfullly', again according to my dic.

Let me rephrase the sentence then.

The show had its first showing to the public, indeed, at the turn of the century.

Does it indicate that it was at the beginning of the century when people first began to see the TV show?

Did I get it right?

You have the meaning right. If a TV show "premiers" then it is shown publicly for the first time. Also, the word 'literally' does really mean 'truthfully'.

Thus this sentence:

"The show premiered quite literally at the turn of the century."

means:

"The show was first publicly shown exactly at the turn of the century."

"Quite" acts as an intensifier to "literally".

However there is a problem due to careless writing. The show was not premiered "quite literally" at the turn of the century (12:00 midnight on 31 December 1999). It was actually premiered on 9 January 2000.

Is this part of your confusion?

The dictionary meaning of "literally" means "truthfully, not figuratively", but these days (unfortunately) some people use "literally" to mean figuratively, but with emphasis", for example a colleague of mine once said "It was so cold this morning that I literally froze to death waiting for my bus". It would have been pointless to ask "Then how are you able to speak?"

3 Replies

@contrex,

Sheesh............................................

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@contrex,

Yes it's a crap sentence, and hardly worth the trouble of analysis, let alone over-analysis.

2 Replies

@SMickey,

Gilligan's Island was a game changer...........................

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Yes it's a crap sentence, and hardly worth the trouble of analysis, let alone over-analysis.

It's crap sentences that throw-off language students, though.

We need to point-out exactly what makes these sentences crappy to these students.

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Yes it's a crap sentence, and hardly worth the trouble of analysis, let alone over-analysis.

The sentence is entirely worthy of analysis, if a language student requests it. I do nnot believe I "over" analysed it, and I don't see why you wrote that. Was it intended as an insult?

1 Reply

@contrex,

Not an insult, but I find it dispiriting when overseas students put up examples of poor English for discussion. Of course they deserve an answer, and the length and detail of the answer is up to the writer, not me. But I would treat it differently.

2 Replies

@McTag,

Why is the poster an overseas student?

3 Replies

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Not an insult, but I find it dispiriting when overseas students put up examples of poor English for discussion. Of course they deserve an answer, and the length and detail of the answer is up to the writer, not me. But I would treat it differently.

I know what you mean. It is a -- possibly deplorable -- fact that not every user of English abides by the rules, and many students learning the language will come across, and be confused by, examples of poor practice or, to be more charitable, use of the language that does not abide by the "rules" that they have been taught. However this is an inevitable step in the learning process, especially now that students have access to the Web, where material exists that has not been subject to editing or proofreading. I remember being first surprised, and then intrigued, to discover that not every native French speaker or writer abided by the rules I had been taught at school.

The OP in this thread enquired whether his/her understanding of the meaning of a particular English sentence was correct - it was. The meaning of 'literally' was raised; the sentence in question used it in a "wrong" or non-standard way, and I felt duty bound to give that some sort of mention.

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@DNA Thumbs drive,

DNA Thumbs drive wrote:

Why is the poster an overseas student?

You can read a person's past posts by clicking on their name...

SMickey wrote:

as a S. Korean, I don't have many foreigners around me to rely on when it comes to English but here.

1 Reply

@contrex,

But how do we know that he is not a North Korean spy........................

0 Replies

@DNA Thumbs drive,

Quote:

Why is the poster an overseas student?

Your rite he could be a murkin.

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@contrex,

Thank you. Now I can understand what the sentence signifies.
I know it's so lucky to have someone kind and intelligent like you.
I appreciate that.

0 Replies

@DNA Thumbs drive,

Me? Yeah, I'm from S. Korea.
It wouldn't be that hard to notice that the poster wasn't a native speaker
because I suck at writing. Smile

0 Replies

I'm having some trouble figuring out a sentence.

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